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  Gospelflava.com spoke with KJ-52 about his song “Dear Slim” (which is addressed to Eminem), his latest album Collaborations and the several other things on his mind.Gospelflava.com: Your first album, 7th Avenue, was released in 2000, your latest project Collaborations is still going strong from 2002, and you’re soon to unleash your next project in autumn of 2003. Can you tell us how you’ve grown as a both an artist and a follower of Christ since your debut? KJ-52: I had a different mind state on my debut, as you will find with a lot of artists between their first and second records. I toured a great deal after the first record dropped, I did 200 to 250 shows that year, and that really broadens your scope. You began to see how much bigger the world really is than what you think it is. You learn what is effective and what isn’t. All that really kind of played into the second record, Collaborations. A lot of the first record was done a year or two before it even came out. It was an independent album that was pretty much re-hashed, restructured and put back out again. This time around, I had a little more time. I really wanted to be more effective ministry-wise.
That might get you props and whatnot, but I realized that it doesn’t affect people from a spiritual standpoint. I really wanted to do that this time around. The whole Eminem thing being thrust on me really played into it also. It’s kind of interesting. I observed other artists. I checked out things that they did good and didn’t do good. Doing Christian Hip Hop and being effective at it is not easy, and I can count on my hands right now those who have actually sold a decent amount of CDs, that are actually paying the bills and are actually going somewhere. The majority of them are holding down a 9 to 5 and their record is selling 2,000 to 3,000 copies in the stores. Not that it’s about selling records. To be successful, you have to do what successful people do. Plus you just grow with years of writing. Hopefully the next record will be that much better. Gospelflava.com: Like you say, you are frequently compared to Eminem and you addressed this comparison in the song, “Dear Slim”. What was your main motivation behind that? KJ-52: To be honest man, I just had to address the issue. The funny thing to me is how big it blew up. That was never the intention. I never thought that this was going to be the song that really gets my name out, causes a reaction and really touches people. I wrote that thing at like two in the morning to some other beat. I’ve been meaning to address it (the comparison to Slim Shady), but I never really got around to doing it. Then I just said, “Well, I’m going to have to deal with this.” At first, I was just going to deal with the issue and I kept working on it and working on it. I said that I would put a spin on “Stan” and instead of it coming from an obsessed fan, it would come from a believer. More specifically, it would come from another emcee that has a similar background to his. I see a lot of myself in him in the sense of similar backgrounds and growing up being a white kid in hip hop.
People kept begging me and begging me for a copy, so I knew that I had to put it out. It’s been quite interesting. I’ve had everything from kids getting saved because of the song to people threatening my life and everything in between. Overall it’s been a very positive response. It’s been interesting to see some stations (that don’t normally play hip hop or play very little) jumping on it. And it DID get in Eminem’s hands. We’ll see. It’s just the beginning. Gospelflava.com: You’ve worked with the very versatile Todd Collins on your two albums. Tell us how your experience has been working with him. KJ-52: To be honest, he’s really the reason why I’m in this industry and why I’ve stayed in it. He discovered me so to speak. He was the one that got my demo and listened to it. At one point, I thought that I was going to be on Gotee Records. He was the one that actually turned me over to Essential Records (which is label that put out my first record, 7th Avenue). When I got dropped by Essential and nobody would touch me, he was the one that stuck with me. He said “Look, we are going to stay in this.” He paid for my studio time and we kept working and working doing songs. He never gave up on me when a lot of people turned their back. When a lot of people who wouldn’t return my calls (who now want to return my calls), he was the one that stayed with me through it all. We’re a lot closer than we were before. We were always cool, but before it was like producer/artist relationship. Now we very much work on things together.  Now I’m not just writing strictly hip hop, I’m writing praise and worship. Todd and I are working on projects together. He has his own label now and I’m kind of working as his unofficial A&R person. He’s an awesome guy, I owe him so much.Gospelflava.com: Can you elaborate on why you use so much humor on your albums? KJ-52: I just don’t take myself that seriously to be honest. I see a lot of artists that smile, laugh and joke in regular life, but they have to be so hardcore and serious on a record. If that’s the music, then cool, don’t get me wrong. To me, music should reflect who you are. I like to be serious and I like to have fun. I’m not scared to do a stupid tongue-in-cheek country song if it’s funny. I take my music seriously, but I’m not confined to the ten-step rule of what a rapper should be. I just do my thing. Gospelflava.com: On Collaborations you (no surprise) collaborated with such artists as Nirva Dousaint, Pigeon John, Playdough, and John Reuben. Was it difficult assembling such a great cast of singer and emcees? KJ-52: Not really. There were some who were going to be on the album but couldn’t. I have to be honest, when I went to do this, it seems that everyone was down for the cause. These were all my people. So I didn’t get people that I didn’t know. I wasn’t doing it just to be doing it, I wanted to do a collaboration record with people that I’m already cool with. Gospelflava.com: What artist would you like to collaborate with in the future? You know we always like you to push the boundaries! KJ-52: I would like to do something that would totally trip someone out like getting Plus One on my record. I’d like to do stuff that people would say, ‘It’s no way that that could work’ and then make it work. I’m always about pushing boundaries.  If you know me at all, you know that I never have had much to work with. I was never counted on to do anything, I always had to prove myself. I take the same attitude into my music. If you tell me that I can’t do it, then that’s probably the first thing that I’ll do. I’d like to do a song with artist that you would never hear on a hip hop record. If you look at anybody that has made waves, they were not afraid to take risks. Gospelflava.com: You are an emcee that tries to give props to all kinds of Christian hip hop artists. What do think about the ongoing hot topic of artists who say the name of Jesus in their songs versus those who don’t say His name? KJ-52: That’s a tough one. If you were to listen to my older stuff back in my Sons of Intellect days, it was a lot more underground. It was a lot less JPM (what people like to call “Jesus Per Minute”). I’ve found that the more I’ve grown and gotten older, there is a strong desire in my life to make my lyrics that much more bold and Christ-centered. To me that’s what changes lives. The Word will not return void. You know, I don’t know if I could necessarily point the finger at the person who says, “I don’t put Jesus Jesus in every lyric.” I’m kind of at the point that if that’s what you want to do, then fine. I’m not going to criticize people for it. I try not to turn things into doctrine. I know people that I’ve questioned in the past, I got to know them and I saw that there is fruit coming out it. I may not necessarily agree with it, but I can at least respect it and support it because I know their hearts. You can flip it both ways. I know people whose lyrics are so Jesus filled. If you met them you would wonder if they are even saved. My thing is to just do your thing. For me, I am  getting more and more bold in my lyrics. I know there is a ministry of doing songs in some aspects that are not so lyrically bold for the sake of using them as a hook.Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of radio play on the local secular hip hop station and it’s not “Dear Slim”, it’s “Revenge of the Nerds”. To me the song is a nice balance. I do bring spiritual truth at the end of it, but for the most part, it’s about getting dissed as a kid. If I was put out one song on secular radio that isn’t so bold lyrically, people are going to go check it out and go listen to the rest of the album. So I believe there is an effectiveness to that. That’s no different than going to a high school and talking about positive choices so that someone could come to a church service later on. I see an effectiveness to that. But I will say this. If your whole has nothing to do with God, don’t call it ministry. To me that’s silly, it’s not ministry. You have to preach the Gospel for people to get saved. If it’s entertainment, then cool, but call it entertainment. Call it for what it is. Some people put out very baby-ish type lyrics because they are babes in Christ. I was listening to the Nu Thang album by DC Talk. I was thinking that this album is so Fresh Prince, but he really broke down a lot of doors with that record. Toby, who I think is a genius, took hip hop and made it understandable for the CCM market. I think in the Black Gospel market, that really hasn’t happened yet. I think you see more of growth, as far as hip hop is concerned, in the CCM market. The Nu Thang record broke down a lot doors for guys like me, and I feel like I’m doing what Toby did ten years ago. I’m going out and touring with Carmen and Plus One; I played this New Year’s event and I was the first rapper that they ever had. Here I am coming in and the people loved it. Maybe I can open the doors for someone who is more underground than me. Gospelflava.com: What are some of your goals for this year and beyond? KJ-52: I guess to elevate and keep plugging away at what I’m doing know. I want to continue to blaze trails, getting the side projects off the ground and expanding as God sees fit. Expanding is something that KJ-52 is doing right now. People are getting into his music, parents are emailing him and thanking him for his ministry, and others are getting curious. Hopefully Eminem will see the sincerity in “Dear Slim” and consider his life. One thing is for certain, with a new project slated to drop in Fall 2003 titled Pronounced Five-Two, KJ-52 will continue to work hard at rocking the mic to allow souls to be snatched from Satan’s grasps.
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Not afraid of controversy, KJ-52 addresses his comparisons to Eminem in a cleverly crafted track titled "Dear Slim". This song is a take on Eminem's "Stan" in which KJ writes a letter to Slim Shady detailing their comparisons. While this track isn't designed to start the next Nas v. Jay-Z war, it is crafted to reach out to Eminem and offer him something he probably has never been offered....the love of Christ.