Background
My childhood was unique in many ways. My parents met in Texas at a bible college they were both attending. My father was from the Atlantic City area in New Jersey. He was formerly a member of the U.S. Navy, and a youth pastor. My mother was from the Oakland area of California, and had left her pursuit of an accounting degree in college to attend Bible college which is what she felt the Lord was leading her to do.
My parents married shortly before their second year of school together, and a year later they had me. My mother comes from a military family where her Father (referred to as my grandpa) was deployed to Alaska for many years in the Air Force before entering the IT world as a civilian many years later. Her two younger brothers entered the service. One in the Army who retired as a staff sergeant, and another in the Air Force who recently retired as a Lt. Colonel.
My Father was raised by his stepdad, who we call Pop-Pop Elwood. Pop-Pop Elwood was a K-9 Police Officer for 14 years. His mother, (we call Mom-Mom) worked in a dentist’s office for many years (if I remember correctly.
As you can imagine, coming from a military family brings certain unique lessons and experiences. For most of my life my desire was to join the Navy Seals. I didn’t let go of that vision until about 14 years old, after spending time in prayer about my future. Me and my two younger brothers were homeschooled using a program called Abeka. My dad worked while my mom kept the house, and made sure our schooling was handled. While my childhood was anything but perfect (and quite frankly included many forms of abuse), I’ll always be grateful that I had the blessing of a two parent household, and a mother who was always available to me.
Childhood
I was born in a suburb of Oakland, CA called San Ramon. My mom’s parents lived there, where my Grandpa worked as a server maintenance technician for a HITACHI. My parents were recently married and chose to spend my first year of life with the support of my grandparents.
My parents then moved back to the south side of Fort Worth, Texas where they had met. They had my two younger brothers Luke and Jared, and we lived there for about 6 years. Shortly after buying our first home, our Dad lost his job and we were forced to make an unexpected move.
Enter the Black Hole
My parents made the choice to move back with my grandparents in California, this time bringing me and two brothers. Me and my two brothers shared one small bedroom with a 3 person bunkbed, and my parents shared a guest bedroom downstairs about the same size as ours. Our backyard has no grass, but we didn’t let that rock hard dirt stop us from having some awesome football games.
It was during this time I began to discover both my passion for music, and my gift as a leader. My grandfather was a gifted guitarist, and when I took an interest in my little brothers acoustic guitar, Grandpa was determined to help me learn how to play.
However, his work schedule made it impossible to find time to teach me. I took a basic guitar book, and began to practice for hours by myself daily. I quickly lost interest in my attempt to read scales and learn technique. I instead focused on learning basic chords, and began playing songs I liked by ear. The first song I played on guitar was Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”
Learning to Lead
My family became very involved in a large church in San Jose, CA. It was there that I began to gain my sense of self, and also understand my greater calling. At 8 years old, I enrolled in a school of leadership - graduating with a certificate at the top of my class. At that time, the church only allowed children 12 years or older to serve on their volunteer teams; however, for me they made an exception. At 9, I began serving in the children’s ministry monitoring the game room, slides and bounce houses, and even the toy store. Some times I would help my mom baby sitting the toddlers as well.
One Sunday morning that same year, during our time of worship I was right in front of the stage, singing “Lord I Give You My Heart”. With my hands raised and eyes closed I felt a tap on my shoulder. Our worship pastor Donna Murphy (who has since went Home to the Lord after battling cancer) was leading the song then reached down and motioned for me to join her on stage. She handed me her mic, and said “sing”. At 9 years old, I began to lead hundreds of children in worship for the first time in my life. Little did I know how prophetic this moment would be.
Texas… Again
In a crazy turn of events, just a few years later my family regained the title to the home we left so many years prior, and we packed up our things and returned to our little home in Texas. I never got to say goodbye to my neighborhood friends and our culdesac, but I never forgot the many memories I had made in those formative years. My father found a job working with a local ministry and we finally began to find some stability in our lives.
From about age 11-17 I grew in my faith, and also my passion. I continued to pursue music, teaching myself piano, improving my singing and unexpectedly, learning how to rap. I had a diverse group of friends from all around the city, and I was very connected in my neighborhood. I formed a club where we would explore the area, exercise, and play together. We had a moral code, physical tests, and a command structure. Coming from a military family, it was my dream to serve in the Navy Seals. However, God had other plans for me.
Misfits
At age 14, I discovered rap music for the first time. It didn’t take long for me to develop a passion for it. It became not only an outlet for my emotions, but a new way to tell a story and share a message through music. I made friends at my youth group who also were beginning their journeys in rap music. Together we formed a group of misfits who’s purpose was to spread a message of truth to the world through music, no matter what the cost. We would only associate with those who were willing to stand out from the crowd, and go against the grain of what society calls acceptable and popular.
During the majority of my childhood, my family had very little income and only one vehicle. My mother took online surveys in order to make extra money, and taught me how to do it too. I used the little I made from surveys to buy my first recording microphone. It was all gas no brakes from that moment. We began to record songs in my bedroom closet, my friend’s kitchen, and even once - the church bathroom. We were determined to reach our dreams by any means necessary.
Back Home
My entire childhood I was homeschooled by my mother using Abeka Christian Academy. This allowed our family to work around my Dad’s often unpredictable work schedule, maintain a work/family balance, and ensure that me and my brothers received a quality education with Christian values but retained the necessary structure for our successful development.
During my teenage years I was fairly bored with school. I had mastered most subjects (besides my penmanship as my wife can tell you), and I was much more interested in pursuing my passion for music and media production. I spent much of my time serving in our youth group worship band and tech team, as well as writing and recording songs.
Mississippi Move
Shortly before my 18th birthday my father made the decision that I needed to leave the home. My grandparents agreed to take me in. It was a cool day on February 16, 2016 when my grandmother picked me up from my friend’s house to take me to Mississippi. I’ll never forget it.
My grandparents from my mom’s side had moved to Mississippi for my grandpa’s job the same year we moved back to Texas. They stayed at a small apartment in Ridgeland until 7 years later when they were able to retire and build a home in what was at the time a small village in Madison County. They had only been in the home a few months when I arrived.
I turned 18 on February 26th, but I had already finished high-school and received my diploma - graduating with a 4.0 GPA and making the honor roll. I briefly worked at the ministry with my father, but that only a couple months before leaving Texas. I began hunting for a college to attend though I was truly uninterested in school. I applied to ITT Technical Institute, with a major in information technology.
I had already received a grant and was preparing to attend online. However, before my process was completed the government defunded the school, and rendered my grant null. I took this as a sign that I was not supposed to attend college and began seeking employment. This began my adult work career and the biggest chapter of a story that honestly should be a movie here in the great city of Jackson. The story of a boy from Texas, who became a man in Mississippi, and built a dream in a city he had never seen before.