Alright everybody, let me be real with you. I COULD type out this long, heavily detailed and intriguing bio, written in 3rd person as though somebody did some kind of professional documentary on my life story and make it seem like I'm a LOT bigger and more famous than I really am-----BUT------instead I'm gonna sit my skinny white butt down in my Office Depot-bought computer desk chair and tell you who I am and what I'm about, tha REAL DEAL, and let YOU decide if I'm really cool enough to hang with on this whole "myspace" thing.
I don't represent the hood. I ain't from the ghetto. If anything, I represent the suburbs cuz that's truly where I was raised. I lived in a nice house and in a nice neighborhood where you could walk up the street without being shot at or cussed out by some gang banger. Someone would have sooner offered me an icecream cone or maybe some toothpaste. I did, however, attend the city school where I grew up around all kinds of races and ethnicities, listening to all kinds of music INCLUDING rap, rock, pop, etc. I learned at a very young age that I had been given a great ability to create music. I began composing for the piano around age 11. I did a 10 song hip-hop tape (I say tape cuz back then that's pretty much ALL WE HAD) at the age of 12 with inspirations such as C&C Music Factory, MC Hammer, and YES--------------Vanilla Ice. So what? Everybody liked him at the time and I was in middle school. I told ya'll I was gonna be real with you. And to be even MORE real with you, the recording was done on some cheap boombox (you know, the kind that you could carry up on your shoulders and walk thru the Bronx with) and the beats were made with my little keyboard that had "When the Saints go Marching In" prerecorded in as one of the demo songs.
So yeah, I also did a 15 song tape full of piano compositions at the age of 13, while learning other instruments such as saxophone and clarinet. Later in High School, I learned bass guitar and also took up electric guitar. I joined a rock band (playing bass) and went around playing parties, bars, colleges and frat houses. At the age of 17, the band did some studio time and put out a little thing the industry likes to call a "demo" which failed miserably (and honestly, I credit that to the poor recording quality of our producer and I'm not saying any names!). Then at the age of 18, I pieced together a small studio of my own in the basement of my Dad's house. That's right, I said "Dad's house" which points to the fact that my Mom had her own house, which obviously points to the fact that my parents were DIVORCED! Yep, nearly 20 years of marriage came to an end when I was 14. But that's another story. Moving on. . .
I was never popular or athletic or Mr. High School HOTTIE or anything like that. No, I was a dork and I'm fine with that. Seriously. So that's that.
I had a few friends here and there, and I never limited myself to just one group of people. But after High School, things started to go down hill. Despite my cigarette and growing alcohol addictions in my latter High School years (being in a borderline anarchist rock band will eventually do that to you!), I still managed to keep my head above the water. But when the college years came in to play, and my eyes were opened more and more, the life of this small town skinny white suburban kid began to plunge into a downward spiral that would make Disney's Tower of Terror seem like the teacup ride at your local county fair.
It started with smoking weed. I smoked a lot of weed. I smoked so much weed that if you came within five feet of me, you would have SWORN that I had a marijuana plant growing in my pants. I'm telling you, IT WAS BAD! I didn't mean for it to get so bad, but IT DID. I also began staying out late and partying hard, drinking and going to clubs all the time. Those who say that marijuana is a "gateway drug" are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. Soon, weed wasn't giving me the high that I wanted. I began experimenting with other drugs such as mushrooms, pills, ecstacy, etc. It just kept getting worse and worse. BUT I NEVER SMOKED CRACK! If that's one thing I never did, I NEVER EVER smoked crack. And I never did heroine either. Man, that would've been BAD. But I basically told my parents to go screw themselves as I went off to live with my girlfriend and continue to party my life away.
That's when things started to get harder. I started stealing cuz I didn't have a job. I was too irresponsible to hold down a job. I was lazy and didn't want to work. Talk about "idle time" being the "devil's playground"! I would break in to people's houses and steal stuff to pawn off the streets just to get more drugs. I was working within five different surrounding cities/towns to get what I wanted. I was going nowhere FAST. Things were bad with me and my girlfriend. I ended up sleeping out in my car quite a few times; enough times to know that I don't want to EVER spend the night in my car again---ESPECIALLY in 20 degree weather!!! I can STILL feel the ice on my toes! I had truly reached the absolute loooooooooooooooowest point in my life. I was at that place that so many people refer to as "rock bottom". I had cheated people, stolen from people, lied to people and burnt so many bridges. Nobody really wanted to have anything to do with me. And so this is when my true testimony kicks in. . .
People had been praying for me. My dad used to say "Son, so many people are praying for you. People in other cities and states are praying for you; people you don't even know!" I had always grown up going to church, but I never really paid much attention. Well things started to sink in a little (I guess all those seeds planted over the years). That day came when I realized that things couldn't get ANY worse and that I wasn't getting ANY better and I looked up to the sky and I said "Okay God, everybody says you can do sooooooooo much for me and that you can help me change my life. So I'm gonna give you an ounce of my time to see what all this fuss is about." Sounds kinda arrogant, eh? Looking back, I see that it was a VERY disrespectful way to approach the Maker and Creator of the entire universe! But I really didn't know any better and I think God knew that and it's only by His wonderful grace and mercy that He inclined His ear to me and actually gave me the time of day.
Soon after that prayer, I began to see things changing around me. I continued to pray and put trust in the Lord as I saw a new life unraveling before me. It became addicting. I didn't want to stop talking to Him because I wanted to see what He had in store for me next. A year after that prayer, I gave my life over to Jesus Christ and submitted to Him, accepting Him as my Lord and King and ONLY Way to Salvation. My life continued to change. I got a good job. I paid off my debts. I began living in my own apartment and paying for all of my own clothes, food, car, gas, etc. Gradually, I earned back the trust and respect of my family. And as the next year progressed, I learn more and more about God and His true purpose for me. For all of these years that I did nothing but drink, party and do drugs, I had completely let go of my creative talents and abilities. When I began my walk with Jesus Christ, it all started coming back to me. I began saving money and piecing together a recording studio. I built a musical production workstation where I quickly began hammering out some of the tightest and most BANGIN' tracks on the East Coast! On my days off from work, I would lock myself in my studio and work on my talents to get away from all the drugs and people who cared nothing for my God-given talents. My pastor once told me "The vultures fly together, but the eagle soars alone". Sometimes you have to ignore the rest of the world and step out on your own. I had discovered God's true plan for me; to take what He had given me in life and give it right back up to Him.
Things are much different now, six years later. I am a rap artist, known and respected in a good few cities and states. I am a Producer, known by many in the Christian music industry. I own one of Charlotte, NC's more reputable recording studios "CrossWorks Studio" and the "BeatLab 7" music production center. I am part of Rock Solid Records, which is quickly growing and by the grace of God, will continue in prosperity and abundance. I am fully established in legal contracts, copyrights and own a music publishing company thru BMI in Nashville, TN. And I must interject "I BOAST IN HIM"! It is only because of Him that I have elevated to this level in life. It is only by HIS HANDS that I have what I have and continue to be provided for and blessed in such awesome ways. And it is only by Him that I will continue to wake up every morning and walk and live and breathe and eat and continue to sanctify into a more righteous human being. TRUST ME, there's still a WHOLE LOT OF WORK to be done!!!!!!! I am NOWHERE NEAR "perfect". But that's my story.
This is who I am, and Who I'm about. I'm about my Father's business. I don't even represent the suburbs. I represent the Kingdom of God. I'm a soldier for the army of Jesus Christ and vow to continue to use my gifts and talents to build upon His Kingdom! I will spread the wisdom and knowledge given to me, and will continue to edify my brothers, plant many seeds, and be used to lead lost souls to their everlasting home, without compromise, and in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a crucial message. These are crucial times. Crucial times call for crucial measures. . .
Amen? Amen.
