Kadence on His New Album, Building a Youth Center, and Urban Ministry

Die Daily: Annihilation by Kadence is a project that was birthed out of the necessity for change in his inner city community of Eastside Oklahoma City, which is one the most under served and under developed areas in Oklahoma. 

Kadence is not your average rapper that's on the road 300 days out of the year. His main focus and vocation is being an urban missionary in OKC. Kadence still lives in the same house he grew up so he can continue to be apart of the community that he's trying to impact. 

Kadence works with city schools as the Director of Youth For Christ in the OKC region, and partners with other organizations that focus on ministering to the youth of inner cities. One of those partners is Urban Bridge, which is the non profit chapter of the famous urban clothing line GrpFly. They asked Kadence to head up their efforts to build and sustain a youth center placed in the heart of Eastside OKC.

The mission of the youth center is to bridge the gap between the educational, emotional and spiritual needs of the youth in this area which government programs can not fulfill. This is where the project comes into play. Opening and operating a youth center cost a lot of money and needs a lot of publicity to survive.  

Q:  Kadence, congratulations on the release of your new album "Die Daily."  What are you most excited this record?

Im always excited to share my music with people. Every artist loves the feeling of people appreciating their art. I'm also excited to push the Die Daily movement and bring awareness to the need for more involvement in the community from artists and saints alike.

Q:  Why did you entitle the record "Die Daily"?  In what ways should we die daily?

I titled it Die Daily because it's a simple, memorable two words that encapsulate so much meaning for us as Christians. As believers it's important for us to die daily in a few ways... 1. To our old ways. The person we were before Christ has to die. If we are a new creature in Christ then we have to truly walk in that and eliminate the actions of our prior selfish ways. 2. Die to our will.. We have to remember that God has a plan and is always in control and sometimes we want that control. But we must say "not my will but your will".... Which is very difficult sometimes! 3. Die to our comfort.... The comfort of church, the comfort of seeing our communities fail but doing nothing, the comfort of not sacrificing for our spouses and children, the comfort of not sacrificing for the needy. I could go waaaaaay deeper but I'll leave it there lol.

Q:  Tell us more about your new single "Go Crazy."  What's the song about?  And how has this song impacted yourself?

Go crazy is a fun energetic song that simply celebrates the change God has made in me. Everytime I think about how he's been so merciful and shown me grace I get excited! So this joint is that feeling. I also used a lot of wordplay on this song which makes it even more fun to listen to. I love making music that young people can turn up to, and hip hop purists can enjoy.

Q:  If you can pick two songs off the new record that best describes your passion for Christ and His Kingdom? Which would they be?  And why?

I would have to say "The Other Side" because it really expresses my heart for community and ministry in the inner city area I was raised in. I wrote the song from the perspective of myself and the young people I mentor and serve. 

Also, "American Dream Killer" is a big one for me too. It talks about  when I first got into music I had this dream of doing it big and living the life. Crazy thing is, my "dreams" never involved loving people or serving others. I only wanted the THINGS. On the second half of the song I journey into my experience as a chh artist and how even though I've made strides and seen some success the biggest fulfillment is how Christ has impacted loves using the platform he gave me. That song is ALL TRUE. 

Q:  I believe this is a very special album because the proceeds go to help build a youth center in Oklahoma City.  Tell us more about what this center is about and how will it be used?

The Bridge Impact Center is a partnership of Urban Bridge and Youth For Christ Citylife. It's focus is holistic impact on the community. We want to first of build meaningful relationships with the young people in families in the neighborhood it resides in and then we want to engage the young people intentionally. We will focus primarily on Mentoring, education and tutoring, spiritual discipleship, financial literacy, health and wellness, and the arts. We've began a couple of these initiatives but it takes money to do everything I named previously. The harvest is plenty though. Kids are showing up!

Q:  If I am not wrong, you do not just see yourself as just a Christian rapper.  Rather, you are an urban missionary, tell us more about your passion for missions and the city.

I believe that my journey as a inner city kid and knowing what it's like to grow up in adverse situations gave me a special understanding and skillset when it comes to connecting with the urban youth where I was raised. I just want to raise awareness in our culture to invest in the next generation. I see a lot of people complaining about how the nation is getting further and further away from God, but what are YOU doing? It's a big deal when someone says "I'm willing to invest 1-2 hours a week in a young person." You don't have to know everything, you can be trained! It's a big deal when someone also says "My schedule doesn't allow me to mentor and disciple but I want to help fund a ministry or share my resources."  Everyone can do something and that's my passion. To see the church engaged in the lives of lost people.

Q:   On Facebook, you wrote: "Community affects people more than a Sunday Service, so serving the community allows you to make an impact."  In what ways does serving the community make a bigger impact?  What are some ways we can serve the community?

So I kind of touched on it in the last question but I will say that the church is essentially about COMMUNITY. If a church is in a neighborhood I believe that neighborhood should improve because of the presence of God's people. Not because they are worshipping and preaching a good word inside, but because they are taking the gospel into the community. So many churches where I was raised have commute members. They don't live in the area that the church is, meaning that a lot of times they aren't invested into the community. Young people leave the church because of the lack of community. They are usually only engaged by older believers when they are doing something wrong and that's why when they graduate high school 86% of them don't return to church. Doing life with one another and serving one another in love is the real reflection of God's love in us. There's ALWAYS something that every individual can do to make an impact in their communities. The first thing is to commit not to sit in church while the world around them decays.....  

 

Tags : kadence kadence interview kadence new album kadence die daily kadence urban ministry