Sign me, Drop me, Shave me!

For those who know me, you notice I have recently acquired facial hair. I realize just as much as you do how ugly this looks on my face. I am not doing this as a fashion statement. I will take you back to December of 2009 to tell you how this decision was made to grow out a beard.

I have been submitting musical material to Deseret Book since 1998. In the past few years I have finally gotten the attention of some people in the company, and I have had extremely cordial meetings with some of these people. It wasn’t until December of 2009 that my latest album, For the People, got the attention of some of the executives, and a decision was made to bring me out to Utah for an official meeting to discuss officially working together. In January of 2010 I was brought to the executive offices of Deseret Book and discussed in depth with top executives about making a rap album that is morally marketable to the church, but also acceptable to the integrity of my genre. This was a new discussion for all of us. I have never worked with such a reputable and promising company, and they have never done anything outside of the Tabernacle Choir or Hillary Weeks. It was mentioned that that meeting was the first time the term “Urban Gangster” was uttered within the company walls. The meeting was very productive and we all left the meeting feeling very optimistic that we could cross this bridge smoothly. We concluded with the decision to begin recording material, and then submitting rough copies of songs to the people I met with for review, comments, and direction.

I immediately returned to Arizona and began writing and recording material. I cranked out a handful of songs and received promising feedback. They enjoyed the music and the content that I was sending. After a period time I began asking what else they needed. I compared my predicament to a cute girl (myself) throwing myself at the guy (Deseret) she’s been dating for a while now, but he still won’t make a move on her. I was simply told to keep doing what I’m doing.

This is when I decided to begin marking my time recording for Deseret by way of beard length. As stated in the title, I will shave my beard when Deseret tells me one of two things. One: releasing a rap album will not work, and there will be no professional relationship between us, or two: we sign a recording contract. The day one of those two things happen, the beard is gone. Thus indicated in the title, sign me, drop me, and then shave me. So, this really is not a rally, or a campaign. (Although if you would like to know who to contact to help my music get in Deseret stores quicker, email me or message me and I will gladly pass them on to you!) It is just a simple explanation why I have not shaved, and why I will not shave until I reach my personal goal. Every glimpse in the mirror reminds me and motivates me to write new material and record more songs.

As always, thank you so much for your support and love. Thanks for involving my music in your life and getting my music in your home.