By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Last summer, most got to know Jomo K. Johnson through his infamous radio interview. In this interview, Pastor Johnson went up against one of the biggest rappers in the game, head on. Most remember this interview, as the rapper in question was Meek Mill and this was right when anticipation for Dreams and Nightmares was building.
A year has gone by since this infamous radio meltdown and both sides have grown. In recent months, Jomo K. Johnson has proven he is not anti-hip hop. Jomo K. Johnson has been working with Cassidy. They have come together for his new EP and his book, which is self-titled.
Hip Hop Vibe talked to Pastor Jomo K. Johnson today. A man with so many tasks at hand, he took the time out to speak on most of them. During the interview, Pastor Johnson talked about religion and hip hop, his work with Cassidy, and his work with the youth in Philadelphia.
Read the entire interview below:
Since you are a relatively young man, it is safe to assume you do indeed listen to hip hop music? Yeah, I do to listen to hip hop music. Before the ministry, I listened to a lot of secular hip hop and I loved West Coast gangsta rap. But, after getting into the ministry, I began listening to guys like Lecrae. However, recently, I find myself not listening to as much Christian hip hop and I do not know if it is because of me growing out of it, or the music sounding the same. I very rarely listen to secular hip hop, but I do listen to hip hop music still.
Are there any rappers you enjoy listening to? Yeah, probably one rapper I really like listening to that I began listening to two years ago was Sevin. He raps real life and inspirational, he puts his emotion, pain, everything, out there. He produces, sings and raps, and he is one of my favorite artists out right now.
As a pastor, the leader of the flock, do you feel it is a conflict, or a sin, to listen to hip hop music? I think it can be for two reasons. Sometimes, you have to listen to it, especially when walking down North Philadelphia, you will hear some of the negative hip hop music. But, if you hear it and you are enjoying it, it is a real problem. I would not say it is a sin, but it is not a good thing. We want our people to be concerned about what they take in, because it will come out in one way, shape, or form. All of this goes for video games, also, they have as many problems as the rap music does, it falls into different categories. But, listening to a secular song is not sinful.
With you and Cassidy both being Philadelphia guys, is it safe to assume you two came together over a love for the city? (Laughs). I really love Philadelphia in a spiritual sense, but it is hard to live there at times. Cassidy doesn’t even live in Philadelphia anymore. It came together, which was my idea, after I heard his testimony. With me launching the publishing company and doing biographies, I reached out to see if we could do a biography based on his life and how he came to faith. He signed a deal with GGIS Publishing and we completed the project on April 30.
This is really hard to ignore, but please forgive us, you targeted Meek Mill last summer over his lyrics, yet you work with Cassidy who also has offensive lyrics, can you speak on this? Okay. Well, the target of Meek Mill over “Amen” last summer was not over his promotion over rape. It was not about that, even though it was very problematic. It is in the “Scared Money” single where the rape lyric is. But, I felt “Amen” was disrespecting to the church following and I felt someone needed to call him out over it. Many people know what the fallout was over it. Cassidy also has problematic lyrics, but I have never heard him promote rape in his lyrics, or disrespect the church. By no means does Cassidy get a pass, we talk about it all the time. But, Meek Mill offered an apology on BET and that takes a lot, so I accept it and I am glad to move forward from it.
All controversy aside, how do you think the joint project with Cassidy went? Well, I was happy with the work we were able to do. It was difficult to do with his schedule, but we made a quality book that the people will enjoy. There are also a few songs and a DVD that we released to the internet for the people to take in. This is why GGIS Publishing is looking to work with more rising urban entertainment artists and create books to go along with their albums, it is cool to have them both going together and it provides a lot more exposure. We hope Cassidy is the first of many more artist we will work with.
Can you tell us more about your church and your work within Philadelphia? Okay. The name of the church is Philly Open Air Church, which is in North Philadelphia. We started it in 2010 with a few college kids, I felt the need to start t because my heart went out to North Philadelphia. I was mentoring in the area with college kids and we decided to put something together, and got a building. But, our focus is outside of the building, as we had services on the streets, outside of Temple University and other places, sharing the Good News. We moved from our original place to a new building that has apartments that gives people basic necessary. Men stay here and they are disciples at the same time.
How do you feel about the next generation of leaders from the city you love so much? To be honest, I do not know that many. There are pastors doing a lot of good work behind the scenes. But, those guys are older. I don’t get out much to see or know what else is going on, but I feel hip hop has the biggest voice in black and urban America. The next leaders of the urban culture will come out of hip hop and this is not limited to Philadelphia. So, hip hop is very important and we have an opportunity to turn this thing around, we can continue with the same old hip hop, or we can have rappers who speak on real topics. But, hip hop will produce that next leader.
Who was the person who reached out to you that helped lead you down this path of preaching and leading? I would say, I have had a mentor over the past six years who helped me in the faith when I was young and getting established. His name is Frank Abrahamson and he is an evangelist located in Georgia. We have done a lot of ministry together and I am under his authority when we work together. By far, he has had the biggest impact on me when it comes to ministry.
Where can people go to find out more about your movement and how to be a part of it? People can visit GGISPublishing.org that gives information on our books, products, and services. We are also also working on our publishing for artists, so you can also visiting GGISPublishing.org/musicartists for artists to push their message outside of music. We really want to be in touch with the hip hop/R&B community. I want to propel this next generation to have a positive influence on the world.
