The really cool thing about reggae music is that I can get away with saying spiritual things as a reggae influenced artist that I couldn't get away with saying as a rock artist. Reggae has such spiritual roots and people almost expect to hear spiritual things.
The Bible says that God uses the foolish things and the base things of the world to accomplish His work. He apparently uses the tone deaf of the world to do something too.
I grew up going to church. My dad was a pastor. I knew that God had a plan for my life. I knew that Jesus was the only way to Heaven. But I loved sin. The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a season and I loved it.
When I was about 16 years old, God was beckoning me and calling me. He was relentless with me and I finally just gave up. I got to a point in my life where I realized that everything I was trying to grasp for was leaving me empty. It was totally unsatisfying.
I'm pretty positive that if I started singing songs that were for my fame, the God would probably make me tone deaf again. I know why He gave me that voice. I know why He gave me my ears.
I don't write for Christians. I write for people. I write so that if a Christian hears my music, they're going to be encouraged because I'm writing from the Christian worldview.
When the stock market crash, a lot of people realized that the American dream was not all it was cracked up to be. They'd been living for this thing and it was kind of a façade. It wasn't real.
I rebelled during my high school years really bad. I started messing around with drugs and having relationships with girls and partying. And I used to tell God, "Hey God, after college I'm going to serve You because I know that's what I want to do with my life. I know that's the best way. I know that's why I was created. But right now I want to sin because I love it. I want to have a lot of fun. "
I grew up in a really musical house where all of my brothers and sisters could sing, but I couldn't sing. Not only could I not sing, I couldn't hear pitch. I was totally tone deaf - legitimately, one hundred percent tone deaf. Nevertheless, I loved music.
I think all of us would agree that a lot of Christian radio sounds the same. A lot of music that comes out of Nashville kind of has a little bit of the same vibe. Because I don't live in Nashville, I surround myself with a culture and an influence that's outside that bubble. So when the church hears it, it's refreshing, and when the world hears it, it sounds like something they want to listen to.
As I look back now, I really feel like God has called me not just to speak into the lives of believers but, even broader than that, to speak into the lives of people that are outside of the Church.
The comfort of that lifestyle began to eat away at me like a cancer almost. It began to rob me of my joy and my faith. It kind of robbed me of my purpose.
As crazy as it sounds, I really think that God just put the reggae thing in me. I can point to a few things in my life that pushed me in that direction.
Sometimes I'll open my voice to sing and I'll think, "I hope I hit the right notes. " I do music for a living and I still feel like that, but it's good because it keeps me humble, it keeps my feet grounded, it keeps me trusting in God.