What would you say to critics who feel like you’re being too “worldly”? There is always a little bit of pushback in the community, in the Christian community, when something new comes along. My goal is to be the king of R&G, rhythm and gospel. I try to put music around it that makes you move. I try my best to wrap everything I do in faith. That’s what the Bible says, “Speak those things that are not as though they were.” And what’s crazy is it feels as if the world has more faith than the church. You mean to tell me that a young cat can be in his mama basement broke, barely knowing how he going to eat, get on a microphone and say, “One day I’m going to have gold chains and 20-inch rims.” And get it?! That’s called faith. So, for me, one thing I do love about hip-hop, hip-hop is … so bold and so wrapped in faith. All of us love God, but when you get in a car and you had a good day, you probably playing something that’s going to make you dance. Here’s the crazy part, and don’t laugh at me when I say that all of us are righteous and ratchet. So, what has been your approach to making space for both at the same time? Most people, when they think hip-hop - because your style is a little bit like gospel and hip-hop combination - and we think hip-hop, the messages that you think about don’t necessarily align with what we learned in church. Now that we look back two years later, we can say it was nothing but God. And I’m so grateful they said that, because had they saw something special, they would have took the credit for it. Who are you to tell me? Or who are you to tell someone what they can and can’t be when God’s given them the favor of God over their lives? And for me, I really believe the reason so many people are resonating with not just the music, but the ministry is because it’s this audacity, what Barack Obama called “the audacity of hope.” It’s the boldness to say, “Hey, here’s what I’m going to do.” So many people laughed at me, so many record labels turned me down, so many record execs just practically told me to my face they didn’t see anything special. They don’t realize how disrespectful it is. ![]() We don’t realize you look just like when they told LeBron James “Shut up and dribble.” You’re kind of expanding the definition and the understanding of what it means to be delivering the word. I can do radio, and I can have a successful podcast TV show. When you hear me saying, ‘I Got It,’ I’m preaching about faith.” I really believe, man, that I’m done, in a sense, trying to pick which one, I believe there’s the people, yourself included, who God’s raising up, that it’s not either or, it’s both and. He said, “What’s that?” I said, “Have you ever seen a 21 million-view sermon?” He said, “I don’t think I have.” I said, “Well, I have a 21 million-heard song.” I said, “Gospel music is the only genre of music were the message plus the melody equals a miracle.” I said, “So when you hear me saying ‘Big.’ I’m preaching about faith. I had a pastor tell me yesterday, he was like, “I can’t believe you’re traveling the world singing, you need to get back to pastoring.” I said, “I never stopped pastoring.” I said, “Can I ask you a question?” For me, I believe they’re one and the same, and I believe right now, if you think about it. The first thing I ever did in the church was sing in the youth choir. So, for me, when I look back over my life, music and ministry has always been synonymous. I used to say things like, “Well, I’m called a pastor, I choose to stay.” And over the last six months I heard the Holy Spirit say, “No that’s inaccurate, I called you to speak to my people.” Sometimes I use spoken words, sometimes I use melodies. One of my questions for you was actually which love came first, music or ministry? But I know you said that it’s been ministry since you were a young child. And we just been committed to blessing people and changing lives. ![]() It was me and 10 of my friends and to give you the fast version at 25, it was 10 of us by 26, it’s eight or 900 of us by 27 it’s five or 6,000 people in an arena. And we started this church, and I was 25 years old. I’ve always been in love with God and the local church. While most kids were in the streets, I was at Vacation Bible School. He was a pastor I would sing a solo before he preached. I was that kid who literally would travel around the country with my dad. My grandfather is a civil rights icon, he walked with Dr. I was born in Tacoma, Washington, and my brother was born in Stuttgart Germany, my sister in Colorado. ![]() Tell me a little bit about just your background growing up? I know that your church is based in Alabama.
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