“Long Story Short”

I remember back in April of 2008 (vividly) releasing my first mixtape entitled “Love is my Anthem” on myspace. I was 19 years old.

I didn’t have many friends on myspace nor did my songs have many plays. The maximum was at least 300 plays….over the course of months.

I received feedback mostly (99.9%) from my friends saying “The mixtape is great”…..”I love the mixtape”…..”I play your mixtape all the time”.

It felt good that people supported me and liked something I put out.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that it does feel good after accomplishing a goal.

That following year (2009) I put out a free album (most call it a mixtape) lol “The Green Screen”.

I was very nervous releasing this album because it didn’t sound exactly like my mixtape.

Songs like “Jump down turn around” (a song that was sort of electronic) was unlike anything…or didn’t sound like anything from my previous work, but I always had songs that people didn’t hear that I made back in 2007.

The album was also sample heavy…something that my mixtape wasn’t.

so all in all I wasn’t sure what people would think…….and I thought I would be criticized all the more for not following the exact pattern as “Love is my anthem”,

yet again, I received comments from my friends….but this time a few more people (that I didn’t know took notice) and the songs that I thought people would hate…..they loved.

I had people that only listen to Shai linne, lecrae, flame….tell me that their favorite songs were songs like “Movie” ( a song I made about me and my girlfriend spending quality time with each other)

“Jump down turn around” was also a favorite that people liked.

I was shocked…..and people even went as far to say it was “classic”.

Now, when someone says something like that…..you can’t help but to think ” I can never top that…..it’s too much pressure”……even though I’m a christian artist those things come to mind at times.

soooo……the next year came….

2010…..people wanted to hear more music from me…..I had none.

I also could not write music because I had “EXTREME” writers block.

I wasn’t inspired…..by anything…..musically.

I was also going through a lot of things in my life (as we all do) but I just wasn’t focused on music.

I had recently lost one of my closest friends…..that was hard.

Things weren’t going well…..at all.

so…..music was hard to write.

but one day….I put on a beat called “beautiful humanity” by a artist named Braille.

Now….I had brought his cd called “The IV” back in 2008 and I always told myself…”Man, I’m gonna rap off of that intro beat one day”…..it was just so hard to me….I mean the drums…..the violins….the way he rapped on it….I mean EVERYTHING….so finally 2 years later I got the instrumental and I sat down on my couch and wrote the first track for “Peanut Butter and Jealousy”.

That set off everything.

and it sparked this…..something in me that made me wanna write my pain away…..or express what I was feeling inside.

Everyday I listened to hundreds of beats….sun up to sun down…saying yes,no,yes,uhhh….that beat is okay….but then I heard a better beat the next day.

I also found out that I write easier and faster when I type my lyrics….so that was new to me also….it also was the first project that I wrote entirely. the only song I didn’t write down was “Trust in you”.

I was noticing how the sound of the music I was writing to was like nothing I’ve done before. I would always say in my head “This is my dream album…..because after this one….I’m done with rapping”…so I just let go and wrote song after song and pushed myself even when I didn’t feel like writing anymore.

I could have  wrote even more tracks (even till this day) for that mixtape because I was doing what I always do….rapping about my life and hoping it changes someone’s heart and they follow after the God who changed my heart.

so…..I released this mixtape on May 5th 2010 sometime at midnight.

I only told my friends about it. The next day I received remarkable feedback.

from everyone.

Me and my friend Derek Webb aka J.C.G. had worked so hard on that mixtape within the span of like 3 weeks so, it was a relief that it was received well.

I thought it would end there……it didn’t….

I was with a friend at my house one day (working on a beat for him) and we just wanted to go to this popular website (that promotes christian music) and BAM! there I was on the front page…..I was like “what in the world” lol

It was weird because I went from the kid that had only 300 views on myspace and only 100 downloads for my previous works to being the on the front page of this website.

It was a surprise to me because I had never really been recognized by people that didn’t really know me …esp by a website like that one.

Everything changed.

I begin to get messages from people I didn’t know and friend request.

People begin to support me…that I didn’t know.

I would Google my name and all types of things would pop up.

It was weird and still is.

I’m not famous….I don’t ever wanna be famous but I know people are watching me now and what I’m doing and more people than before are expecting to hear more from me.

Not only in America but places like Africa, The Uk :) ,Australia

Those type of things scare me.

Things got even worse, people called this a “classic” also. lol

I noticed that people described me as being Jazzy,smooth,soulful,hipster (which wasn’t my intention at all)

I just wrote to the music. I didn’t sit down and say “Okay, this is my musical direction…and I want it to be relaxed and smooth”…I was just doing me.

I worried that I made the mixtape “too perfect” and I was afraid people who had not heard my previous work would not accept anything different than what “Peanut Butter and Jealousy” had to offer.

I begin to think about my next project….which this time would be another album.

during this process I began to notice how I changed and how I wasn’t the same 21 year old that wrote “Peanut Butter and Jealousy” but I was 22 and things were completely different around and inside of me. 

I just felt different. Many people that were close to me passed away.

The young girl that I would spend time with (as a boy) back in my song “Movie” was expecting more out of me as a “Man”.

I just wanted a different sound….I didn’t want to release another “peanut butter and Jealousy”

so I recorded the first song (last year) called “This time around” with my man cliff brown who is a former member of the group JUSTICE league.

lol It was really different but when I played it to the people close to me, they loved it.

I performed it for my old boss (who’s like a 2nd mom) Mrs. Renee at her bookstore and they ask me to do it twice.

I was like “Whoa” ok this is different. cause the song isn’t something that I would say “Hey everyone listen to this”.

so….blah,blah,blah,blah,blah

I finally ended up recording my entire album “True colors”. The title is exactly what the album is about. Who I am despite who people think I should be……or want me to be. This album is for the person that is going to or has given up. It’s specially for that one musician that can’t go one making music for the lord. All the songs mean the world to me because they are deeper than what people think they will be. If I explain the album song by song it would make a lot more sense when people listen (I plan to do that).  I felt creativity was missing in christian rap. so I wanted to give some people a spark whether you sing or rap. God has been extremely faithful to me throughout this whole process and the message I think he wants me to give rappers that rap for Him is  to “Get up”.  

I also wanted to share with people the challenges I go through in life and how I was told I was in sin for doing christian rap and not something else. This album is a representation of me pushing through….no matter what life hit me with. Jesus is real yall and I know I misspelled and left out words but I want to give it to you guys raw….no edits this time.

Me and my team have been trying to raise money (since June) so that we can have physical copies of the album. We have raised 324.23. Our goal was 1,000 before August but we haven’t reached the goal. If you would still like to be apart of this album relasing you can still email metamorphosismb@gmail.com and get info on how to donate (we do take paypal) I am thankful for every prayer, message, comment or anything that you guys have taken out the time to do. This is Jerrell and I’m out! lol

Check out more at jerrelljohnson.tumblr.com or thehomelessheroes.com