JGivens on learning from the pioneers of Christian hip hop

JGivens sat down with Rapzilla at Legacy Conference 2016 to talk about his near future, as well as how past Christian hip-hop giants have impacted his career.

“The first thing you do as a newbie in anything is you go and you reference the wisdom of the people that have come before you,” JGivens said, “so you go find the founders and meet them before you try to get out on social media and find the kids.”

The Fly Exam emcee named numerous people who have poured into him — his close friend Propaganda, Las Vegas veterans Boombox Titans and Kwon Five-Nine, as well as pioneers Sup the Chemist. Peace 586, Jurny Big, Joey the Jerk, Phanatik and Josh Niemyjski, among others.

“[If you] go and reach out to the generation before to at least let them know, ‘Hey, I’m new. I’m here — just jumping into the timeline. What should I do?’ man,” JGivens said, “those guys appreciate you.”

He learned too many lessons to recall them all, but one stood out.

“The first thing I learned is I’m not doing anything new,” JGivens laughed. “No issue or no idea that I have ever done or I get excited about, ‘Oh, I want to do this! This is brand new!’ No it’s not. Even if there’s conflict, no conflict, no fight, no hardship in this or anything is new. Those guys have already done it.

“Especially from Propaganda. I’ve been able to circumvent a lot of heartache and pain with dealing with things in this industry and this ministry by just listening to Prop… I was able to just learn vicariously. And you’re able to do a whole lot more faster because I had just listened to the wisdom of those that have come before me.”

David Daniels
David Daniels
David Daniels is a columnist at Rapzilla.com and the managing editor of LegacyDisciple.org. He has been published at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, CCM Magazine, Bleacher Report, The Washington Times and HipHopDX.
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