Last week, we dived into Xay Hill and what was behind his grind. Today, We will look behind another artist on the grind: Hyper Fenton.
If someone would have told Hyper Fenton 5 years ago he would no longer be acting, but instead be a CHH artist gunning for Spotify playlists and be a children’s pastor, he would have disagreed. But here he is today, with just that.
So how did he get to where he is now?
Fenton’s first love is acting, graduating from Southern Methodist University with his BFA in acting. But God had different plans for him and changed his course.
“I needed a summer job before I thought I was going to LA [for acting],” Fenton relayed. “That was with a Methodist church. I served there as an intern with children’s ministry. I went part-time, then I went full-time. In between that, in the middle of the internship – I was with my wife in the car, I remember this moment. I really felt God called me to go seminary.”
So Fenton obeyed. God’s path took him to the role of children’s pastor at a church where his father is the head pastor. However, Fenton stilled need something creative in his life.
“All the while, as soon as I stop doing acting, I’m thinking ‘God, I’ll stop doing acting, but I just need you to satisfy this creativity thing. Because I have this itch to create, to dream and to do something awesome, but for your kingdom’,” Fenton said.
And so, God injected music into his life. It was originally just a hobby, dabbling in music after his homework at SMU. After he stopped acting, however, he picked up music more and more.
“As I started doing ministry, I found a greater passion in my creativity for music because I didn’t have to wait on someone else’s script or direction,” Fenton described. “I could just do me and create instead of having to fulfill someone else or director’s dream.”
Yet again, God decided to step in and direct Hyper’s footsteps. Fenton was attending a college group in Dallas to do a few of his songs a couple years ago. The pastor was not able to speak at the gathering, so they got someone else to speak. After the sermon, the speaker prayed over Fenton, speaking a promise God directly to Fenton. The promise is that his music will grow and mold him to further his ability to speak the gospel.
Watch the Promise Being Spoken to Hyper Fenton Below:
Well, it seems like the promise wasn’t a man-made hoax. Fenton has boosted the quality of his music with the production aid of MOFLO Music. The two cranked out more than 60 releases with over one million streams on Spotify in 2018.
The strategy the duo implemented to get to where they are today is based on getting their songs on playlists. Hyper sees how streaming services have changed the game, and he believes this is the best way to market his music.
“We realized that albums are great when you have a very devoted following,” Fenton shared. “But with Spotify, most of my following comes from playlists. So if I were to release an album right now, I’m not big enough, I don’t think. The best case scenario lets say [the album] is eight songs, maybe three of those songs get playlisted. The whole album won’t be playlisted. What that means is, if those three get playlisted, that’s great for those songs, but then I’ve wasted the rest of that content.”
He continues, “So in order to hit that market consistently, why wouldn’t I drag that out and just release every week, because the playlists renew every week.”
The biggest success of his strategy and grind is “Amazing Grace.” The song made it on the Top Christian Spotify playlist, which currently has over one million followers.
