In April, 16-year-old rapper Adrian Stresow released his second mixtape, Senioritis.
Well, at least it was his second mixtape that he hasn’t removed all traces of from the Internet. Let’s just say he’s improved.
“With a lot of my friends, I used to keep it a secret that I rapped,” Stresow said. “When I first started rapping, it was weird because my music sucked, so everybody made fun of me.”
Stresow, who will enter his senior year at Wakeland High School in Frisco, Texas next fall, was introduced to producing music in fifth grade.
“I was on my mom’s computer playing around,” he said, “and I accidentally opened Garage Band and basically started making music.”
One day in eighth grade, a random idea popped into Stresow’s head: He should make a mixtape. His writing, recording and producing increased in frequency from there. While Stresow discovered his passion to make music incidentally, his progression was deliberate — partially spurred by friends’ criticism for making Christian music.
Stresow was raised in a Christian household, but he said it took him a while to take “ownership of his faith.” He now is mentored every Thursday by his pastor, Ben Fawcett of LifePoint Church, so he can learn more about God and further his ministry — which isn’t typically high on 16-year-old’s to-do lists.
“Students that are actively trying to figure out what it means to serve the Lord with their time, talents and resources are typically in the minority,” Fawcett said. “I have also noticed that more often than not, these handful of students have parents that model Kingdom-based servanthood to them. The Lord has used Adrian’s parents to instill a desire in him to serve by creating music in the hopes of reaching people in the name of Jesus Christ.
“I often hear adults talking about how gloomy the future of this world is because of the poor choices they have made, and the poor choices they see the young men and women of America making today. When I see young men and women, like Adrian, believing that the Lord is wanting and willing to use them in powerful ways, that gives me hope for the future.”
Now confident in his faith and music, Senioritis isn’t coming off of the Internet, and his friends even help promote it at school. The mixtape is about his life and talks about challenges he’s faced throughout high school. It also touches on his relationship with the Lord.
At times, it’s tough to balance school work and music, Stresow said, but his passion for rapping and producing won’t let him stop.
“I try to keep a positive attitude towards school because I feel like I’m already doing what I’m being called to do,” said Stresow, who turned 17 this week.
Download Senioritis for free on Rapzilla.com.
