“Everybody raps. The challenge to me in music nowadays is coming up with a melody that is catchy enough to have two opinions. One opinion: I hate his voice. Or the second opinion: I just can’t stop listening to this song. Those are the reactions I want,” explained Palace.
In case you can’t tell, Christian Rap artist Palace isn’t a rapper’s rapper. Yeah, you may have seen him spit some bars with God Over Money artist Bizzle, former rapper Sevin, and GS, but there is more to Palace then what you’ve seen on Instagram videos. You’ll hear it too when his EP drops Friday.
Palace’s Start
Palace started his artistic journey in 2014 in Saint Charles, Louisiana. In that part of the U.S., Palace said Christian Rap is “taboo” to churches in the area. Palace explained the churches believe it is mixing something holy with something unholy. So, Palace kept his music to himself and shared it with his wife and brother. His wife was supportive as a wife should. His brother, on the other hand, thought Palace’s skill level was above most artists. Palace still at that point had never listened to Christian Rap, so his brother gave him three artists to listen to: S.O., Sevin, and Lecrae.
“It gave me the confidence to know that I can take what I’m doing and take it to the next step. So I started taking it really seriously.”
Palace began working on his first project, titled Christ Hates Hip-Hop (it was supposed to be a play-on-words). Reaching out for features, Palace contacted Sevin and emailed him a record. Six months later in 2015, Sevin responded with a phone call.
“[Sevin] said, ‘I go into the hood. I do a lot of ministry. I’ve been sharing your music in the hood. A lot of people rock with it, and that’s not common’. He said a lot of people don’t listen to Christian Rap where I’m from, but the places he went they loved the music.”
Networking
Sevin then invited Palace to fly out to Sacramento, California, to shoot a music video with him while Sevin was on the Truth Music Tour with Bizzle, Datin, and GS. As a business owner of three electronic repair stores, Palace couldn’t make this decision lightly. Eventually, Palace decided to book the flight to Sacramento.
“I began to chop it up with them and build a relationship. They started to critique my music and give me feedback,” Palace explained. “I told them I wanted to drop a project. They were like ‘wait, don’t do it yet. You need to get this, do this, you need to work on this’. So, they really became mentors to me as far as making sure I’m putting music out there in an excellent way.”
Never Too Soon
Now, Palace is about to launch an EP titled Never Too Soon, executively produced by Bizzle. This project, dropping Friday, September 4, is different than anything he has done, said Palace. In the past, Palace has released two mixtapes while signed to the record label IDJ Records. Now that he is separated from the label, he’s planning on showing off his versatility because “every song sounds totally different from the next.”
“I want to make good fun music that you can vibe to, whether it’s rapping, whether it’s melodic. I just want it to sound good, and I want it to be sonically pleasing.”