Cory Henry: Grammy Win, The Church Experience, and Why He's Done With the Music Industry

We sit down with Grammy winner Cory Henry for a real talk on calling, church culture, and what it costs to keep creating at the highest level. He connects faith, freedom, and artistry, then gets brutally honest about burnout, streaming payouts, and why he’s ready to retire from the music industry but not from music. 

Cory is a Grammy-winning musician, composer, and the creator of The Church Experience, a monthly residency at the Miracle Theater in Inglewood, CA. He grew up in Brooklyn playing organ by age three, performed at the Apollo by six, and has spent over 30 years navigating the tension between the church world he came from and the wider world he always knew he was called to.

In this conversation, Jasmine and Cory go deep on the church kid experience from the inside: what it's like to have your gift controlled by church leadership, how to separate God from the people who claim to represent him, and what it looks like to build your own version of ministry when the traditional path wasn't built for you.

They also get into the Grammy reality check, why Cory is walking away from the music industry (not music), the math that makes streaming unsustainable for independent artists, and what he's looking for in a wife. (Spoiler: she needs to have her own money.)

If you grew up in church and ever felt like your gift was managed, minimized, or misunderstood, this one's for you. Be sure to share this out with a musician or artist that can relate. 

#TheePKPod #Cory Henry #Podcasts #Music

Transcript

Welcome And Corey Lands In

SPEAKER_02 0:14

We are back with another episode of the PK Pod, where we all have platforms, but they may not be the pulpit. Hello, somebody.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hello, somebody.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

But today we are in the pulpit. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

With the chief apostle, the Grammy winner. The musician extraordinaire, composer, singer. I'ma say he got a little oil on him in the preaching category, too. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Because many are called, a few are chosen. Y'all make some noise for the legendary Corey Henry.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Thank you, thank you, thank you. So glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

You know what? This is just a momentous occasion. Because I have been harassing Corey. I said, friend, I know you don't like talking on podcasts, but it's me.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

The devil tried to block it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

He tried to block it, but God.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

But God, we made it. After several attempts.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

After several attempts, he is literally fresh off an airplane. Yeah. But he still made it. So I'm so grateful.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Glad to be here. Thank you for it. Thank you for having patience with me. Oh, patience is a virtue. Oh, I bet. Especially with me.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

I've been your friend long enough to know. If you are a friend of Corey's, you have to have patience. Yes, because we love him.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Yes, because he loves me.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Because if I didn't love him, oh he would not be here. But God. She said, this is your final chance. This is this is your final.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

He said, All right, I'm ready. I got to be here. I cannot be on the PK Pod. Come on now. I did hit you with the final attempt. I did, I did. That scared me a little bit. I was like, we might not be friends after this. If I don't make it, I better get there. Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

I'm so glad that you did.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah, me too. Me too.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

And we gotta talk because there's a lot going on.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

A lot going

Brooklyn Roots And Early Genius

SPEAKER_00 2:09

on.

unknown 2:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

First of all, you are a New Yorker.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Brooklyn.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Brooklyn.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Where Brooklyn at? Where Brooklyn at. Okay, so wait, what part of Brooklyn?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Best Eye. Best Eye.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Okay. Not too much. Okay, so Best Eye, you literally, I want to say you came out the womb playing instruments because, like, who plays instruments at the age of two? Like at age two, you came out just like, hmm, piano. Hmm, people. Like.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Like, what? And was on the Apollo stage by six? Corey, like, are you human? Are you human like me?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Yes, very much. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Like, what in the world?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

How? Uh get it from my mama.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

You get it from your mama.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

And my mama was the one that put me in all the game at a very young age. She was uh uh the lead musician in the my family church, uh choir director and the whole thing. And she showed me my first song at the age of three, which was Amazing Grace. And um and just yeah, like she just she put me on game, you know. I don't even like I don't know. I I I I couldn't do this myself. But uh by the grace of God, thank God, and um and my mama, um I'm where I'm at today.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

She literally put you on.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

And it stuck.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, jazz songs, gospel songs, uh, R and B songs, like the whole thing. You know, she she was uh she was really cool with Hezekiah Walker and all the like big people in New York back in the day, and took me to all their concerts and uh yeah, got me to the Apollo. Um I mean, yeah, just so much that happened in the first seven years. Seven years of my life. Um my first viral moment at Memphis convocation. Um I had posted a picture not too long ago with uh uh Reverend Dar Darryl Coley and Richard Smallwick. And it was at the Memphis Convocation where uh Bishop Ford had told them to bring the organ down just so I could play it. It was just like so many amazing things since I can remember. I just this is all I know is just the life of music and um Yeah, life of music, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Did you ever like at any point growing up that I don't want to do music, I'm interested in anything else or what?

Basketball Dreams And Gamer Alternate Life

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Okay, absolutely. Really basketball.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Basketball.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I played basketball every day. I used to dribble a ball at a school.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

In the morning, and then back home, we used to go to the park right after school, two, three hours, met played on the uh uh uh Westworth team, JV team. So uh and if I didn't hurt my finger before like a major gig, I was about 16 years old, I probably would have pursued it a little better, harder. Cause I went to uh Abraham Lincoln is where Stefan Marbury went.

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

And I was kind of gone for basketball. Like I was kind of like, I mean, music was still the thing, but um I was so in the streets and playing basketball every day that and I wanted to be like Kobe. So yeah, I could have I don't know if I would have been Kobe, but like I could have definitely like made the I could have made the bench in the NBA. You know, I'd have been good enough.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

We would put you on the bench.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yeah, you know what I mean? You know, ride the liquor bench. It's a little bit much. But you you know, we have to be confident. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I gotta be confident. So I take his confidence to music. Okay, you know, and I used to practice like like uh what I heard and read that he did, you know, like wake up three in the morning, you know, and on the keyboard or you know, just practicing that studio sessions. Matter of fact, I just had a 16, I just got off of a 16-hour studio session. Like 16 hours before this morning. Like I left the studio at four this morning, went home packed, got on a plane to to make it here, you know what I'm saying? So like I think I'm Kobe in my mind. Yeah, but I probably wouldn't have been Kobe on the court, but I it's the Mamba mentality. The Mamba mentality, yeah, yeah. I live by that a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

That's good though. Okay, so you grew up basketball and music, but also another thing.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Tell me I would have been a gamer. If I would have known that video games would have been making money and people making millions of dollars, I would have never gone on tour. You would have never seen me lingus, and none of that stuff would have never happened. I'd have been at my house playing video games. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Because what?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Because what?

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Can you believe though that people actually watch video games? Like that's like the thing. Like you log in and watch somebody play video games.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

I do it, and I have Twitch and people watch me now, and not a not a lot, not a large uh community of people, but you know, the moment that my Twitch starts popping, I'm I'm retired. I'm already like midway retired. You know, I was like, I can't believe video games is making millions of dollars on people just watching. Man, yeah. Like what?

SPEAKER_02 6:48

But no, because they would tell us you've been on the game too long. You gotta get off and do something. What? And now look at them. Millionaires. That's a good point, Corey. No, for real. Okay. All right, okay, good to know. Good to know. Yep, nope, nope, nope that's good to know.

Church Music, World Calling, And God

SPEAKER_02 7:05

So growing up, obviously you grew up in church. Did you know though, like church is going to be the foundation of, you know, music for me? Or was it like, nah, I'm exposed to so many different genres, like you said, like jazz and RB and things like that. So you were already open as a at a young age, or was it like, nah, something about this church music that is just really calling me here?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

It's a dual answer. Okay. When I was young, short story, the assistant pastor at my family church came up to me after one of the services and said, I had to be four, five, six years old. No older than five or six years old. And and and um they was calling me Master Corey back in the day. It's so crazy.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Really?

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Because I was only playing for like three years, I only knew like three songs, but people uh love what I was doing so much. They was putting me up in ways that I didn't know. But I saw I saw some flyers not too long ago um and some videos about that time. But with this assistant pastor asked me a question, said, When you get older, are you gonna play for the church of the world? And instinctively, like without like seconds even going by, at five years old, I was like, the world. The world. And he's like, No, you're not, you're gonna be in church. You're you're gifts for God. You know, like I was like, the world! Like something about that answer just made sense to me at five years old.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

And as a grown- Not you a prophet at five, the world.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Literally, 800, please.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

That's crazy. You knew instinctively.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

I did though. Uh what I didn't know is how much I was gonna love church music in the process. Um, I stopped playing in church uh uh around the age of 18 or so, 19, for a lot of different reasons, whatever. Uh but um when I came back to the sound and like the feeling and the fellowship of it all, um I known at that point that like church has been a part of a big part of my life. The music of it has been a part, a big part of my life. The spirit of it has been a big part of my life. Uh and even though I left church, I never left God.

SPEAKER_03 9:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

So uh I'm glad to be able to be doing both of those things as it stands today, you know, to be playing across the world, sharing a message, uh, sharing music, um, and seeing it touch people in ways that I wouldn't even know. I wouldn't even known or guessed or even like I'd even set out to do that. I was like, wow, people telling me some of the nicest things about how music is touching them. Um but when I was a kid, I tell you like kind of like what you see me do at the church experience, it was like those are the dreams I was having out when I was five years old. To be like Yeah You know, uh I I knew I was gonna be doing that somehow. I thought I'd be doing it a little bit differently because I grew up in church. Um but I thank God that I'm not, you know, because uh God knew the plan for my life and um uh the fact that I can do ministry, quote unquote my way, is really saving me and fulfilling me and making me feel better about all the things I do musically.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

So I love that.

When Control Quenches The Spirit

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Okay, but I have to go back. You said that you stopped playing in churches around 18 or 19. What made you stop playing in church?

SPEAKER_00 10:19

Oh, that's probably a long that would take the rest of the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Ah just go We don't have time for the time.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

We don't have time, huh? But uh uh I noticed at a young age certain things that I didn't like about church, especially being a musician, especially being in the back rooms with pastors, being on the road with pastors, uh, being at other people's churches, the whole thing. Um one of the main things I I can really talk about that is my own experience without trying to ruffle anybody's feathers. Um and this is one of the things I think about as I started my church thing. Now, uh when I was 16, there was a moment in my family church that really changed my life. Um up until the age of 16, I was trained as a musician to play, you know, if if somebody shouts over here, and then especially if somebody joins that shout, that means it's music time. It means it's time to go, let's go. And then that means everybody else gonna get up and shout. That's what I've seen in my life for 16 years straight. Um and there's been some moments where like, you know, if the past if the bishop gets up, Bishop Harmon, uh I went to a church called Unity Temple Culture Church in Brooklyn.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

And if Bishop Harmon got up and he stopped to shout, that's great. Okay. You go, yes. And people would still be like crying, but it'd be like he's trying to get to the next point. Okay, cool. But if anybody else did that, the assistant pastor on down, or anybody, evangelist, deacon who if anybody else did that, I always felt there was a big problem with that. Like the pastor could stop me because it's the pastor's church. And at 16, I understood this. I I knew what was going on. But uh, I never forget somebody got up and started shouting, and and I'm looking, I'm playing, you know, I'm looking at the drummer, like, let's go, we're going. And uh one of my favorite ladies of all time, God bless her, actually just went on to be with the Lord, but Mother Tate. Mother Tate got up in the mic and was like, Stop! And I was like, All right, so we might like stop for like two minutes or something like that. But then somebody else got up and was like, So I was like, okay. She was like, and then she walked over to the organ and flipped the switch on me and like turned the organ off. I was like, I looked at my grandmama, my grandma's like in the second row, looking at Marty Lane maybe one of my cousins or you know, young people. I was like, I got up my coat and walked out. I was so bothered that she wouldn't let me play.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

And I've seen that in church as a culture numerous times in big services, small services, whatever. It's like the spirit could be high, and people are dancing, crying, whatever, on the floor, whatever. And one guy would get up and want to control the entire experience. And I was just like, I even then I felt the same way. But now that I'm older, I feel even more of that thing. Like, I'm supposed to be here to like praise God.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

So like liberty to do that.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

At any point, we can't do this in the club.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

We can't do this at the at the judge, at the court. We can't do this at restaurants, we can't, you know, it's like you come to church to do that. So I was always bothered by that. That was one of the main things that made me want to stop playing in church. Because I was like, don't stop me from playing, you know? And um, yeah, that's one of the things.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

That's heavy, but it happens.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

It happens. It happens way too often.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Exactly. It happens way too often, and we don't talk about it. Right. And at least you have the wisdom now to understand, like, okay, obviously this the person, it's not necessarily something that God knows. Right. But a lot of times people don't know how to separate the two, and then they just leave the church and be like, Well, my church experience, you know what I mean? Just because of people, man. Like people trying to control, which is a whole nother topic that I'm not even about to do on this one because listen. See what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

As soon as you ask that question, I was like, we're about to go.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

I don't even know you didn't even about to stop this controlling spirit. Stop it.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Just all the way around. Church should be like more than that, especially at this point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

And it's not that you can't have structure and order.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

But don't quench the spirit either.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Don't quench the spirit. God is bigger than our boxes and our religions and our like time that we think people He's bigger than that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

So okay, so you have referenced the church experience already twice.

Why The Church Experience Starts In LA

SPEAKER_02 14:59

So I feel like I need to talk about it here, although I was gonna do it in a different segment.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

But it's been on my mind, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

It's been on in your mind because we're coming up on the one-year anniversary this weekend. By the time you guys see that this, it'll already be the one-year anniversary. Yeah. So, oh my lady Gaga, Corey Henry. You decided to start a residency right here in Los Angeles at the Miracle Theater in Inglewood. And it has been phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Like, what led you to literally want to start this?

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Uh it's been in my heart for a long time. Um, it's been in my heart for a long time. I've been in transition, as I kind of stated earlier, about retiring from the music industry.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

And um, and I still want to be creative and I still want to be in front of people. Uh, I don't really want the musicality of what I've built to change. And uh and literally I was just like praying to God about like what am I supposed to be doing next. Um I've been burnt out on burning out from all touring experiences. No matter how long or short it is, it's all just like a lot a lot and too much. And God was like, do this. Literally. Uh we've ran the church experience in New York a few times, okay, but we didn't make it consistent like we're doing LA. Um and I honestly thought that this thing would have been in New York first, and then I could come to LA and do things, whatever, because New York is home and all these things. But no.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

I started to think a year ago in LA, and everybody in New York and around across the world, they're like, What are you doing? I can't believe that you're still out there. But I'm like, no, I've been called to do ministry in LA. Right? Like, like the fact that we're at the Miracle Theater, the people who surrounded themselves by it, it was like, it was all God. It was all God. It happened like this. Um, and um, and just in the same frame of time where it's it's been a year like this. And um, I'm really excited about it. Uh get up for it any time and planning and thinking and practicing and doing whatever I can. We hit the news, we hit uh social media, we hit uh we hit everything, you know, to be getting this experience out and it's been successful. And I hope to bring it to more places, but I'm really excited because I didn't expect for it to be successful in LA because LA is a hard city to do anything in. Just like New York is, you know. Uh LA might be harder to me. Um, but I'm very excited. We got Pastor Kim Burrell coming in. Uh she's the greatest of all time. I'm really excited about that. I gotta learn her music right now. But uh yeah, it's it's it's I'm really excited about this year's anniversary. And I really don't get excited about anything. So the fact that I have a little bit of excitement is like, yeah, thank God.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Yes. It's exciting though. Yeah. Like the I've been to several of the shows, and you leave there with a certain type of joy.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

That's really not something that you get anywhere else. You know what I mean? And not even like, oh, well, I went to church today and then I got no, it's like it's a different type of just like joy of just like, I just feel good. It makes me happy. Like, I feel like I'm glad that I was here and that everybody here all came for the same reason, which is just to have a good time. You know what I mean? Without thinking or worrying about anything else besides being in the moment and letting the music move you.

SPEAKER_03 18:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Um, and so I think you really tapped into something for LA because like you said, LA is a hard hard city to do anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

And we come out to support you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

You alone. No, we come out to support you at the church experience because it's something that the city needed. And it's been so, I mean, every time I come, is somebody there with it. Stevie Wanderson in the audience, and it doesn't matter, like everybody just enjoys the freaking church experience.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

So crazy. Like, ah, Corey. It's so crazy. And unlike anything else I've ever done, like the experience stays with me days after. Like every time we have a Sunday uh church experience, I'll be full on Thursday. I I'll be looking at Instagram, looking at the clips or the people posting, and I'll be like riding in the car going to the other thing, like tears with my eyes. Like I'll like I just did it. Cause like like when I'm in experience, that's one exposure exposure part. But like afterwards, when I see it back, I'm like, I I don't know. And I'm I think I'm like that with a few of my performances most times, but like I don't know that I'm doing what I'm doing. Like I'll be looking at myself as if it was somebody else. And it really just I'm like, wow. The church experience specifically, those videos, I'm like, man, I'll be full for days afterwards. And I I don't have any other experience that that does that to me.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

I was just about to ask, like, have you felt like that with anything else that you've done?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

No.

SPEAKER_02 19:57

And would you say it's because it's something that God told you to do and that you feel like you tapped into that obedience.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Yeah, for sure. You know? Yeah, yeah. I played music in a lot of great spaces, church included. And and seen amazing and had amazing experiences all across, but something that is really deeply special and different about when I leave the church experience at the Miracle Theater. I'm just like, I can't take it. Especially Monday, like the next day, I'm like, I I try I I actually try not to watch the clips because like I'll be like, I can't take it. I gotta do something else.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

But then it's just like I see a clip or somebody was sending something like, yo, this moment was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

I'll be like, right.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

I gotta go up, man. It's been touching me tremendously.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

I feel like I can see you doing this in New York, but New York can wait. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I can also see this being something that's like streamed where people can actually tap into it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 20:57

We're gonna be streaming the church experience through the church experience out right so. So uh I'm looking forward to it. I'm I come on, G. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:07

You would like to sow a seed. Here's my yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

A little time.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

I absolutely no, like I want people to really be able to tap in because it's like it's an unexplainable experience because it's something you have to feel.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yes, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Like, and it's not just a regular just show and concert. It's like, what?

SPEAKER_00 21:29

No.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

It's really unexplainable. No. And I think that that should be experienced like on all platforms. So I'm glad that you're doing that, like really and truly.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Thank you, thank you.

Building A Diverse Audience Beyond Church

SPEAKER_02 21:38

I've been to a lot of your shows back in the day.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Funk Apostles, you know. One thing that I feel like you have solely mastered and I know a lot of people, but the Corey Henry mastery is you have a very diverse audience. Like, I don't Go to a show and only see us? Like different nationalities are represented at pretty much every show that I've ever attended before. How in the heck do you feel like you were able to captivate just different types of people? And what do you think a lot of musicians or artists get wrong as to where they can only attract let's just say black artists or whatever, they only attract church as their demographic.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

This is such a loaded question. It is loaded. It is very loaded. Especially for me. Okay. Okay. It used to bother me that when I started my career. Um and I never felt like I left the church, but like I said, I stopped playing in church. When that happened, people were like, You're gonna lose God and you're gonna lose your anointing and you're gonna you're gonna be lost and you know, just all these wild things, you're a heretic and all these wild things people saying about me. Especially like in New York.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

But I was hearing it that it was around because it was getting around. Um and I and I was kind of living by this statement, um, you know, the go where you're appreciated and not where you're tolerated. That's good. And for a while I was feeling like I was just tolerated because I was amongst the community and we don't our community don't appreciate each other, especially when you know somebody long enough. It's like you take advantage or take uh uh in what's the word, you you don't take you take for granted what's you know, like what's in front of you. Uh and I was feeling taken for granted for a while. So I was like, I want you to do something else. I was getting gigs around New York with other artists, like before Snarky Puppy.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Um in which I was able to perform and just like build the audience. I started my career, you know, like specifically at 18 or s and I started like booking my own um venues, and those first few shows was not supported by my people like crazy, but they were supported by other people. Um around the time of Snarky Puppy, which I think definitely helped tremendously. Um I just took the uh I took the route of wanting to go deeper into all these other places because there's so many more people in the world.

SPEAKER_03 24:34

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Right? Like, like it's it's just a lot of people in the world. The thing that bothered me is like the fact that the world can like me the way they do and appreciate and love me, but then like my own uh, you know, people I come from who treat me as if I'm not who I am. And um, this is a like this and happen, it's still happening to this day. Wow. Which is why I'm like, this is a deep thing, and I don't want to like go too crazy on it, but like um I'm definitely over it from an emotional standpoint, from the point of like it bothers me that my crowd of people that I grew up with, church folks, either won't support me or don't support me. But I think about like if they did, the same way I see they support some of my friends, some of my friends who've been on your show, I was like, I would have, I would be able to play bigger rooms. Wow. If the crowd that comes from my uh my background supported me, like they support Beyonce. Come on, somebody. Like my tickets are not Beyonce tickets nowhere near it at all. You know what I'm saying? And I and I play my heart out. And your show is I don't have stems. Yeah. Like, like people would pay to watch shows, and I'm not now not talking about Beyonce, I'm just talking about like production, big production shows. It's like you paying to watch somebody hit karaoke. No shade, but a little bit of shade because I'm dancing and singing my heart out. Like James Brown, the people I love Prince and people like that. So I don't know why the support is like that from people who know me, but you know, the Bible says a prop is not honored in his home or something like that. I might be quoting as a wall.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

The new living uh translation of Corey. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 26:27

But it's like like it's not honored in his own home. So like I shouldn't even like I stopped taking it personal. Yeah, uh, and I go to yeah, where I'm going to the people that want to see me play. And uh and I would say that to any musician that's like coming up, there's other spaces. Yeah, you can build a church audience if your music is church and you want to play in church because that's great, and we need that as well. Uh, but for those of you who uh is trying to progress out that outside of that, you have to get outside, you know, and get to some different places. Um because that's the that's the only way to do it, you know. Uh and I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I did it like ferociously. Like I didn't unapolog unapologetically. I was just like, oh, this is it. I know I was called to the world. Obviously, the church feels how they feel, at least at that time. I think they feel different now. Yeah. I hope they do. I hope they do. I still have my doubts, but I see people at the show sometimes and it makes you feel better. Um, I would love to tell some stories. I will finish by saying that all the support I get around the world, no matter where it comes from, means a lot to me because I wouldn't even be doing this if I didn't have the support that I get. And when people tell me about what I'm doing, it really helps me stay on the path to keep doing it.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

I will say that I want to say to hell with those that don't support you because you just want a freaking Grammy for best gospel roots album called The Church. Like it's literally called Church.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

So it's for us.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

It's for us in the world. You can see how impactful and powerful you are. Yeah. What's wrong with us? Yeah, I don't know. Mic drop. You know what I mean? Mic drop, right? Just mic drop. We have to get to a point to where we don't hate on the gift that's within our community. Yeah and we just celebrate. Like we we should do a better job, we as the church, like really, to do a better job of celebrating our own, whether we agree with the paths or not that they've taken, like, we should still celebrate them because it's still a representation of they still come from our demographic of people. You know what I mean? So it's just like Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

If the fruit is there, yeah, and you can see the fruit being the right fruit, positive fruit, yeah, from the work that somebody's doing, and it's like it should be like when I walk in anybody's church, right? Like, I don't even, I barely I bear let me slow that. I barely care if the music is even good. Like to my standard.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Like if I walk in church and the church is up and everybody's saying, I'm just shouting just because like I want to be in fellowship. Like, like I just want to have a good time. Like, I wish the church and anybody, really, everybody, just like we're supposed to be having a good time. We're supposed to be fellowshipping with each other. We supposed to be like doing more of this, like support each other. Like, it doesn't cost nothing to support on any level.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Yeah, like literally, literally, yeah, yeah. I love that.

Winning A Grammy For The Church

SPEAKER_02 29:39

Okay, so going back to the album because Grammy.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Uh-huh. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Like, I know that you were just outdone because what in the world, I'm sure, out of all of the music that you have created.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

It's that part.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Right? Out of every project you've worked on, of course you worked with Kanye on Don Dev. You've had Grammys before, but this is solely the Corey Henry project, right? Like this is you from top to bottom.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

How did that feel?

SPEAKER_00 30:13

The best, one of the best feelings in the world. Really? Uh I I waited for that moment so long, at least for at least for 10 years. I want to say longer than that, but I remember in about 2013, 14, 15 is when I started really caring about the Grammys. I started seeing my homies win. I think that was it. When I started seeing my homies, I was like, oh, I can It's possible. It's not just, you know, Jay-Z winning. It's like my homies are winning now. So like I started becoming very fixated on it. Uh when I first had a chance in 2020, so I did win other Gramsci for this moment, right? But like as my own artist, that was like in 2020, I put out a record called Something to Stay, and I got my first nomination in the RB category. And because it was my first one as an artist, I was a little bit like uh in the in the a magical thought of thinking that, oh, this is my time. I'm gonna get it together with this one, and not really understanding the moment. And when I didn't get it that time, I was really upset. I felt the greatest high and then like the deepest of that feeling because my attention on what I thought the Grammy was that at that time was gonna happen, and it just didn't happen. But fast forward to the church, yeah. My grandmama came out here, my little sister came out here, my uh uncle came out here.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Uh uh, and I knew as I was making that record, actually before I before it even got here, I knew when I was making the church record that I was like, oh, this is my this is my year. Um it was a lot of things that was happening uh surrounding the record, a lot of synchronicities. Um, I called Kiara Sheard, Bishop Carlton Pearson, uh uh Rafael Sadiq, John P. Key, Kimberrell. Yeah, uh there's probably four more people that I'm you know, but I called everybody and they was like, yes, we want to do it. And not only do we want to do it, but we can do it when you're ready to do it. I flew out and recorded everybody. Um, when I was listening to my demos, or like just mixing the record. Tears. I'd be in my studio by myself. I'm just like, oh, just like mixing the record. And I normally don't do that when I make records. Like when I'm making a record, my mind is kind of like in make the record mode, so like concentrate and things like that. But like with this, with that project, you know, I would invite friends over to my studio, producer friends, to check it out one, two morning. And I mean, like, they be coming from, you know, whatever they're doing. Yeah. And, you know, the energy could be like, we trying to party or trying to hang and do it. I'd be like, just check out like a song or two of my you know, check this mix out for me or whatever. And they be crying.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Right. Like, how are we gonna party after this? We over here full.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

One in the morning. Like, like this is crazy. Yeah. So uh, and then, you know, when my grandma came out and all that stuff, and I just felt like on a day of that, like, you know, something was gonna change for me. And it did. Um, when I ran up there and got the grandma and got to hold her for the first time and did the interviews and all of that, I was like, I I couldn't stop crying. Like, there was the most tears I've ever had in my life. And it was just, I was like, I had to crawl on the floor. I don't know if I was so emotional.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

Working a long time.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

It was bad though. It was like watching a movie. It was bad. My grandma was like, stop all that cry.

unknown 33:40

Stop.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Get yourself together. Yeah, you do it too much. Blowing snots and boogers. It was bad. Uh, but I was so excited because it's the music of my youth, the music I grew up on. Yeah. I used to play this music every Sunday at in Brooklyn at my grandmama church. And um to be recognized for that means the world to me. Uh, my mama showed me that music. So I think that had it felt like I won from my mama. Uh felt like I won from my daddy. Yeah. So um it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. Um till this day. Uh I still feel like that, you know, minus the tears, but I still feel the same way. It was the greatest feeling in the world.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

I love that. Like I loved it for you. Like, we were all out. Like, oh my goodness. Right?

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Thank you. Thank you so

Nominations, Politics, And Staying Grounded

SPEAKER_00 34:32

much.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

What advice would you give gospel artists, particularly, who have been nominated year after year over and over and over and over again, never had their opportunity to actually hold a Grammy, um to, you know, as they're navigating that type of achievement going forward?

SPEAKER_00 34:52

I think, um, especially speaking, from this part, what I'm about to say, I didn't like when I first heard it. Okay. Right? Um, so especially the last five years leading up until the church thing, um somebody came and told me this, but I now I stand by this, I believe it. If you happen to get nominated, you already won. I didn't like to hear that when I didn't get my. And I and let's say Grammy's coming up again. Yeah. I say this to myself, like, you know, if I don't win, which I really think I'm going to, uh.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Anyway, but uh, but um, being nominated is the win because there's millions of records that's released like daily, and there's more than millions that millions of records that submitted to the uh to the Grammy, to the Grammys. So like um if you get nominated, which is a you know a huge if because it's millions of people, that's really the win. The win is the nomination. Um and it's and it's hard to take that like when you're trying to win a gold medal prize. Uh, but I knew that a few years ago. I didn't like that. I didn't like to hear that myself. But knowing what I know now and how there's a lot of politics, there's a lot of uh campaigning, there's a lot of uh a lot of things that go on on the backside that's like it's not about the music. I guess that's the other part. It's not about the music. Like not winning don't mean that your music isn't good. Yeah, not winning doesn't mean that you aren't good. Um and then, you know, the other part of this is like winning doesn't really change what you think is gonna change. That's good. I'm very glad to be a winner. And you know And I still gotta work. I still gotta work. I thought things were gonna change. I thought people were gonna call me. I thought people were gonna offer me great deals, and uh, you know, I can work a little less because I'm a Grammy winner. I should get more things, but no, that's not the case, at least not for me. Maybe for other people, um, things have changed, but for me, I ain't gonna say nothing's changed because that's a lie. But uh the things that I wanted to change, like when you think you're gonna win a Grammy, you think a lot's gonna change. You'd be like, maybe a lot's not gonna change. So to be ready for that, you know, because to live with that is very tough. Take it from me. It's tough to live with the expectation of thinking that you're gonna have the best in the world because you got one of the best things that everybody in the world respects.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Uh uh and you have this thing. Yeah, you have it in your hand. But uh for it to be tangible in other places and other areas is not a complete truth. That makes sense about it. I would say follow the music, you know, to any gospel artist, to any artist that's you know in this game, follow the music and do it because you love the music and want to support the music, but not for the trophy itself. If you get the trophy, that's great. If you get the nomination, that's kind of amazing too. Yeah, um, but if you get nothing from it while you're trying to follow that thing, I wouldn't even be bad be mad. I I I submitted my last record, Divine Time, into for Grammy and then it didn't get a nomination this time. And um and I didn't even I was like, fine, that's okay. I didn't campaign like I did for church and all these people, whatever. But I I remember when that happened before and I was like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

So that's what I was saying to people like make sure that your um your election is sure. That's it. Make sure you know what you're doing it for.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Uh yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

Okay.

Retiring From The Industry Not Music

SPEAKER_02 38:51

Okay, so you've also mentioned several times here today that about this retirement, and I'm just trying to figure out, child, we haven't even hit 40 quarters. You're right.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

We're coming up on it.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

We're coming up on it, but we're not there yet.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

And we're out of it. We're out of it.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

You okay, but to your point, you have been doing music for a very long time. Well over 20 plus years. What's making you want to retire now?

SPEAKER_00 39:19

So let me be clear. I want to retire from the music industry. Okay. I don't want to retire from music. I would always create music. Okay. I would always play music. I will always want to play in front of people. Like I was talking about church experience, but not just subjugated to that. You know, I play anywhere and you've got a PK thing, I'll pull up, let's play, let's have fun. But I want to make music and play music the way I did when I was a teenager. When it was all about fun. All about music. No pressure for trying to make a radio or playlist or whatever. The fact that, you know, the fact that I just got a text on my way here. So I was just saying I mentioned earlier that I I I had a 16 hour. I started at 12 p.m. and I didn't stop till 4 a.m. And one of the only reasons I stopped was I can get on the plane and get here, right? Because if I didn't, I would probably take a later flight to fix some drums or some things. And I could have been there at six. All right, cool. I got a text when I got off the plane. Come in here. Hey Jazz, I'm on the way. I get a text from the studio owner. Studio owner goes, hey man, you had a great session? Yeah. All right, cool, man. We're about to send you the stuff. Thank you. Here's how much you owe. Now, yeah, I dragged it. Yes, I dragged it. So the number I'm about to say is because I dragged it. But still. Still. He told me I owe him $2,700.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

Like, what?

SPEAKER_00 40:57

I had a 16-hour with an engineer, all the things it cost. Think about this. My studio session is $2,700. I'm nowhere near finishing the project. That's just the one session. One session. When I put this record out, right, and I want all of my followers to listen to it on Instagram and all these places. I'm putting it out on Spotify, Apple Music, streaming sources somewhere. And you say the streaming sources that we use, me, you, anybody else, per play, we use it. It is 0.004 or 6 per 0.004 to 6. It's under a cent. Under a under a penny. Under a penny.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

And I don't know when the last time you walked around the streets of LA and saw half a penny. Like I I'm not strong enough. Maybe he is strong enough to rip a penny in half. But you can't physically do that. But with all of these digital like who came up with this 0004. Yeah. And I just, and I'm I gotta find the money. Yeah, not getting it. Pay $2,700 for one studio session. That's not the whole record. That's not even the whole song. So I'm done. I'm done trying to figure this thing out.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:21

I'm done trying to figure this thing out, though. I'm done trying to like make music in. I mean, sorry, I'm trying to, I'm done trying to make money in an industry that seemingly hates me and any creator that is not signed. And then there are creators who are signed who told me, like I asked a homie to be on my record the other day. He said, you know, I gotta ask my label because my label controls who I can work with. It's like I would, as much as I want to kind of like be signed and get famous, tell my songs gonna be in the radio, I would hate to have to tell you. I can't come to your podcast because I'm signed. I can't play at church. Yeah because I can't do that at that point. It's like it's more of a prison. There's it's more of a it's so many things. Like I can't, my record won't pay for my studios. I know this. I love music. Yeah. So I'm still gonna have my 16-hour session. I'm not gonna stop because I'm not gonna get paid for my record. I'm just gonna figure something else out.

SPEAKER_03 43:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

But the fact that I have to do that says to me, I need to retire from the industry, or somebody needs to give me a lot of money to stay. And I'm not a prisoner to take the money either.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:35

But those things don't happen. You though the last three things, it don't happen that way. You gotta like do something to get the money, or you gotta do something more than you want to do to get the money. But it's like I'm not doing that. I didn't make it to this time in my life to pivot to be a slave to anybody. So I would rather start my Twitch channel. Okay. I would rather, you know.

SPEAKER_02 43:58

Because I could see you as An influencer on Twitch gaming.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

I mean, I do be on there. I do have a channel right now. Come on, channel. I just still be taking these uh spot dates and tours, so I can't I can't have my eight-hour streams like my homies be doing. But I be on it, I'll be on there playing 2K, I'll be on there, you know what I'm saying? And at some point, you know, I'm part of my retirement, it's like maybe I just play music on Twitch. The whole world can watch me in their house. And I want to stay in my house. Yes. All my good instruments are in my house. Yeah. When I be playing shows, another part about music retirement industry. It's like, like, yo, Jazz, come see me. I'm playing, I'm about to play Chicago, about to play Washington or whatever. Any club, right? Yeah. You walk in the club and we might be having a good time. But when I show up, the instruments that I'm playing are not good. The organ is always broke. The drum, something's up with the drum, something is up with the sound. You know, it's like, it's like you might see me, you might go on YouTube and see a performance of me where I'm I'm doing this, but it's like everything is broke. You want me to play a good show, but everything is broke. I don't want to do this anymore. Now, I will continue to play shows because I'm from church. I grew up in Brooklyn. It's like when I growing up, if we had a second service, you know what's coming like.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

You don't got no choice.

SPEAKER_00 45:20

You don't got no choice. It's like the organ's not gonna work, the organ got a light switch on. So it's like you gotta play it and you better be good.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

You better figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

You better be good. So I know how to do that. I don't want to do that if somebody's if you're paying me to come to a city, I want to play good instruments. I would much rather stay in my house where my instruments all work, and y'all can watch it. I'll play for eight. Yo, I would much rather play for eight hours. I can play for eight hours every day on Twitch instead of 90 minutes here. You know, it's like it just seems like it makes more sense to me to like find other ways. I'm not just talking about Twitch, but just to find other ways to make money just so I can make music the way I want to. Like, I don't want to think about playlists and I don't want to think about Spotify. I've been even talking about my next record, probably won't even go to streaming. Like it might just go to my app. If y'all want to hear my music, y'all come to me. Because I have to pay $2,700 for one studio. All right. So one session. I, you know, uh, this music industry is is is done. Okay. It's done for me. And it's not music. It's the industry. It's the industry.

SPEAKER_02 46:24

Thank you for clarifying that. Yeah. Because I definitely wasn't gonna let you just tell me that and I was gonna take it sitting down. I was gonna stand up and be like, I know you not.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

I could disappear, though. I've been feeling that too. Like the Dave Chappelle, D'Angelo disappear.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

And then come back like all immediately. How y'all doing? Yeah, yeah. Corey, I don't want you to retire fully, but I am accepting your industry retirement, okay? You're gonna continue to do music.

Relationships, Expectations, And Real Life

SPEAKER_02 46:53

But what does Corey like to do in his personal time? So now I'm about to get in your business, just a little bit. So you're touring, you're doing sessions, you're going in and out of places. But Corey, it gets cold at night. The way you're blinking at me is so priceless. Are we dating? Like, what are we doing? Like, are we settling down soon? Are we too busy to think about it? Like, yeah, we're what's the thought?

SPEAKER_00 47:23

We're definitely not dating now. Why? It's uh a little too time consuming. And and I've reached a point where I I don't want to technically take the time to figure out other people's things. I keep it simple now. It's like if it don't feel like music, I can't really like really dive into it. So um that's the cleanest story. That's the cleanest one that you can tell us. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um, will we settle down? If the Lord says the same, I won't block my blessings. Uh, you know, because I know the greatest thing I can find is a wife.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

Hello. I won't, you know You need to obtain the favor. I do.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

I do need to obtain a favor.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Okay, so what does she have to do? She has to be in music.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

No, she doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

Okay, well, what's she gotta do?

SPEAKER_00 48:14

I need to come back with a better answer.

SPEAKER_02 48:16

Okay, got it. Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00 48:18

I don't put expectation I think I don't put expectations on anybody, and I have such a low expectation to come down to almost anything, music included.

SPEAKER_03 48:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

Uh, but especially relationships with people that gets very low. Um, because people are people. I'm a person. Yeah. I'm a man. Uh uh. So I don't really think about putting expectations, but the the vibe gotta be right, the attention gotta be right, the respect level. She has to have something for herself. Money. Oh, that's a dope uh money, house, and car would be.

SPEAKER_02 48:48

Because in LA, everybody is aspiring.

SPEAKER_00 48:51

It's very like giving broke.

SPEAKER_02 48:55

Everybody.

SPEAKER_00 48:56

Broke and pretty.

SPEAKER_02 48:56

I wasn't gonna say that, but okay.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

Broke and beautiful. It's not bad and bougie. Broke and beautiful. I mean, the most beautiful women I've been seeing don't got a thing. And I'm just like, I I'm barely taking care of myself, but like $2,700 session. I mean, that's what I'm that's the life I'm living.

SPEAKER_02 49:16

So like broke and beautiful is so good, Corey. I'm putting that on a shirt. Broke and beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 49:25

I mean beautiful. I mean amazing.

SPEAKER_02 49:27

Oh, okay. So God has more. So God has more. I believe it.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Yeah, God has more, and I'm you know, I'm not closed off to thinking about it. I do think about marriage, you know, and I do think about children. Yeah, it's a thought. And uh and that happens late at night.

SPEAKER_02 49:42

That's why I said when you get cold I said when you get cold at night, it's cold at night, right?

SPEAKER_00 49:46

And uh think about those things. Yes. And then the morning comes.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

And then the morning comes and we have to pay for the studio session. All right. That's right. All right, we'll leave it there. You heard it.

This Or That With A Music Legend

SPEAKER_02 49:58

Um I like to play a game with all of my guests. Um it's I don't know if it'll it's not it'll probably be easy to you because you work with a lot of people. Um I'm just gonna say some random names actually. And it may be tough to answer.

SPEAKER_00 50:15

Like I can do this. What do you want me to do? What's the game now?

SPEAKER_02 50:18

Okay, it's called this or that. I'm gonna give you some people, artists, rather, and you tell me like who your top person between the two.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

Oh my lord.

SPEAKER_02 50:29

That's why I said it's not easy. But I'll also throw in some other things. So we'll start easy.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

A ham and B3 or a rose.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

That's easy. Hammond B3.

SPEAKER_02 50:40

Okay, see, that was I said we gotta start easy. I gotta think about who my guest was. Okay, okay. I like that. Um studio sessions or live jam sessions, like just free-flowing.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

Studio session. Studio session. Really? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 50:55

I thought you were gonna say like a free-flowing jam.

SPEAKER_00 50:57

No, most people think, but I really don't like jams like that.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

You jam out though.

SPEAKER_00 51:01

With people I love.

SPEAKER_02 51:02

Okay, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 51:03

You know, if it's if it's my homies, yeah, names that we know, our brothers, people in the industry that you know we respect, those jams are great.

SPEAKER_03 51:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

But the common jam or anything other than that, yeah, I don't really like it.

SPEAKER_03 51:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:16

So I would much re I like I spend 16 hours in the studio though.

SPEAKER_03 51:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:19

You know. You can get it right. I wouldn't spit I wouldn't spend 16 hours on the stage. Mm-mm. Not child.

SPEAKER_02 51:26

Okay. Um I'm gonna say Andre Crouch.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

All right.

SPEAKER_02 51:34

Or Richard Smallwood.

SPEAKER_00 51:38

I thought she was gonna say another name, but all that's tough. All that's tough for me.

SPEAKER_02 51:42

Right?

SPEAKER_00 51:42

But I'm going Andre Crouch, he's at the top. He's definitely at the top.

SPEAKER_02 51:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

Okay. Um he did it all Kirby Hancock. Or this is another tough one. Stevie Wonder.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Oh man. Actually, no, that's not tough at all. Stevie Stevie Wonder. Hands down.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

Hands down.

SPEAKER_00 52:03

Stevie Wonder.

SPEAKER_02 52:04

Stevie.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

He did it all.

SPEAKER_02 52:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:06

And he's a singer. Kirby's not really a singer.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

True. Um genre.

SPEAKER_00 52:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 52:16

Quartet music.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

All right.

SPEAKER_02 52:18

Or traditional church music.

SPEAKER_00 52:22

That's hard. That's hard.

SPEAKER_02 52:25

Because both are both are good.

SPEAKER_00 52:27

Yeah, but they're separate. But they're different. It's separate. Quartet off a traditional church. I'm probably gonna go with traditional church music because there's a little bit more vast of types of things you can play, like ballads.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:40

Um well no, no, that'd be technically right. There's quartet ballads.

SPEAKER_03 52:43

Yes, there are.

SPEAKER_00 52:46

I'm probably still gonna go traditional church music because I think there are more chords to play as a musician. There's probably a little bit more things you can do. Because hymns are probably in traditional church music. So I'm probably gonna say him. But I love quartet music too. That's why I'm like I love it so much. I listen to Mighty Clouds of Joy every other day. So it's tough. It's really tough.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 53:10

But I'm gonna go traditional. I miss devotional music too, which is kind of quartet. I'm gonna go traditional.

SPEAKER_02 53:20

You're gonna go traditional. Okay. These are just the two names that just popped up in my mind. Singers that are no longer here. James Moore. That's tough. That is tough. Different though.

SPEAKER_00 53:39

I might go James Moore. He got that. And that thing makes me cry sometimes. But Coley got a little bit too. But his he got the range. When Sunday comes, it's bad. I like James Moore. He got more grooves. Okay. Because even though, like, he said when Sundays come, my mind went to weep me. And I was like, that's probably not even a bigger bot than Sundays come, but.

SPEAKER_02 54:03

But it's still what your mind is. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:04

My mind went to that. I just like James Moore's voice.

SPEAKER_02 54:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:07

That's a that's that's a tough one, though.

SPEAKER_02 54:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:09

I can't say both.

SPEAKER_02 54:11

We can make it a draw. We'll give it a draw. That one I gotta give a draw. Okay, we'll do a draw. That's what it's tough. I knew it was tough when it popped in my head. I was like, ooh.

SPEAKER_00 54:17

That one is tough.

SPEAKER_02 54:18

Okay, you did good.

SPEAKER_00 54:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:19

Yeah. You did good.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Only one draw out of the.

SPEAKER_02 54:22

Only one draw, so you did good.

SPEAKER_00 54:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mentors And Preaching Without A Pulpit

SPEAKER_02 54:25

My final question to you is who are like your mentors? Like people that you can go and talk to, get advice, whatever. Who can I run to?

SPEAKER_00 54:40

People like Melvin Crispell. People like my godfather, Bishop Jeffrey White, who's still with us. Amazing legendary musician. I used to still look up to. Uh Timothy Wright was a big mentor to me. Who else am I missing? People like Butch Hayward, you know. Stanley Brown, those guys back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

Stanley.

SPEAKER_00 55:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are all my Brooklyn homies, big OG homies.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

So I would I would I would say that. Um there's a few preacher friends that sometimes I can call and they can give me a word of advice. Yeah, but I w yeah, it's like the mentor the mentor thing is I gotta think about that like a real mentor. But those are some people that like, you know, I can call and talk to So like you are called to preach for you. Yeah. I'm just not called to preach like these guys.

SPEAKER_03 55:43

That's good.

SPEAKER_00 55:44

And that's the thing that I I learned to know about myself over the last few years.

SPEAKER_01 55:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:50

I felt before the last few years that I was supposed to be doing what they was doing. So I suppose I had to take the steps to do you know, to get there. But I think I kinda said this earlier, it's like my life would have been drastically different if I did that. So I'm glad that I didn't do it. It's not to say that I won't go to seminary now and you know, and like really be studied like some of these guys that I look at. Um but no, I do believe I'm called called to preach. I had a friend tell me on the phone not too long ago. Um he was kind of challenging me about the chief apostle stuff. And um, and um he was like, You're not, you're not, you don't got the office like this guy. You don't got the office like, you know, this guy he used a name. And I was like, I am not that guy. You're absolutely right. I'm not that guy, but I am a chief apostle.

SPEAKER_01 56:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:44

The works, the fruit is in the work. Um, I have colleges teaching my the way I play. I've helped people, I built businesses, I've put, I've given people names, I've given people opportunities to go do their own masterclasses without me. Like I set up churches, I built churches. Like over the course of my life. There's people who go to churches now because they saw me playing there. And they either still became a member or whatever the case is. Like, my godfather, Bishop Jeffrey White, calls me often and be like, yo, man, somebody came here looking for you. You know, I'm like, oh wow. Um I'm doing the work of the apostle.

unknown 57:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

More than like uh people that I know. So like uh um I know my calling. That's been my calling. Um, I'm walking in it every day, I'm doing things every day. I'm helping people, I'm sharing, I'm sharing a message, which is what it means to be an apostle is like to be a messenger, you know, mainly. Um so I'm doing all those things. So yes, I do feel like I'm calling to preach. I'm preaching all the time. I'm preaching all the time. It's just different than our favorite preachers. I don't think I'm ever gonna be like, you know, for 40 minutes turn me to the Bible or something for 40 minutes. You know, I leave that to those guys.

SPEAKER_03 58:03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

You know, you want to hear somebody talk?

SPEAKER_03 58:05

You're right.

SPEAKER_00 58:06

Go listen to Pastor Nissan or somebody, you know, like Pastor Warren or one of our homies who do it. Who do that. I got much respect for them. Um, but you know, as I talk about that, there should be the same respect for people like me and yeah, just people like me. I think church creates this, it has created. I ain't gonna say I think, I know this to be true. Back to the uh point I was talking about Mother Tate taking the organ from me. Like, like I know preachers, and some of my favorite preachers said this stuff too. You know, they be like, all right, it's time for the word. And you can stop all that shouting and singing, and they try to make this differential. This is another reason why I left the church, but Richard, they try to make this differential position between what they're doing and what I'm doing, uh what the musician is doing, and it should be together.

SPEAKER_03 58:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:57

Um, because we're all preaching. You know what I'm saying? Like people come together. I mean, sorry, people come to the church for music, and the messages are in the music the same way it is a 30, 40 minute talk to. Um so yeah, I'm preaching, I've been preaching. People are finding God. I want to finish with that, not just like the music stuff.

SPEAKER_01 59:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:22

I know for a fact that people are finding God through my ministry. And not just like our folks from other I mean like Jewish people, Muslims, people in other countries. People say I would never go to church. People say I would never listen to this type of music, but somehow they listen to my music and then they get saved. So you can't tell you like not you, but uh preachers and the whole thing that people do and have been doing since I've been doing this for the last 15 years specifically. Um it's like I I reject all of that wild energy that the church might try to give me or preachers, any preacher. Any preacher, I don't care. You know, the best of the worst. I was like, I don't care. I've been on a mission from God since I was a kid. Yeah, and this is what I know. And if they wanted me to come up under their ranks to do this, then they should have ordained me. If you like me, then you should have put a ring on it. You should have done it. You should have ordained me when I was at your churches, yeah, but you didn't. Yeah, so I had to go out and do it this way, the way God has given it to me. And I'm not tripping on this. I know deep within my heart and soul that I've been called to preach and called to do what I've done. And I thank God that it's going successfully. And um, what more can I say?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:36

May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing and the word.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:40

Yes, yes, amen and

Where To Follow And Final Blessing

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

Lori, thank you for coming on the PK Pop. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

I'm glad that we got to do this. This is a beautiful, beautiful experience.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:50

Wow, we have waited all years.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:53

Yeah, we've been praying, we've been fast. Yes, yes, yes, we have.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:58

Tell the people where to follow you.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:59

I'm on all the social media.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

You're on Twitch, clearly.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

I'm on Twitch. Get my Twitch, get on my Twitch, you know what I'm saying? Because when I make this official industry announcement, because this, you know, I've been talking about retirement for a long time, but when I say when you see the letter, uh-huh. When you see the letter on Instagram, yeah, I better go to Twitch and see me on my DJ and all my music stuff because I'm not leaving the house. Hello. If I can make money on Twitch, I will.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

But I'm on Twitch, Corey Henry, I'm on uh Instagram, YouTube, and all the things. It's Corey Henry. Uh um, if you're ever in LA on a fourth Sunday, I want you to come and be with us at the Miracle Theater in Inglewood. We only meet once a month. Church experience. It's a good time, and I want you to tell everybody about it. We got soul food, yeah, it's like Thanksgiving every month, back in Cheese and Yams and the whole thing. And um, and we're just uh celebrating God uh and the gift of music that God has given us. So I like to see you all. I want you to tell everybody how many bodies? Everybody, yeah. If you like what I do, yeah, if it inspires you. And I appreciate everybody for all the support. I appreciate you for having me on your podcast. It's been beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:08

Thank you. I had to have you when I did my my first ever episode when I had this idea. I wore your merch.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:15

Stop it, really.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:17

Like in my promo reel, it says church. And I was like, oh my god, this is my Corey Hummy shirt. I bought this at the freaking church experience. I love that. That's my I got that from you, so I was like, I have to talk to Corey. Like that was literally how I announced it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:29

I gotta go talk about that seemingly. You go to my church name. For sure. Oh my god. Remember, literally.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:41

If you enjoyed this, be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Until next time.

unknown 1:02:45

Peace.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:47

Be sure to subscribe right now. Click that button, stay connected so you can be the first to know when our new episodes are dropping. I'll see you there.