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10 Questions with ... Ty Brasel
April 8, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. I write music for any and everyone who gravitates to the sound and message. I welcome anyone to the table. If people don't like it or choose to hate on it, I don't have a problem with that, I just hope to make believers of them by being consistent and continuing to increase the quality of the art
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1. What does your journey as an artist look like, from start to present day?
My journey has been one of slow, consistent, growth and progression over the last seven years. It has truly been a great ride. I've been blessed to be a part of five tours and five ]releases to this point, including a debut independent album (Young T) and debut label album release ("Destined For Greatness"). I recently surpassed 20 million global career streams, which is so cool to me being that I celebrated my first 1,000 plays as if I was famous lol. I remember when I first started, I wanted everything to happen immediately, not realizing that I was in no way ready or prepared for the type of responsibility and upkeep that comes with being a successful artist. I thank God for holding it back from me and allowing me to grow internally before I grew externally. It allowed me to handle things in a much more professional and efficient manner.
2. At what point did you realize you had an artistic/creative gift? Did anyone help you hone in on that gift?
When I was in middle school, we did a tone/key test in choir and my teacher said I scored a 100%. That was the first time I realized I had a natural gift for copying and matching keys and melodies. I was exposed to a vast variety of music growing up in my house and I believe that unintentionally played a large role in my development as an artist. I always flirted with the idea of being a rapper growing up, just because I was so ensnared with hip hop music and culture, but when I was a freshman in high school I started writing raps and showing friends and they were the first ones to tell me they believed I had a gift. I continued to practice writing throughout high school and ended up free-styling all the time my junior and senior year of high school, which I believe was key in helping me realize my own talent and gaining confidence in it. I started making music professionally for the first time during my freshmen year of college and from that point on, I think every artist, engineer, and spiritual leader I encountered played a role in my growth as an artist. I believe I am the product of hundreds of people contributing to my evolution as an artist.
3. You've been pretty open in your music about emerging from some dark moments in your past. What did that look like? Was there ever a point you thought you might not make it out of that darkness? Can you describe what that moment was like for you?
Yeah, I absolutely thought it could've been over for me. I experienced multiple near death accidents where I thought to myself, "that could've been the end right there, I need to change my life." My journey to redemption was very much just that; a journey. It was a process that consisted of many moments that led to a greater realization that I was on the path to waste my life, and I always knew I had great gifts and purpose. I didn't want to waste it all for quick thrills, I knew it wasn't worth it.
4. How do those moments play into your outlook in life now, and do they still haunt you in the present, even if you're not that person anymore? If yes, how so?
Now that I have emerged from that darkness, my mission is to reach back to others in the same boat and give them hope and guidance to the other side; to love them into the light. As far as my past, it definitely tries to creep in and cause feelings of guilt and shame, but I believe firmly in the words of the Bible that said my sins are forgiven and covered by Christ's finished work on the cross. I also still have to deal with certain consequences of decisions that I made in the past, but God is truly a redeemer and has restored a lot of the damage that I caused in my own life.
5. Who are you writing your songs for? Is there anyone you're NOT writing your songs for?
My philosophy for writing songs is based from the scripture Mark 12:30-31, which says the greatest commandment is to love God above all and love your neighbor as you love yourself. I write my music as worship and sacrifice unto God with the intention of blessing other people with positive words of encouragement and inspiration. I write music for any and everyone who gravitates to the sound and message. I welcome anyone to the table. If people don't like it or choose to hate on it, I don't have a problem with that, I just hope to make believers of them by being consistent and continuing to increase the quality of the art.
6. Has it always been hip-hop for you? Did you ever explore other styles of music? What music (and who) influenced you most growing up?
When I was a kid, I was exposed to just about every type of commercialized music. I have always been a believer that good music is good music, no matter the genre, it's the feeling that music gives you that makes it special. As I got into middle school and high school, I definitely gravitated most to hip hop and r&b. I was mesmerized by great emcees, I always practiced by memorizing their lyrics and reciting them in the mirror all the time. Some of my greatest hip hop influences growing up were Kendrick Lamar, Big KRIT, Curren$y, J. Cole, Drake, & Chance The Rapper. There were more but those are the most pressing I think. After I started walking with God, I got deep into gospel music and feel that I really learned a lot about song writing and song progression from people like Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, Donnie Mcclurkin etc. The lists could go on forever but I would say I'm a product of a plethora of artists and genres.
7. When did you learn about the Christian hip-hop community and what were you first impressions of it?
I first learned about Lecrae when I was about 10, my Sunday school teacher gave me his cd because he realized I wasn't paying attention and thought that would be a good way to reach me. I definitely liked the cd and was impacted by it but I didn't realize there was a whole community and industry until right after my senior of high school. I met a guy who was a big Christian hip hop fan. He helped to disciple me and him and his friends would show me all of these different artists and I was like wow this is a real thing. I wasn't really big into it at first because I was still big into mainstream hip hop and I didn't think the quality and execution was very comparable. It was after my freshmen year of high school when I decided to walk with God for real, that I started to dive deeper into the artists music and became inspired by it. I made the decision during my second year of college that I wanted to change paths and be a Christian rapper myself. I was already doing hip hop, but I decided that I wanted to give my life fully to Christ, as well as my music. So I dropped out of college to pursue it, and the rest is history.
8. What do you particularly enjoy about the Christian music industry as a whole? Is there anything about this side of the industry that you'd change if you could?
I believe one of the best parts of any industry is the network and community that it offers. I have made some of my closest friends in CHH. I have made life long mentors out of my journey here, it's a beautiful thing. I also enjoy listening to some of the other artists music and being able to have clean, positive, uplifting, high quality music that uplifts my spirit instead of bringing it down. I think there's issues and things that need changing and updating with every industry, especially in Music. I would love to see more infrastructure and radio support in this industry, but the way I see it is, if you see a problem, help to create a solution and empower others that can do the same. So I'm working on that at the moment.
9. Your IVAV debut album is titled Destined for Greatness. What does "greatness" look like to you?
In my opinion, Greatness means to be the greatest version of yourself. I believe that a lot of people live life without cultivating the potential and talents that God put in them. My goal is to encourage people to create success in their lives by first, creating successful lifestyles and surrounding themselves with people on similar missions. My desire with 'Destined For Greatness' was to use my own story and testimony to inspire others to pursue and achieve greatness in their own lives.
10. If you had to choose three songs as the biggest highlights off the album (and you do!), which ones would they be and why?
I make music for different moods and feelings, so to answer this question, I'll state the 3 songs that are the most influential in life at the moment based on where I'm at in my life.
- 444 + 333 (God Is Perfect) - One reason I really like this song is the unique wordplay I used, but also because it's one of the most vivid explanations of my testimony from Death to Life.
- Meant For Me - I love the commercial feel of this song, yet it still has a very deep message and level of substance that sets it apart from a standard radio song.
- Greatness (Album Finale) - This is the deepest I think I've ever gone into my journey from a kid to now and also I believe one of the most inspirational songs I've written. I also enjoyed writing this one because of the wordplay I did. It is a special one to me.
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