Brinson, the charismatic Christian hip hop artist from Jacksonville, Florida, takes us on a thrilling journey through his fascinating life in this caffeinated conversation. From his early beginnings rapping for the Lord at church to his transition from secular rap to Christian hip hop, Brinson shares valuable insights into the music industry. We dive into the crucial role of relationships, the importance of understanding contracts and publishing, and how his faith played a key part in his transformation. Plus, brace yourself for stories about his exciting collaborations with comic book artist Ken Lashley, his work with All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and his love for Japanese culture and kung fu movies. Brinson's passion, faith, and creativity are truly inspiring, making this an episode you won't want to miss.
Join host Allen C Jackson in this captivating episode of "Caffeinated Conversations" as he sits down with Brinson, a Christian hip hop artist with a unique background. Discover how Brinson seamlessly combines his love for wrestling, comic books, and music into a thriving business. From rapping for the Lord at a young age to his admiration for Weird Al Yankovic, Brinson shares his journey from secular rap to Christian hip hop. Gain valuable insights into the music industry, learn about his experiences in Nashville, and uncover the strategic collaborations that have shaped his career. With stories of his ventures at Comic Cons and his work with All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, this episode is packed with excitement.
In this invigorating episode of "Caffeinated Conversations," host Alan C Jackson and Brinson take you on an exhilarating ride through the world of Christian hip hop. Marvel at Bryson's ability to merge his passions for music and comics, and hear firsthand about his experiences rapping in a bamboo forest in Japan, dressed in a tailor-made samurai outfit. From discussing the power of relationships in the music industry to sharing the importance of setting boundaries with collaborators, Brinson wisdom shines through. Plus, learn about his documentary, God Chaserz godchazers.com, and how his merchandise has become an integral part of his ministry. Get ready to be inspired by Brinsons unwavering faith, creativity, and determination.
Follow Allen C. Jackson - @2cupschronicles
Brinson, the charismatic Christian hip hop artist from Jacksonville, Florida, takes us on a thrilling journey through his fascinating life in this caffeinated conversation. From his early beginnings rapping for the Lord at church to his transition from secular rap to Christian hip hop, Brinson shares valuable insights into the music industry. We dive into the crucial role of relationships, the importance of understanding contracts and publishing, and how his faith played a key part in his transformation. Plus, brace yourself for stories about his exciting collaborations with comic book artist Ken Lashley, his work with All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and his love for Japanese culture and kung fu movies. Brinson's passion, faith, and creativity are truly inspiring, making this an episode you won't want to miss.
Join host Allen C Jackson in this captivating episode of "Caffeinated Conversations" as he sits down with Brinson, a Christian hip hop artist with a unique background. Discover how Brinson seamlessly combines his love for wrestling, comic books, and music into a thriving business. From rapping for the Lord at a young age to his admiration for Weird Al Yankovic, Brinson shares his journey from secular rap to Christian hip hop. Gain valuable insights into the music industry, learn about his experiences in Nashville, and uncover the strategic collaborations that have shaped his career. With stories of his ventures at Comic Cons and his work with All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, this episode is packed with excitement.
In this invigorating episode of "Caffeinated Conversations," host Alan C Jackson and Brinson take you on an exhilarating ride through the world of Christian hip hop. Marvel at Bryson's ability to merge his passions for music and comics, and hear firsthand about his experiences rapping in a bamboo forest in Japan, dressed in a tailor-made samurai outfit. From discussing the power of relationships in the music industry to sharing the importance of setting boundaries with collaborators, Brinson wisdom shines through. Plus, learn about his documentary, God Chaserz godchazers.com, and how his merchandise has become an integral part of his ministry. Get ready to be inspired by Brinsons unwavering faith, creativity, and determination.
Follow Allen C. Jackson - @2cupschronicles
I'm so grateful for another day to help stimulate the mental Time to strategize. Cuddle up with your sickle. I can feel the movement radiating through the convo. Talk is cheap. Turn your faith into work. I drink my second cup and put my hands in the dirt. Two cups drinking straight drip from the earth. Caffeinated conversation. You heard him here first. One fuck the wake up. One, fuck the wake up Two, fuck the word. Caffeinated conversations. You heard him here first. Welcome back to Two Cups Cafe. I am your host, alan C Jackson, aka Two Cups. And today who I have coming through for a high quality Caffeinated conversation is my good friend Bryson, coming all the way from Jacksonville, florida.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Okay, great.
Speaker 1:Bryson is a highly entertaining, energetic young fellow. He's an author, a movie maker, has his own entertainment company, and so just welcome Bryson to the show.
Speaker 2:Hey man, it's gonna be the loudest show probably, but we gonna have some fun. You know. One for the wake. Yes, sir, put my hands in the dirt. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:Get the second cup, get the drip from the earth, bars, bars.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, man, I advise you here. Man, you're probably the most unique and energetic person I know, and that's real talk. Right, I'm not even pulling your leg, but it's something interesting about you before we jump off in anything. I know you went to a lot of things that maybe other entertainers or people that they might not really talk about, but how you worked them into your business. You little avid comic book reader, you love big time wrestling, you know, and obviously you love music. So just tell us a little bit about yourself and how that came about.
Speaker 2:Ah, man. So you know, growing up my mom was in wrestling, Got you know, and my grandma Not.
Speaker 1:Your mom was a wrestler. No, no, she wasn't a wrestler she was interested, still is.
Speaker 2:My grandma used to take them. My mom, when she was little, used to take them to see Ric Flair, dusty Rose, like all the legends, yeah, harley Racing, all them in my grandma, still in wrestling at 97. So you know what I'm saying. So you got out of line, she go off the top rope on you. Oh no, my mom has angle slammed me before.
Speaker 1:I was just messing with her.
Speaker 2:One time I think I was like 22. Next thing I know I'm over her shoulder and she didn't threw me. I was like Alright, we just not gonna play with her, no more that's it. You know what I'm saying. She watched too much wrestling for the foolery. So you know GI Joe, transformers, power Rangers, you know all of the Silverhawks, thundercats. You know when you come up in that era with all the great cartoons, space ghosts, you know what I'm saying. And then the comic book game. When Spawn really got me in the comic books.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you know who Spawn is. Oh yeah, I know you so well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when Spawn came out and I got into like X-Men Heavy and all of that, it was a good outlet. You know what I'm saying. A real good outlet. Just to do something different. You know what I'm saying. I wasn't in the street slanging drugs and then crazy like that, like I did my dirt, but I still had love for comic books.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Even when you out doing your thing, you keep your ear open to what's happening. You know what I'm saying. And then, when Marvel starts dropping all these movies, you know what I'm saying. I'm always at the movies. You know what I'm saying, but you're a Star Wars guy too, right? Super, super Star Wars guy.
Speaker 2:So, you know what I'm saying. Right now, we in the Ahsoka series. Okay, you know what I'm saying. So I got love for that. Like every Tuesday night, I didn't cut the phone off, I didn't log off, I'm like no interruptions, ahsoka on. So yeah, man, I'm super big in Star Wars. Like I got a collection too. It's crazy. I don't flex my collection online, but my Black Panther comic book collection. You gotta own a comic book store to kind of compete with me, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you had the wrestling, you had the comic books, yep movies, but then how? So? Was it hip hop first, or was it just music in general? What was it? The love?
Speaker 2:I think all of them at the same time. All of them at the same time. Like my stuff kind of weird, though, okay, you know what I'm saying. Like I start rapping for the Lord at four. You know what I'm saying? God named Steven Wiley.
Speaker 1:Okay, I heard him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the first Christian rap artist to have a major deal. I had God, a hold of his music. My mom did not meet, okay, and I memorized his whole rap. I went from church, rapped it at my church and word got around this is four-year-old rapping about the Lord. Went to McGrammon church rapping. Went to another church rapping you know what?
Speaker 2:I'm saying so all that still got your toys. But suddenly like, oh, you gotta do the thing again. Okay, you know what I'm saying. So it all. And then after that, like my favorite album, like five and six, it's gonna sound crazy Weird Al Yankeefe.
Speaker 1:Okay, the parody guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, he just was doing some outrageous stuff, but he would say comic book references and movie references.
Speaker 1:Oh, he was picking up on.
Speaker 2:I was picking up on it all that and I thought it was cool. Like he had a song about Yoda, I'm like, but you know about.
Speaker 1:Yoda and.
Speaker 2:Luke Skywalker. You know what I'm saying. So he had so much weird stuff that I gravitated to it and it wasn't serious. You know what I'm saying. I still think he admires him what he did because he took people's songs. That parody has a law to it. Okay, the law is you can make a parody of anything and you ain't gotta pay people nothing. That's how he was able to take Michael Jackson and Cooley and all these people stuff and flip it and they couldn't sue him Because it's a parody.
Speaker 2:And if he take the biggest songs on the charts, that's already making millions and like, well, shoot, everybody ain't gotta like it. But if I can get 10% of they 30 million, oh, you got 3 million, you got 3 million. So I mean business-wise and strategy-wise, that was probably like one of the most ingenious things that happen in music business that people don't even think about. So that thought I kind of translate that into how I do like my music and marketing. Like what's the thing people not looking at? What's the undercurrent that you can explode in that people not looking at? You know, people, they look at always the big stuff, but the world's so big and there's so many pockets in communities in the faith out, the faith Places to do music and whatever business you got. If you find that niche, that undercurrent, and you blow it up like you don't have to make 30 million, you can make 3, you're still making a million. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:Is that something you look back on or something you appreciate? Because I know you wound up going to music business school and you could tell us a little bit about that. Like where did that idea come from? Like I'm gonna go to music business school at a time where that might have not been a parent's first encouragement for a kid to go? You know, want to be like Sean Combs or something.
Speaker 2:Oh man, my parents wasn't like pushing me to do anything, they just was like do something. But I think out of all my brothers I was the most ambitious. Like I was doing secular rap, right, but what I would do I would look at the landscape of the city and see what's not happening. And at the time in Jacksonville nobody was like doing concerts. So I was like I would read the source, blaze Magazine XXL. I would buy biographies of people in music business like Jermaine DePre and Allie Quincy Jones. I would read their stories. So you were already studying. I'm studying these people and I'm like, well, what's the common theme? And it was always they would do something nobody else would be doing, like it's a whole community.
Speaker 1:So was they telling you they were doing something nobody was doing?
Speaker 2:or you was picking up on it, I was picking up on it. I was picking up on it Like when Ludacris, when he got big, they would always tell his story but nobody was paying attention to it. Because they were listening to the music, right, because he was like he was rapping, but he knew he had to get his voice out there some type of way. So he got a job at the radio station. Yeah, he was a DJ, right, being a DJ. So when the stars will come, he would be like look, I need to get if the Neptune's came for an interview. After the interview, he like how can I get a beat? Right. Then somebody come and you're like how can I get a feature? And he paying for all this? Because that job gave him access to the people who regular people don't get access to.
Speaker 1:So he put himself in a position, you know, for networking or communication that he wouldn't have if he was just on the outside looking in.
Speaker 2:Right, right. So I'm thinking like, all right, what is not happening in the city? This is when I was doing secular stuff and I was like, okay, there's no concerts. So I'm like I'm gonna rent out a club, I'm gonna find out how much it costs. And then when you find this stuff out, like rent it for one night, it's only $400. Okay, and if people is buying the other beverages they gonna take more money off of it. So then I'm like, okay, nobody is doing wraps at colleges, so you infiltrate the college and then you get them to come in the clubs and all of this stuff.
Speaker 2:So then I'm picking up on it. And then it's like then I'm reading books, confessions of a record producer, okay, all the things you need to know for music business, like just all a plethora of stuff. I'm just trying to feed my mind. I'm like, okay, what's? I'm in Jacksonville, nothing happens in Jacksonville. And then I'm like, okay, then what you got to do, you got to have courage enough to do things that you, that other people not doing. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna just fly to music business conferences, get connections, learn all I can learn. And then I came to a point where I was like that's not enough.
Speaker 1:So you was flying to business music conferences before you went to school. Yup, okay, how old were you around then? Had to be in your 18. Okay, so I was gonna say early 20s, but you were younger than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, 18, 19, because I 18,. I had a really good job. I worked for a city bank, Okay, and I think I was making at the time it's 58,000 a year, still living at home. Killing it, killing it.
Speaker 1:I didn't have to pay for toilet paper. No rent, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:My parents were impressing me to leave, or whatever.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So you know I was out there riding in the Cadillac. You know, candy paint come on somebody. You know, trying to, trying to learn how to do this thing. So then at the point it seemed backwards to some people that were, like you, leaving this good job making all this money? To go to college like you, making more than people in college.
Speaker 1:That's gonna come out of college making you.
Speaker 2:But I like no, I got a. If I said it in my heart that it's nothing else I want to do, I want to do music. I'm going to do music and during this time I met this prophet. I was doing secular music, met this prophet. My mom was like, let's go to this prayer meeting and it's at noon, noon day prayer. You know, and can't tell moms, no, you just go. You know what I'm saying, cause I grew up in church. I went, you know, I got a feel to Lord. I just was doing what I wanted to do, exactly you know what I'm saying. Like most people, we just going to do that. I'm going to just do it.
Speaker 2:We just going to lick it camera one like most people. So I went to this, this, uh, this meeting, and I meet the guy. He was like God, I'm going to train you for the business of music. I'm. I'm like first time I ever encountered a prophet, right, first time. And he was like I also see, uh, you dancing in the fire and God ain't letting you get burned. I was like, oh Lord, I said, well, god is ready. You see me in these clubs, all, all the clubs. If you got club, you know what I'm saying. And uh, so I knew it had something to do. And then, even though I went and living all the way right, I had, I put faith in, like I said, oh God actually behind this, but I didn't have sense enough to know that he wasn't behind the lifestyle, but he had a purpose.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So the music business and the way that I got in the school was crazy. You know what I'm saying. But y'all got to watch the documentary to see that. That's all right. You know what I'm saying. Look, I'm going to plug it. We're going to plug things. Today. It's caffeinated conversations. Come on One for the work, all right. So you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:The music business when I was learning things, it was weird because I did so much digging before I went to school and the only things that really stuck out to me was the paperwork aspects, not the strategies, because the strategies you kind of had a handle on that. I had a handle on it and when I was in school, I started working for a record label. They was with BMG and Sony and I was so good it was like we want to put you over our TV and internet promotions. So I think I'm 20 or 21 at the time, making $70 an hour with this record label, traveling with them and I'm just seeing what they're doing and studying. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:They're doing in the music business and the Galvatore label was a writer for CC Wine and BB Wine and Vanessa Bell Armstrong like a ton of gospel people and that's how he made all this money to open this label. And then, with those connections, that's how he got his deal. So then I'm like it's not the talent per se, it's the relationships. You get the right relationships, just like what I said about ludicrous right relationships you getting in other doors. So it's like you got to go out and meet the people. So in my mind I'm like I got to go more places and meet more people to make more connections, to make things happen.
Speaker 1:So when you were saying about the paperwork aspect you talking about, like music publishing, music contracts- yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And the things to look out for. Because in my mind I'm like, okay, I'm eventually going to sign a deal with a label Because I'm in the publishing companies, they see me in there all the time, right, and I'm trying to run into people. So I'm like in Nashville that's where I went to school at, at Bell Mountain University. It's the place called Music Row. It's two streets and every big record label is on those streets, all of them. So I said eventually, while I'm at my publishing company, right, and I'm a running to somebody. So I know, in my mind I'm like, I know I'm going to get signed. So I got to know more about what this means with percentages and or what this mean with merchandising and synchronizing, and you know all of a sudden that everybody on now, I was on back early in my 20s.
Speaker 1:When you was doing all that, though, your mindset was was it to get like? I'm going to get in, like you say, like secular, because right now, for those that don't know, that are listening or watching that that you are a gospel?
Speaker 2:Christian hip hop artist Bar's for Jesus. Let me just barge for Jesus all day.
Speaker 1:So, but at that time you were initially learning all these concepts Right and your mind, your idea, was to do it in a non Christian manner. I could put it like that?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, yes yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, in the mainstream yeah.
Speaker 2:So it was a great thing to get visible. That's what I was doing. You know what I'm saying. I mean, I went and the weird part is, yeah, I was doing secular rap, but I'm a guy that never smoked, never drank anything. I was sober minded because I'm like I got to get the business Right. Sober mindedness prevents, if un sober mindedness prevents, you from seeing the big picture and you can get jipped and taking advantage of Quick, quick, real quick. That's why the majority of rappers they keep them under the influence so they miss a lot of stuff. Like you could steal a lot of money from people who you can, still a lot of money from drunk people, from high people. You, you high like you ain't gonna miss a couple of G's here, and there.
Speaker 2:Right, you know what I'm saying. You, you, you didn't see your manager come up with a new post. You're like man, man, that's, that's great, Like man, yeah, you pay for it. You pay for it, homie.
Speaker 1:So when you made your transition, did you think music was over? I did.
Speaker 2:When you know, like you, had your come to Jesus' morn? Yeah, I did. I did Cause I made a deal with him. I you know he, he got me out of a situation and I said if, if you get me out of this life threatening situation, I'll serve you. And he kept his word. He kept, he kept his end of the bargain. I said I'm going to keep mine. So I jumped into a, an apostolic church. We was church and church, and five hours, six hours, eight hours, and you got that intensive training. Oh yep, my pastor. Then, um, he was a revivalist.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:All he wanted to do is run revival. So you know what I'm saying. So I put the music down and I stopped listening to music, I stopped reading comics, I stopped watching TV. Yeah, you know, I went into this cocoon of all I was doing was praying, reading, fasting, trying to seek God, to see who it was. Because it was. It was more real to me then. Uh, then, ever in life, you know, because I would be. You know, I'm in these services and I'm seeing things. I'm seeing people get healed. I'm seeing like I'm feeling the presence of God, like physically right, like walking the service, and it's like the air feel different in here.
Speaker 2:You know just call it like a tangible thing, yeah, yeah. And then if the preaching get good, then it start getting smoky. I'm like you know, you just seeing stuff you ain't never seen before. You're like what, what is this? You know what I'm saying. So I put it all down. Then Then next thing, you know, I got ordained um as a minister, started doing prison ministry super heavy, fell in love with it and I think that's where God really kind of grew me up um in ministry, because I would be in the prisons maximum security prisons, p farms, uh, preaching every week, christmas, thanksgiving, I'm there, and you know, and that everybody at you know other people who was at the ministry there was like, oh, I want to go to the prison ministry. They didn't want to go, they didn't want to go, they didn't want to go unless the big pastor go yeah, and the big pastor ain't nobody going there Prison ministry ain't fair.
Speaker 2:Everybody yeah, it ain't fair everybody, you know what I'm saying. When, when them doors closed, with them gates, and you hit that and you look like ain't nobody getting out here until they let you out of here? You know, you get a little little shanky.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, yeah. So what'd you pick back up? First the comics, the now music? You picked that, the music first music Cause.
Speaker 2:um, I believe the Lord was like I didn't send you to learn all of that for nothing. Pick it up and do it for me. And at the time I knew nothing about the community of Christian rap. I just knew Stephen Wiley and I knew this guy named Ren Rock Ren Rock out of Vidalca, georgia, in a super country, super great man. You know what I'm saying. And he used to come to the church. I was at a rap and you know I'm back in my mind. I'm like, yeah, I used to rap, I used to spit.
Speaker 1:I was, I was I was.
Speaker 2:I was, I could have rolled with Wu Tang, we could have been a down south Wu Tang. And then, when the Lord spoke to me about picking it back up, you know what I'm saying I started buying equipment because I was like, well, god don't want me to rap, he want me to produce. The rapping is over. So I produced half of Ren Rock next album. Cause I told him what I did, and you know what I'm saying. I mean the beats wet and great, but he killed him. You know I ain't even gonna sit up here in front, but it was great to me at the time. But you know, listen back to it and it ain't age. Well, I was like what you gonna do? So so he was a big encouragement for me to keep going. And then later I opened God Chasers in 06. So I had another good job quit the job, cashed out my 401k, build a studio.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying. And then I linked up with my dude, reddy Ryder, and this guy named Javon, and they were like work horses, like I would be sending them beats. Like my beats was way better by then. You know what I'm saying. Brother had an NPC, a corg motif. Oh, yeah, the motif. Yeah, the motif I was killing. So then I would be making beats. I was spending 10 to 12 hours a day making beats and sending them beats and sometimes within an hour they send me back complete songs. So we was just stacking up the library. So we did this for a whole year. So in 2007, we released eight projects. You know what I'm saying Because we had so much content and I just had like a masterpiece mentality, like you remember, no Limit used to-.
Speaker 2:Dropping all the time. Every week it was a no Limit with a different color cover. You know what I'm saying. So I was like Lil Wayne at the time was flooding the streets with mixed tapes and I'm like it's a method to this. I'm like if you put out more content, you get more eyes. So that's in my promotion mind. I'm like put out album, put out another album, put out another album you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So it was like we just released more Go to places, send them to prisons, send them to boys' homes, send them to the orphanage, whatever. Yeah, because I remember you had.
Speaker 1:The one of your first albums was called 40 Yards.
Speaker 2:That was the first album.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for the prison industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I had so much love for the prisons that I was like I wanna send something to encourage the men and women that's locked down, cause a lot of them people they say to the bone. It took them being incarcerated but it don't matter. Like I'd rather be locked up here and go to heaven then, not be free and end up somewhere else. Yes, sir, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, we did a lot of work In 2007,. We released eight projects. 2008,. We released eight projects. In 2008, I released my first solo album, escape and Me, and you know I was so out of practice rapping. I was like man ain't nobody gonna listen to me.
Speaker 2:I just we just putting out more content, more content, right? And you know, and at the time I had a song called Solar Power with my homie D-Mop and we made a music video and that thing went berserk, like it was on the gospel music channel, it was on MTV, it was on BET, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, it was just it was going. You know what I'm saying. Next, thing I know I'm getting calls go places and you know what I'm like.
Speaker 1:I'm like well, man Cause your idea at the time was not to be the forefront guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause ready writer. Superb lyricist Javon at the time was superb rapper. Like I didn't need to be the front man. These dudes, I would put them up against anybody. You know what I'm saying. I would still put ready write up against anybody. I mean his pin game still stupid. Like it stayed like that. You know what I'm saying. So, but I was like, well, if I'm not the wordsmith and I'm not the rappers rapper, then I'm gonna be as entertaining as possible. So I was like I'm gonna make my concerts way better than everybody else. So my mind is like, okay, I hate JZ performances. I know, I know somebody's gonna be in the comments.
Speaker 1:Like don't come at the J. Well, he pretty stationary most of the time.
Speaker 2:He stays still. He walked back and forth. I'm like I hate this shows. You know what I'm saying? Like I wouldn't pay money for this. You know what I'm saying? Like give me a Busta Rhyme. Show he live, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Busta.
Speaker 2:Go, he go. So I put it in my mind I'm like nobody at the time. Christian rappers really perform in performing. So make sure your performances and your music is at a high level, because if you kill the performances you're gonna get invited back.
Speaker 1:Somebody gonna tell somebody else that he go and you wanna take in that marketing and that energy. So then you pick back up with the comics and next thing I know we had became friends. I started telling me you gonna be at this Comic Con. You gonna be here and there. I'm like what are you doing at the Comic Con with the CDs?
Speaker 2:Like what's going on so then, so that's fast forward. You kind of merge two things Like I did an album so I knew Black Panther movie was coming out. Right, I made a project, knowing that it was coming out. It was called Vibranium and what I did since I was going to these Comic Cons, I'm like in my mind, I'm like it's a community of people who, when they read comic books, they got a sense of spirituality, Because, you know, it's witchcraft and it's people with superpowers.
Speaker 2:It's all sorts of unsuperhuman things. You know what I'm saying In the Bible. You see superhuman things, samson, you know all that stuff. So I'm like man who is ministering to them, who is giving them the gospel. So when I made the Vibranium album I said it's a Comic Con gonna be in Chicago. I'm flying out there with my CDs and I was hitting with it and what's crazy is like a lot of the comic book shop owners love the album.
Speaker 2:It was hit me up there like hey, man, we got some comics for you, just send me another one of them, cds.
Speaker 1:I was like hey look, some of them comics, so I got you a.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some of them comics was like $150 that had signatures and all of that, like, yeah, go and ship them to you. Here's what I dress I got you. You know what I'm saying. So that was a strategy. You know what I'm saying Because I'm like it's an undercurrent, like Comic Con's is big, get it huge. I was at one. It was a dude came up flip-flops, a wine shirt. He was like, how much is that? Incredible, hawk fist. And I was like, oh, that one, that's $800. He pulled out and swiped and walked off.
Speaker 2:And I'm looking like $800 for the fist, for the fist, for the fist. I was like, okay, okay. So I knew it was cause people go there to spend money. You know what I'm saying. I wouldn't post it up selling my album. I wanted people to get it and be familiar with the music, and I know I put so much pop culture references in the way that I In the bars, in the bars.
Speaker 2:that now they like, it's undeniable, and they come back and say things that they picked up on. You met a lot of artists there too, right? Oh yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:So I saw like a lot of your album covers have like that high quality comic illustrations on them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the guys named Ken Lashley. He's a black brother in Canada and I think he is probably top three artists that's doing comic books right now. He's like one of the most sought after comic book artists. Like he do Star Wars, he's done Spawn. He's done Black Panther Shuri the story is Shuri when the sister of Black Panther. When she became Black Panther, they went to him to do the art and design for her. You know what I'm saying. So he High caliber.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Superman, spider-man, he do everything. You know what I'm saying. So I met him at a ton of Comic-Con's great dude man, real easy. But I know he pricey oh yeah, he pricey Woo, I mean he and high demand. So you know he can raise the bar like that. But he know what I do.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying. So we had some conversation. I was trying to get him for this album that's called Reverse and Tomorrow Couldn't do it this other album called Throw the Crown. He couldn't do it and I said it's my last attempt. I said, hey, man, I've been trying to get you for years.
Speaker 2:Right and he agreed to do it and he said look, i'ma look out for you. He said it's gonna be far from free. It's gonna be far from free, save your money. But you know he did it. You know what I'm saying. And it was such a blessing because to have this brother, who do Batman and Superman and Spider-Man, who do all the big covers, come and do one of my covers was crazy, and actually that's the cover.
Speaker 1:Okay, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:It's before he cracks the sky. Before he cracks the sky, Before he cracks the sky. Okay, he did the cover. He killed it. I'm still waiting on the original art to hang up. So, Ken, if you're watching, I love you. Let me get that art. Come on, some like it. I'ma send this to her. Like I talked about you, he said come on some more. Come on, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man so yeah, it's the comic book journey been a blessing. And you mentioned wrestling too. And man, it's the last I say, bro, the last two, three years being such a blessing, how God been opening up doors for me. Man, music wise like I I'm on. I got contacted by all elite wrestling a double, yeah, tony Khan wrestling company, the music supervisor who do all the wrestling themes. You know we was talking back and forth here like I got something for you, just hold tight, okay. And I held tight and it took him nine months to Took him nine months, but he got at me and he was like we doing a Things for all the black wrestlers.
Speaker 2:Okay and it's like can you do something like this, can you make the beat to? What he didn't know is that I don't take long to do music. Okay, I made the beat, did the hook, the verses in two hours and sent it to send it right back. Mmm. He was like hey man, who are you? I'm somebody who ready, right. Then he was like Can you do another? I said for who? So he told me I researched the wrestler, did another. I think that was three hours. He was like man, this is crazy machine machine.
Speaker 2:So I end up doing in that setting for songs. One of the songs was on One of their biggest paper views. Okay, you know I'm saying so. It was like 60,000 people in arena and this lady, this lady named Serena deep, I did her song with my homie cut right and it was crazy. I bought the paper view just to hear, just so you can hear, to walk in.
Speaker 2:It's, and then turn around dog, and All four of them songs is on a video game, oh man. So you know. I'm saying like one swoop, you want you on TV, mm-hmm, you're on a paper view, hmm, and you're on a wrestling video game, man. You know, I'm saying who, who would have thought you know? I'm saying, and then they just hit me up again. I'm doing another one for another wrestler. So I'm like that's, that's crazy.
Speaker 1:That is crazy. But you're getting to the. You're getting to the Japanese big-time wrestling too, though, don't you? Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, new Japan wrestling. Yeah, when I was in Japan a few last month I went to a new Japan wrestling like my goal is To go to. Let me see how many big wrestling organizations I've been to live WWF, wcw, ecw, impact wrestling, a W, of course, in New Japan wrestling and it's independent USWA seedling, so I didn't bend the like eight wrestling corporations.
Speaker 2:You know I'm saying promotions and yeah, the Japanese wrestling was hardcore. The crowd is different. You know, I'm saying, when you do a reverse they clap, and I'm like oh, y'all notice that too, like you know regular people, they're just like ah. I like the tech, technical part. You know I'm saying I like the Kurt Angle, Bret Hart wrestling like you do a maneuver, Somebody reverse the maneuver. You know I'm saying a little a little spark Going on almost chain.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, yep. So yeah, man, I enjoy it Big into Japan, japanese culture, been learning Japanese for for three years and I'm still. I still feel like I'm. I'm in kindergarten. Okay, they'll feel like I don't know that. Hold on. So you are.
Speaker 1:You went to Japan a couple times and you know, you wrapped over there too, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I wrap. The first time I went at this church called New Hope, tokyo, mm-hmm. This time I wrapped in Tokyo, kyoto, in Osaka.
Speaker 1:Oh man, that's crazy. So what's what got you in the Japanese culture? Was it the comics? You like anime, you just kind of like the movies or what, what's going on people?
Speaker 2:people usually say as anime for me was kung fu movies, okay, black belt theater, brother Yo yo, yo South coming out, you said kung fu, kung fu. Yeah, man, like when I was, when I was young dude, you know when, when, when you had the order, the movies and just and get them. Like it's this Movie called Chinese super ninjas. Okay, it took me two years to find this movie when.
Speaker 2:I got it. I was like this, this the greatest kung fu movie I've ever seen in my life. And and I was big enough, bruce Lee, big enough. Five deadly venoms. Whoo blame Wu Tang, blame Wu Tang we gonna blame umbrellas. You know I'm saying shout out there. I used to be a big Wu Tang fan, you know I'm saying and in the kung fu movies, and I just loved the techniques and.
Speaker 1:Japanese big on the samurai right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah, I got a samurai outfit. You know I'm saying I went over there and got one, why not?
Speaker 1:You got it. You got a tailor-made or you bone off the wreck.
Speaker 2:now I got teller made. Look, I say the money. I said I'm a gov, enjoy every part of every day, you know I'm saying you got to celebrate and enjoy life, you know.
Speaker 1:I'm saying I'm gonna put the shoulder pads in there and be the show gun of Jacksonville.
Speaker 2:I know, I got the shoulder pad. If you gonna do it, you gotta go all the way with it, you gotta commit this thing I like, look, I Like the little show gun outfit I got, I got. I got the whole show enough. I got my show enough. Oh man, I got glow I came back with the glow.
Speaker 1:Who's the mask? Who's?
Speaker 2:the mask. Kiss my converse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, yeah, you tell me something interesting. No, you said you got the Rap in the bamboo forest right, right, it was a.
Speaker 2:It was a guy there he was. He was honest you know how to steal drums looking a Caribbean Mm-hmm. He had it Upside down and it looked like a turtle sail and he was just going off doing his thing. Then he seen me in the corner as I mm-hmm and then he started just doing like a rap beat. I like one white did that.
Speaker 1:But he started. He started hitting with the rap beat yeah man and it was dope.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh Shoot. So I just I just went over there by my, started freestyling, and usually when I'm rapping my eyes are closed. Nobody know that.
Speaker 2:You know I'm saying cuz I always have shades on my eyes usually be closed and I look up, you got 60 people got their phones up and then I get to share the gospel with some people, and People like what's your Instagram? Yeah, so you, you know, you just you just don't know what the gift can do, right, you know, and a guy he Was our guide paid for God and he said that was the greatest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1:I don't like do you capping me up?
Speaker 2:I was swelling your head, just just tell me it was cool. You know, I'm saying then he was like well, I Never seen a black American Mm-hmm rap with my own eyes. Hmm, usually on TV, yeah, usually on TV. And then he was like I'm gonna tell everybody about it.
Speaker 1:Hmm.
Speaker 2:He was like I'm gonna tell my kids this was one of the greatest moments because the the guy that was his business, like that's all he do. He meet people and you know, take him around, take him around and you know he was real the Japanese coach and the people of really wonderful people, you know. I'm saying really unchurched people but wonderful people. Yeah, you know I'm saying so. You know I was happy to get a chance to hit him with some gospel bars. That's dope. Yeah, man, that's dope.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, man, you been man, I know you traveled to Alaska, you done been all over man and, like I said, like two cups is about one foot awake, one foot of work, and you definitely been putting in the work, the wake. I mean you definitely get inspiration, you've been doing things outside the box. But what do you say? Like in this day where everything is is fast and it's quick and we have a lot of creatives that you know kind of sometimes put down their creativity because they have to make a living or they don't get the financial return, the expectation now from the internet, from the, from TV, from everything, is like if you're gonna do something, you'll. Success is measured by how rich you get, how fast you get it. Doing that, what you know you're actually gifted to do, a lot of people quit, they throw in a towel. And what would be your encouragement and in the process to get them there, if you had just say you pull a young guy to the side, or young lady.
Speaker 2:I think. I think being Able to live off of what you love is Most important to most people.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm and if and if that's the case, then you got to find how many Streams of income can I pull from this thing? Okay, like, say, if somebody wanted to do music, it's so many streams. It's a stream for writing for other people, making beats for other people, drawing up contracts for people. If you got a brain like that, it's touring, it's merchandising, it's different types of merchandising, like, if you're an author, how many times can you speak? How many times can you do a book tour? How many books can you write? Can your book turn into a course? Like, how many streams of income can you make from this one thing?
Speaker 2:And I think people are so fixated on the one thing they don't look at the avenues that you have that you can do. Like, if you're an artist, you can get paid for a performance. You know what I'm saying From publishing. Most people don't know that. You know what I'm saying. So it's so many streams. What I had to do was draw up every stream of income that I can generate and explore all of them and go after all of them and if one, whichever one, is the highest return with the least amount of work, you do that least amount of work for that high return and then go to the other ones. So they're all working together. Because I've learned it's not one thing, it's a combination of multiple things working together to make the thing work.
Speaker 2:And when people quit, they quit because of pressure Rather it's financial pressure, rather it's people not believing in you. Pressure, rather it's you not seeing traction. Pressure. Your consistency will reveal who you really are. Okay, you know everybody can come up with an idea, but the I'm looking for when the excitement in the commitment got to kick in. Okay, you know you got to do this thing. When you're not excited, when you're not encouraged, when you're not at your peak moment Right. And if you really got faith, like I believe I'm called to do this, right. So I got extra on my work ethic because I believe God is behind what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:Right, you know what I'm saying and he showed me over and over. You know what I'm saying. But, in a natural sense, if you can't believe in yourself, you're not going to believe in your work ethic, you're not going to believe in your product and you're not going to be consistent in doing it?
Speaker 1:And how do you identify people that you allow to give you advice or speaking to your life, or somebody that could potentially open a door? But you don't want to ask them to open a door, you just want to find out how the door was open for them.
Speaker 2:Well, for me, taking advice from people, I got to ask myself do I want to trade lies with them? And if the answer is no, I don't need, I don't want to listen Like, do I want to trade lies with you? Not just what I see on the outside, but how are they relationships? Are you a millionaire with no friends? Are you somebody who is successful in your relationships, intact, like people, always like you know? That's the guy who helped open this door for me. You know what I'm saying. You got people character because your character going to take you in rooms, talent not going to take you. I feel that you know what I'm saying. So, and for people looking to get things, I would say this if you want advice from people, pay them.
Speaker 1:So now you're getting the consultation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pay them and people just want to get free advice, stuff, not free. You know, the sewing and reaping effect is even true in business. You hear people in business that they'll say I paid for this masterclass, I paid for this and that, and it's not just the monetary return, it's them, you know, giving out so they can get back. You know what I'm saying. So the best thing to do to people, if they give you good advice, find a way to bless their life again.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:I feel that Because somebody said the anointing you respect is the one that you sew into and you take a part of. Okay, you know what I'm saying. So the wisdom that you want to have, you got to invest in that. Put money towards that. Put money towards wisdom. If you got a product and you looking at somebody like a Mark Cuban, find his masterclass, Find the products and you might not never meet him, but you can get information and insight that the normal person won't get. And if you don't have no money, just watch a Shark Tank for about three years straight, You'll get. You'll get. That'll stir it up Shark.
Speaker 1:Tank.
Speaker 2:Man Shark Tank. I have you out here creating all types of stuff. You didn't have a robot that could make water out of plastic. No, that's great man. That's great advice.
Speaker 1:I know. Also, one of my models is that I never work with nobody that I think is whack or that think that I'm whack.
Speaker 2:Listen, listen, listen. He told me this years ago and it revolutionized the way that I do music with people and I tell people it all the time I am not paying you a cent to be on a song with me. If you think I'm wet, that's right. I'm not paying for nothing. I'm not gonna if you don't like what I do, even even though we're in the same space and and I feel like I Don't feel like I know this, I, I respect everybody. I tried I root for people, but when I don't get it back, I can still root for you. I mean, I'm gonna work with you, right? Yeah, that, that bit of advice. I've taken that and used it for years.
Speaker 1:That's all right. Yeah, man, I stand by that man, yeah, yeah. Like I don't care if you, how big, a great you are you know, if we working together like kind of sense, like you trying to play me like kind of like a little guy in me or brushing me, shout out to pass the swing. At that point I'm just like no, I'd rather not not not start that relationship Right, because I know it's not gonna be fruitful, because both of our hearts not in. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and, and, and, and. You work too hard For people to try to poo poo on what you do. You know, I'm saying I wish somebody would come, come on a on caffeinated conversations, two cups cafe, and try to play, and try to play you. It's gonna be the worst interview because you're gonna sit and be like, well, we can wrap this.
Speaker 1:Well, we got an outtake.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm saying like you, just then, you don't. You don't know where this is gonna go. This might turn to some sort of documentary like a Toledo documentary. Oh, that might be something to leave.
Speaker 1:I know it's a.
Speaker 2:Toledo film festival because I submitted to it. Did you oh?
Speaker 1:We might as well talk about uh, plug the documentary and plug the um. Your latest project, man, before we get out of here.
Speaker 2:Hmm man I don't want to stop talking. Okay, I, before we start doing some plug, let's let me shout out some people. I know this is a first. I want to shout out Coree, the precise.
Speaker 1:Oh man, let's I want.
Speaker 2:I want to shout out canine. I want to shout out ready writer. And let's see straight an oatmeal, the Naz writing. I want to shout out Christian hip-hop. I want to shout out Uh, the tabernacle. You know I'm saying what, what, what's, what's the past? The name who started the tabernacle? Arville Garrett. We need to shout him out. You might not never watch this, but we gonna shout him out anyway. You know we got. I want to shout the whole Jackson clan. You know I heard yesterday supposed to be a family, Family probably yes.
Speaker 2:This is a family podcast. We're gonna shout her out. This is for the family. We shout you out Uh, who else we got? We got? A shout out heaven. They gonna be like what is wrong with him. We shout not hold Toledo. Just, this was for Ohio, this for Ohio, yeah, man. So, uh, the documentary, god Chase's documentary. You can get it at God Chase's G O D C, h A S E R Z, dot D O C, dot com. Not the D O C who's to wrap with N W A D O C. Just God Chase's dot com. And you know that's the best place to get it from us because, um, it's from our site. And uh, just just to say this, going back to business a little bit, for creatives, I think one of the best things for you to do is create a hub in the landing, in the landing spot, that people buy directly from you, like yes, my music is on apple, yes, my music is on spotify, but Steve jobs ain't helped me write nothing and he getting 30%.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Your own hub, you get 100% okay. So God Chase is, the documentary is on apple tv. You know I'm saying so. People can get it there, but I prefer them to go to Godchasescom. So you know the proceeds go directly to here. You know what I'm saying. So the documentary, it won 64 awards globally, you know what I'm saying. And in different communities it's a christian film but you know, uh, a lot of other communities, you know, who don't agree with the christian faith. Right, it won awards and they still respect the work.
Speaker 2:They still respect them. They respect the work and they respect good storytelling because it's a great story. You know I'm saying about how, you know, we, we, we develop this label out of obscurity and and God just took us around the world with it and we not the the biggest christian hip hop rappers in the genre, but God has been able to to make us do big moves. You know I'm saying even though it don't seem like we the biggest ones, but a lot of times we're the first that people ever hear of right, you know I'm saying, and we're effective in what we do. You know I'm saying so, since I started rapping, I'm a way better rapper than I once was.
Speaker 1:Like, you know I'm, I feel like I'm top five you know I'm saying in my mind, you know I'm saying I feel like I'm top five and I ain't four, four or five.
Speaker 2:So you know, I'm saying I might be three. We can make some cases you know I'm saying look, got some rings and some awards.
Speaker 2:Look any rapper out there who want to do a verses with me. I got I'm 11 album just deep. Come on with it. We. I'm 11 deep and it's 12. You know I'm saying so. Here we go. So you know the documentary been doing numbers. It's been doing good. It's really been blessing people.
Speaker 2:Um, I think the best compliments that I've heard is how it increased people faith in their belief in themselves to do their dream. You know I'm saying so. That's that's one of the best compliments. Outside, that they felt the power of god on it. So that that's the best compliment. But the other one is Encouraging people that you can believe in yourself, believe in your craft, believing the dream that you got in your heart right and then you can go forth. And the more constant you are with it, the more doors are opening, more you can figure it out. You. You've the doing right is figuring it out. You figure it out as you do, not A lot of planning to keep you stagnant. You got to start doing. You got to work. You got to work, put your, put your hands in the dirt.
Speaker 1:You got to do it, man. Put your hands in the dirt and we can talk so long.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we can talk so long. Yes, sir, yes, sir, yes sir, that's powerful man, yeah, man.
Speaker 1:So this your 11 studio albums you got coming out right now. No, this number 12. It's number 12. It's number 12.
Speaker 2:It's called uh, lower prepared table, mm, and I'm getting an award this uh, this friday, this saturday, at uh kingdom choice awards in um, new york city, and it's like a lifetime achievement award for christian help. You know, I'm saying you know, uh and the half, I've been dropping albums the last eight years once a year, so I've just been consistently doing it. You know, I'm sending number 12. I feel like it's my purple rain album, because I'm, yeah, because you know I'm doing, I'm doing more than rapping, I'm going, I'm going to other places, you know I'm taking.
Speaker 2:You know when, when, when you, when you've wrapped and did so many songs, it's like man, you got to take Creative risks. Okay, you know, I'm saying so. I'm, I'm being a risk taker. I'm jumping out there playing. I said I'm gonna make music like nobody's looking. So you know, I'm saying it's, it's, that's the best stuff come out though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, not trying to follow. No, no blueprint, no template, you just you just exploring what, what's inside of you. That's dope.
Speaker 2:This and this is what I've been telling myself Music business wise, creative wise, it ain't no rules.
Speaker 1:Hmm.
Speaker 2:It ain't no rules. Like what's the rule? Like I pressed up the album. It probably not gonna come out until like december, but I pressed them up and I had them out here selling them. You know, I'm saying, and they was like well, why ain't coming there? Ain't no rules.
Speaker 2:I just felt like it, I could do it. It's my label, I ain't no rules, it's no rule, but you just, you just do it like you know. You could do Two minutes of these conversations, just have a line of people coming and do speed interviews there ain't no rules of this thing. Right, it's whatever it's in your heart to do. You know I'm saying so. Y'all about to get some reels out of this one.
Speaker 1:Let's do it, it's real you know, I'm saying Well, you know I can't hold you too long because we gotta go to the airport. Hmm, you know, last time you was in detroit you had A little. Had a little snack food, they thought.
Speaker 2:I was. They thought I was a drug dealer. You're taking picture with nuns with your chains on and these big brothers looking like your bodyguards.
Speaker 1:You got 50 000 on you.
Speaker 2:I wish they had the guns on me man, that's true story.
Speaker 1:That's true story. So we gotta give them enough time to strip such a brother man Listen.
Speaker 2:I want you to know I'm proud of you, oh man, I just of this podcast. I hope you keep. I hope you have 200, 300 episodes. You know, I'm saying I just, I just pray that you, just you, you invest more into it. It's great conversations. I learned a lot from the brothers who you have on here. You know I'm saying like I would, I would challenge you to Do, do something out the box. Okay, bring heaven in here in in grilla. See, because she, when I was talking to I like, oh, she, she kind of brilliant and.
Speaker 2:She got another outlook. You know, I'm saying like it is, it's good, you got the t-shirt, y'all, y'all, go ahead by y'all, two cup. You know, I'm saying the merch, don't get that merch. We're gonna plug merchant up in here, we're gonna plug the merch. So, man, thank you for having me, brother, no doubt, man, yeah, yeah, and y'all, y'all, y'all go to, uh, godchasercom and you can pick up some albums and some merch you got a bunch of it.
Speaker 2:You know I'm saying it's a bunch of albums. They were like I don't got CDs. Well, you know you could download on the site we. We that know. Excuse, ministry.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I just want to thank everybody for tuning in. Man, this has been One of my favorite episodes by fire man. Just just getting chance to hang out with these brothers always brings out the lighter side of me and till.