Gospel Gangstaz: The Exodus

[Myrealname]

For sanctified hip-hoppers the Gospel Gangstaz, hip-hop is not just music, it’s a way of life. These three are true G’s who represent the streets of Los Angeles to the fullest, while paving the way for the hip hop community to experience an undeniable spiritual journey.

Hailed for their irreproachable rhymes, wit, and G-Funk production, Gospel Gangstaz successfully fuses hip-hop with Godly principles. Gospel Gangstaz are not new kids on the block, they’ve been putting it down with three critically acclaimed albums to credit including 1999’s Grammy-nominated I Can See Clearly Now, furnishing testimony as to why they have gained respect from hip hop peers such as E-40, DJ Quick and Snoop Dogg as well as contemporary gospel artists such as Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond.

The Exodus, Gospel Gangstaz 4th album displays their proficiency in remaining true to the streets of LA while being true servants of God. With funky tracks such ass “Gangstaz Don’t Dance” featuring Bootsy Collins; the inspirational anthem “Watch, Pray, Live Holy;” and the soon-to-be West Coast classic “Gangsta’d Up”, The Exodus offers hip hoppers everywhere redemption through 12 bangin’ tracks.

With music today obtaining so much power, yet shedding minimal light, you can rest assured that Gospel Gangstaz won’t let the sun set on the hip-hop horizon.

The Exodus is the 1st release on Gospel Gangstaz own Camp 8 Records, a joint venture with Native records.

Allhiphop.com: How did growing up in LA draw you closer to God to the point where you wanted to dedicate your heart, souls and music to him?

Gospel Gangstaz: Well we’re from Compton, Watts and South Central known for gangs. I (Tik-Tokk) was a Blood, Chill’E Baby was a Crip, and Da Coach was also a Crip, so we were real bangers. We’ve done a lot and seen a lot. There came a point and time in all of our lives where we had to choose a better life for ourselves. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired. In and out of jail, addicted to drugs, gang wars, pimpin’. We‘ve done it all. We grew up on hip-hop. We’ve always been into hop-hop. We just want to make music. We’ve been doing this for 12 years.

AHH: So what’s so different about y’all that will make some of the truest hip-hop heads give you your props?

GG: Well , we’re not looking for respect we just want to get the message out that God has given us. We speak the truth. We’re not running around pointing fingers at anyone, because we’re human we’re not perfect, we just want people to know that you can love hip-hop and love God at the same time.

AHH: Was it difficult to get MC’s like Snoop, E-40, and DJ Quik to show their support?

GG: Nah, we grew up with DJ Quik and brothas know us from around our way. They knew what we were and they see they people that we have become because of God. You can’t help but respect that.

AHH: In the music industry it would’ve been so easy to sell out, what made you stick by your principles, and not get sucked in?

GG: We had to separate ourselves. You have to be strong and remain focused on what you’re called to do. There are a lot of people that speak about God in their records, but in the same breath are talking about bling-blinging, hoes, this that. True we are children of God and we’re not supposed to want for nothing. There’s nothing wrong with wanting or having material things. Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean that I have to have less or that I can’t have fun. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you have to be consistent, you can’t serve two Gods. You can have nice things, but you have to acknowledge who blessed you with what you have. We had offers from major labels like Death Row and Priority, but we chose to stick with a smaller Christian label.

AHH: How did it feel working with a legend like Boosty Collins?

GG: Man, Bootsy is cool. He’s like our Uncle. We call him Uncle Boot. He showed us nothing but love.

AHH: Who comes up with all the concepts?

GG: We all work together. God is involved so things just fall into place. Most of our music appeals to the younger crowd. We like to dance. The biggest misconception is that Christians can’t dance or that they can’t listen to anything besides Gospel music. God created us as dancing creatures, so just because we believe in God and serve him doesn’t mean that we can’t dance. It just depends on who or what you’re dancing for.

AHH: What’s your outlook on the music that’s out there today?

GG: Rev Run said it when he said “ Music is supposed to inspire, so why we aint getting no higher?”

AHH: Speaking of Run, what did you think when you heard of the murder of Jam Master Jay?

Solo: I just thought, ‘this can’t be real’…what could be going through a person’s head to make them shoot a living legend…Jam Master Jay was the first deejay to hold down the spot for a group, I mean to where that group couldn’t show up, wouldn’t show up, without him…

Chille: This thing, it really hurt my feelings. Jam Master Jay was an icon, I just want to know who would even think of pulling the trigger on an icon…What could Jam Master Jay do to someone to make them want to shoot him. He was a cool guy, you never even heard anything bad about Jam Master Jay, about him having beef with somebody, nothing.

Solo: He was also a businessman and that makes me respect him that much more. We need more people like Jam Master Jay in hip hop, he breathed life into hip hop instead of sucking life out of hip hop like so many people in it are doing now. And the media immediately tried to say that this was part of an East Coast/West Coast beef, but the devil is a liar, that ain’t what my West Coast is about. As people in hip hop, we need to stop letting the media dictate what we are about. Hip hop is a way of life, and for those of us in it, hip hop IS life. If you love hip hop, you love life. If you don’t respect life and you out there killing people and bringing a violent element to hip hop, you really don’t respect hip-hop.

AHH: Can hip-hop heal itself and is God the only way?

Solo: God is love and love will heal and is what is needed to heal hip hop. It’s not about religion, which is manmade and can be divisive, it’s about loving each other as your brother and having a respect for life. In this world, it’s every man for himself but God for us all. We have to start letting love guide us, instead of being led by hate. And that’s what see happening, people are operating from hatred and envy.

AHH: So how can the healing begin?

Chille: It starts with us as artists, we’re on the front lines and a lot of us are spewing hate. Artists should set better examples. Artists should respect each other, respect themselves, and stop beefin. Gangstas do what they want to do, suckas do what they can. If you Gangsta, you can do something positive and people will pay just as close attention to that. We Gangsta, and we choose to serve the father with our lives and our music.

Solo: Everybody already know how to curse, how to hate; everybody already got a gun and know how to kill, as artists, let’s start showing ‘em how to live. The president of the united states is showing us how to kill, there’s enough bullets going around, we gotta live. There’s always gone be fools out there, the devil was in the garden, but we got to have our hate repellant on and not fall into the traps.

With JMJ’s death is this an open door for your words and message to be heard?

Solo: This will pull a lot of people and make them think, a lot of people will be introspective and reflective, but everyone has their own course. With everything that’s going on today, people are going to wonder when will it all stop. This is going to make people understand how precious life is. The Word was there in the beginning, it will be there in the end. Right now, people just need to stop and pay attention to it.

AHH: Do yall consider yourselves role models?

GG: What type of brother or sister wouldn’t wanna be a role model? There are a lot of people out there who are selfish and would rather sacrifice the whole community for their own personal gain. They are lovers of themselves. We can’t be selfish. We have to sacrifice our lives just as Christ sacrificed his life for us.

AHH: Was it difficult getting support from the “church” because of your backgrounds and the fact that yall are hip-hop artists?

GG: Well at first we received a lot of criticism. We were told that rap music is of the devil. We just had to stick to what we believed in and Trust in God. Now those same people want us to come and perform at their church, because younger people can relate to our music and what we’re saying.

AHH: What would you say to artists out there who straddle the fence of good and evil, artists who truly live for God and want to incorporate that in their music?

GG: You have to use the gift God gave you, and send our a positive message instead of a negative one. Music is an instrument. Use it!

[Funkadelic]

I've once checked a few samples of their work, but I didn't really like it...