Inspiration now in session For a week unexpected break, you know, I mean from the show if I'm being real so hopefully you got an opportunity to check I can talk to ketchup. We got like a hundred and seventy-something episode So if you're a new listener, I should start with that I typically advise new listeners to listen to the episode now But in parallel go back and start episode one because we laid a lot of foundation for a lot of the conversations that we have had in In the future were in the past now But is the future from where we started you following me and I think that's important our foundation and fundamentals haven't changed And yeah, we like to talk freely and we get guests on here and shout out to all the guests We've had you can go back and listen to all type of conversations with people who've been shot been in a trap house been drugged out And all have found their way back to Christ or never lost Christ in Christ Just kept them through their situation. We talked to CEOs entrepreneurs artists all type of people in this show So welcome to inspire guys people we are growing you know what I mean? We're I'm in a new studio space.
So feeling good about that. This is my first time talking to y'all from the new studio I'm trying to make sure you know when you change the space You got to like relive in it and experience it to make the tweaks and things So still making some upgrades, but I'm about to start back into the YouTube videos I'm committed to the YouTube videos and 22 and building an audience there that we just started and it's probably me You and your auntie are the only subscribers now, but we don't grow that and we all see the new space I think y'all gonna like it. Well look today's a compelling conversation I'm telling you all some new that I'm gonna do I'm gonna start doing I actually started doing it already But I'm telling y'all I'm doing it. We're gonna start doing some Marvel credits You know that mean you got to listen to the end even listen to the outro song and I might have some additional nuggets You know what I mean waiting for you when you get there So I you know me I urge you to listen for that.
I'm not gonna do a long drawn out intro today because I've you know I've been away for a minute, but just know that you know when you're away like this show We don't fake it This is life-changing content and one of the reasons that we're able to do that is because I genuinely believe in living out life Like we're not just coming here being theoretical. We're talking to experience individuals Also myself obviously being experienced a corporate businessman and having these entrepreneurial efforts that in endeavors I like to live out life and that's where the content comes from. So just know that in these last three or four weeks I've lived out some life. So that means I got some amazing things to share LaToya LaVille.
They're gonna be back on the show real soon So in the meantime, we coming back, you know heavy-hitting, you know, I got my tail Jordan I think this is a compelling conversation I think me and my tail actually because this conversation happened a couple days ago I actually think we touched on some things that have to be episodes themselves You know what I mean? Like just because some of the things that we cover are so in-depth that we you know couldn't go down a rabbit hole in our Conversation it would have veered off too much and there was a lot more that I wanted to kick it with him about anyway Just because there was so many things to discuss I think you're gonna get some things from this I think it's gonna make you think I think it's gonna make you think let's just use the word think a million times and Of course, I want you to hit me up and tell me what you think about it Jermaine Wilson music at gmail.com or hit me up on Instagram at mr. Underscore bellwether that's at sign mr. Underscore be el w T h e r again Bellwether like be el w e t h e r not whether like the weather man or the weather outside people like to add a in weather What else I got I think I said with the announcement stuff.
We're not gonna draw this out. Y'all know what it is We are on our way to a good time. Oh, you know what? I got to do this because my tail is actually gonna be in a metro Detroit area this week Friday May 20 You know I'm saying at the prevalent church with pastor Rick Sykes my guy.
We interview him You know I'm saying to talk about his outreach program don't engage in row race So go and check out that episode with him But at the prevalent church 27 800 Annapolis Avenue in Eastern Michigan this Friday What is it 6 p.m. I tell them Kristen Jordan Kristen Kristen? I can talk marriage and family night at the prevalent church check Them out man. Alright now let's get into the interview.
You know I'm saying but I have to say that that was right I had to do that and we made it easy for you all the information for the event the link and all that will be in The description of the show so check that out. You know, you should be looking at description anyway You go talk to me and I'm gonna talk to you maybe on the phone Possibly in person. It'll make it go speak. Don't be talking purpose And today, man, you know, I got somebody on the line with me that you I don't know You might know him as a as an R&B singer and you might know him as a pastor That's like that's range right there like depending on you know I'm saying where you at in your life.
Um, mr. Montel Jordan, how you doing today my brother? Well, I am fantastic. How are you my friend?
Listen man? I'm doing really well. It's if I'm being honest with you It's been a lot going on this year, but all good just a lot of transition guys been doing a lot I'm in in a new space right now and just trying to get comfortable But you know we about to make it I'm really excited to be talking to you man So we don't learn a lot about you in your life Before we you know get into all the stuff that like what you're doing now and you know All the things that we might get some behind us things are some of them get something good is going to help inspire the people But I do want to know my tell like who were you growing up? Like if we could start with like you know, I'm saying like I know you from South Central LA I don't know a lot about South Central than what I see on TV, you know Typical stuff gangs and all that so can you tell us a little bit about just like how your neighborhood your community shaped you?
And also like what was your reputation growing up? You know like the people expect you to be like, you know a smooth R&B singer in the 90s Or was that catching everybody off guard? Well, those two I think those two questions in one right there because the smooth R&B singer do it then come until Much later in life, but as far as my my earlier years of growing up I think there's some pretty good depictions That you would get from the stories that NWA told and the the picture that John Singleton painted with boys in the hood All of that was very very authentically done You know for the culture and for people to be able to know that's what South Central LA looked like Whereas New York kind of goes up LA goes out and so everything is kind of sanctioned off by blocks and neighborhoods And so that's why you know when people say oh when you go to LA you got to make sure you know what colors you wear in whatever neighborhood Yeah, literally because everything is so spread out that if you happen to be going to one particular area It's the same way that there's redlining in different cities. It's almost like red and blue lining throughout Los Angeles So but that is that is where I grew up.
I did have a mom and a dad at home Which was the thing to curtail my gang activity was the fact that I had a dad who was at home who I feared more than I feared In a gang So I grew up what would be known as affiliated meaning I was around it But I was not actually in it but close enough to it to be able to know a lot about it and be close enough to it to Understand a lot of what it would you know what it was to be in that in that light? But I never tried to play a gangster I never tried to play anything other than who I was and I was a storyteller So I basically would document what life was like in South Central LA and try and bring it to the masses for them to get a glimpse of What they thought this would look like but all the negativity that people would see I wanted to give them the positivity That was in the hood as well. So that's the dichotomy of listening to a song like this is how we do it because it's full of It's full of different pieces where I'll say I reach for my 40 and I turn it up But designate a driver take the keys to my truck. So on one hand, I'm talking about drinking back then But then on the other hand, I'm saying but if you're gonna drink good responsibly, you know I make a statement that says all the gangbangers forgot about the drive-by so on one hand I'm recognizing gangbangers, but on the other hand I'm recognizing that they would have such a good time that there was no killing that was taking place So it was basically the life that I led walking a tightrope through South Central LA to try and get to college and try and get To a place of substantial influence From the neighborhood that allowed me to tell the stories from my hood but to make it general population knowledge That's the first part of the question.
I was a basically I was a kid who grew up. I was tall. I was goofy I had a Jerry curl long after I got a cut Not athletic so I showed up to my my high school in the 10th grade Couldn't play basketball, but I'm 6-4 and my last name is Jordan So you probably to come along with things like that, but yeah, so to answer the second party a question in regard to was I Being groomed as kind of an R&D singer smooth this or that that didn't come until much much later I literally was just a church kid a musician a guy that was trying to find a pathway out of Lower middle class when there was a middle class lower middle class South Central Los Angeles and try and make a pathway to doing something that a lot of my families had not done up into that point Yeah, you know what that last part right there on that's a major thing like Trying to do something that's never been done before and you capture like, you know in that answer and what you just spoke to It's like this dichotomy in a hood where we see all the negativity, you know what I mean? But people don't see some of the good and there's a lot of good and a lot of good people a lot of you know family and community Really a lot of what the fabric of the church is is also layered in the hood You know me being from the east side of Detroit There are a lot of similarities gangs weren't a big thing here But you know pretty much the activities were the same but to the point that you just made right is It's it takes something a certain type of person to want to become something that they had never seen before Where did that right that thing come from like for you?
Because that's typically an exceptional person or a unique person That that understands and appreciates the things in the hood, but also still wants to elevate and goes somewhere different like where did that come from for you? Yeah, well first of all it's a great question And I think that something that you had talked about just briefly right there in regard to the you know The negativity that's that scene I think in every story man in every life in every story every story There is negativity and positive positivity all kind of rolling into one and it all depends on what you focus on of what gets the attention Right, so in other words, you know if you want to go biblical, you know You can just focus on Judas you know and talk about what Judas did how bad Judas was dealing how he betrayed Jesus And you talk about just Judas and you miss the story of the other 11 You know I'm saying there was a lot of cool stuff that happened right with the other 11 and Judas is a part of that story But he's not the entirety of it and so if I were to say yeah, there were drive-by shootings in LA That's a real real deal my family and I remember as a kid growing up around the time that the Cosby show in the different world was on TV My entire family would be in the living room sitting on the floor We wouldn't sit on the couch we would sit on the floor because it's a drive-by shooting Nobody wanted to be sitting up on a couch So we were closer to the ground on the floor So someone would hear a story like that and they hear old drive-by shootings in LA But I hear that story and I hear my whole family was seated around watching the Cosby show You know, even in the negativity, there's always you know, I'm saying what the enemy meant for evil You know God meant for good And so I think that in looking at that that was the template for my life being one who wanted to elevate But did not want to abandon where I was from I wanted to tell the story of where I was from and I wanted to give a voice to voiceless people And and not just the voiceless in South Central Los Angeles But the voices and cops and in Watson Brooklyn and Long Island and all over the place This is how we do it just kind of became an anthem for whatever city or whatever hood you're from or whatever Eclectic background that you're from if you're a yoga mom, this is how you do it a soccer You know, everybody has a way of doing something and so somehow the song just was able to transcend the initial idea Which was to represent my neighborhood, but it ultimately became an anthem to represent Everybody's individual way of doing things and so what a what a grateful how grateful am I to be able to have something like that? That has lasted, you know going on three decades It's a very intriguing thing because like you said it takes something really unique to be able to capture the full essence of something Right, you talked about like the Bible would I always say I love about the Bible is like the balance of it Like some people say oh the Old Testament contradicts the New Testament I'm like no, it's no different than like a quarter like heads and tails like you need both right like it balances each other out I mean it doesn't contradict it really does You know when you look at you know the the need for Christ right and and what he came for it really is full circle from on the Old Testament So it's that that balance is is interesting to me because with this is how we do it in a most unique way It captures all of that and it's still like to this day like I think I saw you like on a commercial with Shaq recently And I'm like this song makes sense in every scenario like and so what I want to ask you is cuz typically like if I'm guessing like Something that unique you can't do that on purpose. It has to be a level of surprise I want to tap it if we can go back like do you remember?
Where the idea came from how the creation like of that song came about and like when did you know it was something? Like when did you know or did you know that it was gonna be what it is? Okay, well another great question First of all, it wasn't the song idea that came first the idea first came about through the music So I got to give a shout out to my mentor slick Rick I was in my college days, you know, my cap out beside days Every party that I went to The DJ is normally crafting a story a good DJ any yeah He's telling the story throughout the night And so in other words, there are certain songs that's not gonna be played at nine o'clock at night when the party don't close They'll do right, you know, I know you got some say folks is listen to this right now And it's wondering about me being in the club. Listen, this is my BC days It's on college days and I'm in a man ask your questions on you You good you good good good good good good good good So but you know when when it was last call for alcohol and it's one o'clock in the morning because he's been spinning for three It's gonna have four hours already.
That's when his hot records he would start to put into his his final hour rotation and and Every single time effortlessly when a DJ would put on slick Rick's children story the floor instantaneously shifted There was like an energy thing. I cannot explain it There's a whole lot of whole lot of big records that that record for whatever reason when that record hit It felt like the room was shaking to me And so I used to say long before I was ever even thinking of record deals and everything back and you know in in college I was saying to myself if I ever get a chance to sing over that song I'm gonna sing over that song Wow, so I do that the key or the magic behind whatever I was gonna sing was gonna be that that song itself the music attract the sampling of it That's what was going to be a part of the magic now the actual words of it It was the last song I recorded on my very first album because as I'm creating different songs As I'm creating different songs, I didn't want to mess this one up. I knew it was special and so I saved it for last And once I had the chorus that was so simple that it seemed like this can't be it You know, I mean it was just that that that that you could have said anything right there You know, but just the idea that that a statement like that is to this day you can cut on the TV and see this is how we sign it There's probably This is how we Heisman like there's I know I could probably name you 15 This is how we some things that that people have used in their marketing campaigns that are currently out You know simply because it's such a catch-all phrase That that somehow captured the attention of the world back in 1995 and made people feel good And so I think the song isn't just the it isn't just what it is I think it's attached to a piece of time that people recognize that this was a pretty decent time in the world And so the song is associated with memories I think music is the soundtrack to our lives and it leads us back to good memories the bad memories It's really a form of time travel. So this is how we do it allows people to time travel and it really came about And let me say this and I'm being long with it.
You're good. This good. You good One of the reasons why the song was as successful as it was was because there was probably close to Four or five hundred versions of the same song because I sang the song south central doesn't like nobody does But when my song is blowing up and I went to New York City, New York is not showing me no luck Why is it New York record? Well because you say a south central and because New York and LA You know it ain't we not buddy buddy like that right no south central record here So I'm at the radio station and I'm like well can we record a version of the song is this New York doesn't like nobody does Yeah, so we go in and we record a different version of the song I was a rap singer before I was an R&D singer So I'm free-styled in the studio and I could say this is how we do it is Friday night I feel like right the parties with Wendy Williams So I reach for the old you know me just Williams name it I don't fuck my Netflix name in I don't New York City and I go Brooklyn in who is not gonna play that record in New York City when I'm Brooklyn funk flexed with the Williams and so you know they're playing that record now multiple times Every hour on the hour and then Washington DC is like yo, we heard hot night I got a special remakes of the song, you know, we got Donnie Simpson here and we got this person here Can you do us a version sure that's crazy with a producer right in the studio not the same way they look cuts and commercials And you know this how we do it is Friday night.
I feel I write the parties with Donnie Simpson So and so boom Donnie's not gonna play a record to got his name in right I went across the nation touring going to every radio station and cutting individualized remixes Customized for each and every station so that they all had their own version of the song and that was one of the reasons why the song Was it successful as it was that's epic like stuff like that again? You almost can't plan that it just works it reminds me of like um, you know the Detroit versus everybody is a guy here in Detroit I'm named Tommy Walker. I don't know him personally, but I've you know, I've seen his work Obviously I have some Detroit versus everybody stuff, but you go anywhere and I mean I've seen Chevy versus everybody I've seen that license Yeah, a million times and again because it captures kind of that balance of the hood that like us versus everyone mentality But also in a unique way. It's also unifying.
That's how the song is like it is it's cool from that perspective. So All right, so cool. I appreciate you sharing that those are things Hopefully I know a lot of people that's listening to this might know a lot about you But I've never heard that some of what you said not so I feel really good about where this is going So we got you in obviously 1995, you know your son to Dev so Jeff Dev Jam records You got this you got this number one single your your plat I think that out that first album and platinum kind of like I mean kind of on top of the world Can you talk a little bit about like just your entry into the music business? Like you talked about like wanting to go after something that nobody in your family or community had done or something you hadn't seen Like what is that what was that process like a in starting to accomplish that?
But also be if you could talk a little bit about like your roots were, you know Like you say you were a church musician growing up in church and things like that And you know my assumption and you know, I've heard you talk about some of this is like, you know that life in the music industry Obviously, especially in them early years started pulling you away Like what was that like when you know if you could talk about some of the dynamics like on one hand of like reaching this new level of success? You know what can you share about that? But then also like was there any part of you that was feeling like, you know, oh man Like I'm getting away from my roots whether being a church or as a church musician did you get me backlash and things like that? Well, I think and I say this I say this respectfully the church has probably been the most The place where I have most received backlash and that's just the reality that is that is you know The world is not saying out somebody coming from church again trying to steal us up You know the world is the world is where we live is where we live is where the church functions in the world But not of it, you know, and so I think any backlash that I have gotten has probably mostly come from from that that beautiful relationship of growing up In church of being a church kid of being committed to The gospel but also understanding that you know my upbringing in church as a kid.
I was a church musician I played the piano my boy chef proper played the organ. We were over the choirs. We were trying to create songs But we were inundated with music with WWF before was WWE We was it was a world of Los Angeles Lakers and Showtime and we grew up wanting to be wrestlers and Hulk Hogan and wanted to be Lakers and Karima village about like that was my time period and when people would say, you know, you want to be it You're gonna be a pastor one day. I'll be like, you know, you missed it We're not doing that right.
We're not going that route and then also because it was in a period of time where pastors were under I guess any period of time But that one in particular under high scrutiny of what a pastor drove or how I passed addressed Yeah, and so, you know, I had a pastor then growing up who didn't have expensive cars and things like that He would have like old antique vintage type of cars But he would have like five or six of them and fix them up, you know These old buckets that now today have you were probably hundreds of thousands of dollars But because he didn't want to see him, you know, like a like he's talking and they're doing something with money You know, I mean you took the money that he did get and was, you know, putting putting them into, you know Cars that he liked and so but I looked at that lifestyle and I was like, I don't know if I want that You know, if that's what being a pastor is I don't know if I want that and then I didn't know what God spoke through people either I you know, I thought, you know, you wait for that voice from from heaven to come in and say Monchot You will preach the gospel. I never heard it. You know, and I heard this stuff say, you know, what? You know, you got a call on your life.
You go preach one day. That was God But I know God talked through system So I know that so literally my journey of growing up in church was a challenge because I was connected so very deeply to To music and I'm not talking about gospel music. Of course I was connected to commission and the Clark sisters and the you know, the the Hawkins and you know, James Cleve Like I grew up listening to church music and doing those church songs But I have to say breath now when I went to bed at night I was listening to Longer Richie and Madonna and Phil Collins and the police and 80s music for me Inspired so much in me that the the challenge of the whole you can't do God's music and do the devil's music And I'm thinking I know the devil can't stay claimed to music But the devil doesn't own music because the devil is not a creator God is the creator and the devil is an imitator He can twist something he can pervert something He don't he don't create. He's not that good But he can only take what the creator does and flip it and try and make it something Something different and so when I would hear music by the time I got to college, you know And I'm now at this church of Christ school out in Malibu Pepperdough University is a funny story behind that too I tell that later.
We have time yeah, but I'm not perfect on their church of Christ school and church of Christ at that time I was no music like you use only your voices. You do not know instruments in church. There's no piano There's no drums. You just use your voices.
I could help it's all perfect. You know I'm saying and so when they would hear that on the weekends I would go into LA to be playing the piano for my church and for my choirs and for my choirs and stuff I had people tell me that I was going to go to hell. I had Christians telling me I was going to hell because I was playing piano in a church And they basically you can play piano in the world. You can play piano in R&B.
So that when the church the church doesn't have music That was Old Testament. That's heavy. New Testament. You said use your voice and what and so they went die hard letter of the law to You can only use your voice if you're using an instrument in church You can go to hell and when I heard that That did something in me that was saying you're telling me the closest time that I could feel to God when I'm playing music Is the thing that's going to send me to hell?
And then on the other side I had the other Christian churches that would tell me if you're listening to secular music the devil's music You're going to hell. So I got two different sides of Christianity telling me I'm on my way to hell and I'm a Christian Hard walk to try and to try and you know to try and take that pathway I will and so I can remember I had a moment to this day my favorite album of all time is Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Intervision my favorite And I felt God in that album and it's not a gospel outlet. It's not a church to this day I feel God in that album. I would listen to that song as a child and I would hear a man In a song called vision in my mind.
I would hear him saying I'm not one who makes believe I know that leaves are green They only turn to brown when autumn comes around. I know just what I say today's not yesterday and all things have an ending But what I'd like to know is could a place like this exist so beautiful Or do we have to find our wings and fly away to this vision in my mind? I'm listening to a blind man talking about leaves turning from green to brown and I'm feeling God in that But people are telling me not that's not God. That's the devil So that was when I had to make a difficult decision To kind of not listen to what I thought people were saying and listen to the voice of God that I felt was speaking to me And be able to be confident in that and comfortable enough in that that if the church Was going to say goodbye to me I wasn't first they got to say goodbye to the church But I wasn't allowed them to think what they were going to think of me regardless Now i'm a passive actually, but I want to say this the story I told is the story of so many of your favorite musical artists that they know God They love God.
They love Jesus But the church has this vantage point of what holiness is and I give me a holy is being set apart I understand I know some of the stuff that we sing some of the stuff that we do is not glorified God But I believe that on that journey to holiness. It's not instantaneous you holy now It's working out your salvation with fear and trembling It's the working out part that people don't allow you to work out in Public you have to work it out in private and then come to Jesus and let everybody know Jesus found you and everybody's cool with that But when you try and work it out in public man, it's a very very difficult place for me or for any artist to be true Yeah, I mean you like you you touched on a bunch of things that Um are probably full of conversations in themselves. So I'm not going to jump into each one But what I will say that's interesting as I was kind of listening to you talk I think what ends up happening on till is like we forget people are human Right, like I really think that's what it is now again This kind of goes back to my perspective is like this is where there is beauty and complexity Because I think we want to make every single thing in life Like really black or really white and on this show like my listeners know like I talk about like, you know Not being an extremist. I think it a lot of us in most areas of life We have the some weird internal desire just to be an extremist and like you talk about the different dynamics of the two churches that you that We're talking to you and the message was the same is that you were going to hill but the reason was different and To me, I think what ends up happening is we we lose the ability to To be complex and to understand like how to deal with people in different areas and I do think again I do understand sometimes why I can be that way, especially I mean, I'm not going to talk about the world today We talking about the world in 1995 because today I don't you know We just in the whole different world, but yeah I do think that last part you said about like that's so many people's story and you know part of like You know, my position on things is like hey, like we have to be able to have conversation at the very least right like We can't start with what we disagree with or I think sometimes like the church starts with the you going to hell conversation before So even understands like what is hell?
Why would I go there and things like that? And so that's very interesting I'm gonna lead out of that because I think you you drops a lot of gyms and things that we can dive into Um, but I think we'll actually cover them organically as a conversation progresses So I do want to fast forward but I do want just a weird fun fact I was doing some reading and I want to confirm if this is true or not that you and Doug Christie were high school or college roommates That is correct. Okay. So anybody out there that doesn't know Doug Christie Form an NBA player player played for the Sacramento Kings He's actually someone that randomly I have the desire to have on the show one day because I remember when he was in a league That his wife used to always be with him and just never I don't know a lot about Doug Christie Yeah, I know his wife used to be there and that alone says something to me Um that there's a lot there, but um, how was that like y'all y'all college roommates you going to be a music star?
He goes on to the NBA. It must have been something in the water and pepper It's a pepper dye maybe that not no no instruments was working on some level, but but how was that man? Something yeah, Doug's good guy him and his wife are still friends this day. I've watched him Uh, do different things.
I think right now. He's probably the assistant head coach of Sacramento Kings Uh, really really good guy in college days. Uh, we were wild boys. So I'm gonna leave it at that Uh, we we both they asked him what I was like in college and they asked me what he was like in college And I don't I have a lockdown all of those times.
I'm not Under each it sounds like y'all y'all have a nice agreement there like hey you go out. He talking about me. I ain't gonna talk about you Um, no, that's cool. So let's let's um progress into like and I appreciate you being so open and like sharing some of the raw truth Right, and I think there's gonna be a lot for people to think about um through that and again That's what I always challenged not just my listeners but myself to think critically and to hear people out and understand And I think there are some things we could take from some of your earlier years But I do want to talk about like how you started to transition so obviously at some point, you know, um, You leave the music industry behind after I mean you've had a lot of success not just performance songs But a lot of the songs that you were a part of producing or writing Um, you had some cameos and movies and then at some point you start transitioning Um in the early 2000s.
I believe into ministry Can you talk a little bit about how you've gone through these dynamics and experienced some success? How does someone in your position start to make that transition into ministry? Um, well, we kind of touched on a little bit that I was I knew that I was called into ministry Um from childhood because I would hear people tell me, you know, you're going pre-twin day But I just didn't know what that pathway would look like for me Um, so my journey would become I was a guy that that understood at some point you're living a counterfeit lifestyle Uh meaning the the claim the fame the the material possessions all the things that I was Seemingly having all those things were counterfeit. Mm.
And when I say counterfeit, it simply means um It simply means we live lives Making something seem like what it's not in other words, uh, I'm trying to find the right way to explain this Um, if you would ask somebody if they want A million counterfeit dollars or one real dollar Um, that's a tough question for people because Counterfeit money will spend right like you're not familiar with counterfeit money You could pass off counterfeit money and it'll spin and it'll spend so long as people haven't figured out as counterfeit But once you figure out is counterfeit that's when everything that was purchased or whatever there's a reckoning that comes sport And so the light that I lived of fame that was counterfeit and a claim that was counterfeit and notoriety is counterfeit and houses The counterfeit and cars that account if it it was becoming accustomed to a life that was not real But it was real to the people who saw it from the outside when they do that and you figure what counterfeit money will spend and I never had Anyway, so might as well spend this and take the counterfeit, you know, yeah At some point you get complacent in that space until uh, you have to make reparations for the counterfeit things that were spent So in other words, I'm sitting in a room right now with plaques that are all around the wall from this is how we do it And second album or another professor soundtrack, say i'm really looking at all these plaques from years of accomplishment of songs But i'm also knowing that The deal that I had with depth jam still has me over three million dollars in depth of the label and i've been off the label for almost 20 years So it's kind of like well, how is that possible that you could be still owe the label that much money? I made the label tons of multi millions of tens of maybe hundreds of millions of dollars How is it that I still owe them because there's a system there that is designed for not just me but every artist and I just stepped in with All labels pretty much it's designed as a system that a label is a label and they get a line share in order to keep an artist uh on a label to be where they need to be They they counterfeit lifestyle is put into play and you always have to take an accounting back for that counterfeit lifestyle Um, and so from that standpoint, I loved that too. I think that there's no such thing as a bad deal Uh, I think a deal is what you agree to I agree with that. I didn't mean to cut you off like that is at that is very powerful Yeah, a deal is what you agreed to you can agree to a bad deal or if you can't negotiate something But but a deal is I say something and you say something and we come into agreement Even if I get the upper hand or you get the upper hand, but once you agree to it That's a deal and so I agreed to it and so therefore I am where I am today with the acclaim and the notoriety of past hit records But yet the finance and the resources went other places I think I'm veering off the original question that you asked j-will so i think just the the idea of the transition from uh that music that lifestyle that acclaim that that um The presumption of who I was or the presentation of who I was as an artist I lost who I was as godson And so people knew me.
I called it spiritual schizophrenia that there was a bunch of montales like when I'm with my mom There's this montale when i'm doing tv interview. There's this montale when I'm with my front brothers Is this montale when i'm in church? There's this montale. There's a bunch of different montales It's hard to keep up with all those personalities and once I finally said I don't want to live a counterfeit lifestyle anymore I want the real I want I want jesus and when I made that journey From that life into completely being sold out for jesus I basically exchanged multiple montales for the montale that god loved the most Man, that's that's who I became and so the montale you're talking to now on the podcast is the montale That's gonna be in church.
It's the same montale. That's gonna be on with shack It's the same montale. That's gonna be in front of 30 000 people at i love the night these concerts I do not change now. I'm the montale that god loves the most and that's not counterfeit That's authentic and the way that you get from counterfeit to authentic Is you have to hold enough things that are authentic so that you know what real feels like So that when you come across counterfeit you recognize it if you would say if you talk to anybody with the bank They'll tell you the way they know when they run across counterfeit money is because they handle so much real money They handle so much of the real that if they their hands come across something that doesn't feel real They recognize it instantaneously and that's the life that I want to live I want to live a life real with jesus so that when I come across a person or a personality or thing that doesn't feel authentic I can recognize it and I can know it's not it's not no god because it's counterfeit You know what like and that's not as easy as it sounds either Like if we being real, you know what i'm saying because Like me and my wife were having a conversation yesterday actually and we were just talking about like, you know We're not the kind of people like we know a lot of people and everybody out there listening like I do have friends I have family like i'm not you know i'm not trying to throw shade in nobody But we also we me and my wife are not the kind of people to try to be Be around too many people like i'm more Um, you know quality over quantity.
I don't need a hundred friends You know what i mean? And we were talking about like how you know you're younger You got more friends and things like that and there's a lot of pressure that comes with that even when you're not thinking about it Like oh you got a lot of friends that you know people want to dress like this or spend any money doing this or that And then you find yourself trying to keep up with that, you know that that counterfeit and I think sometimes in our community We don't think about the pressure we put on each other because you know, there we put such a high Um value on like things like being fresh, you know i'm saying being fly whatever like, you know swagged out like whatever Whatever you want to call it like we put a lot of value in that And not not to go too far off but like what ends up happening is You get people that look like they're successful And I meet people like this sometimes because I think social media as another layer where I need to look like i'm successful More than I need to be successful and me and my wife made a decision team, you know about 10 years ago And the listeners that have shown noticed but um, you know We wanted to focus on the authenticity of like true success and really becoming something really growing growing assets and things like that and not just You know Accumulating liabilities to please people but the reason I said all of that is because when you talk about being that Indict version of yourself and touching enough real so that you know the fake I'm saying at the state of that I think people need to find a way to get around some other real people to your point So yeah, so that the fake can stand out and when you get around those authentic people you Like you said you come across that counterfeit and it's easy and it ain't even no shade It's just like oh, I know this a fake dollar like I ain't mad at it like I see what you're trying to do Yeah, but it's fake. So um, no, thank you for sharing that. I think you I think that that was really unique That was really unique.
I love what you said too about this idea that there's no such thing as a bad deal Because that's you you agreed to that and I think what that is that's accountability But that is also allows us to grow to be like all right rj I made a you know, I'm if I made a bad business deal and then I'm sure right again Just looking at the fact I just saw you in a commercial with shak I'm sure the the quote unquote bad business deal or the the one that you didn't come out You weren't um, you know on top it also gave you what you needed to actually you know come the terms with better business deals You know in the future. So there's always something we can learn what I want to what I want to actually buy my tail So, um, I listen to a couple of your sermons Uh-huh watched a lot of videos of you and your wife christen Um, and what you all are doing I want to I want to talk about some of like, you know, what what you do now I'm gonna throw out a couple of quotes Um, just of some random things that you said and some sermons This is more so not even a question than just so people can kind of hear some things and we'll build on this Um, and one sermon you said in order to build on salvation We must resemble the one who saved us Like that and you were talking to in philippians about Jesus being of no reputation and things like that That was just that was powerful. Um, another one was We can find that our lives are broken when we don't know how to prioritize and put things in their proper order And that leads me to what I want to ask you about and I want to ask you about first things first So you only your wife have um done a lot of marriage ministry and we'll you know We'll talk a little bit about a marriage masterpiece before we get out of here But can you talk a little bit about first things first? Um, and it's prioritizing and how for you right because I know in your career Used to say you were married to your you were married to the music But then like in this first things first it flipped where you know you starting with god spouse children ministry family friends And then it is what working career So can you just talk a little tell the people a little bit about what first things first is and how that came into To place and kind of how that can help people um in balance in their lives and you know living for christ Yeah for sure.
Well, well first things first, uh, is basically what we call god's biblical order priority And that is um, I hear people say all the time Yo, how do you balance your career and your marriage? How do you balance your kids and this and what it shows me is that People don't understand that everything was not meant to be balanced Some things are prioritized. They will love it. Not where you're trying to balance something You're trying to give something equal value to something else So why would I want to give my job or my career equal value to my children?
Why why would I want to say my wife and my job or on equal playing field? Yeah, that's not god's priority. I think we also have to understand the difference between Opportunity and responsibility I think that I know people that will say well, I want to work on my marriage But I got to work to do this because I have this opportunity to do this at daddy up And I believe god gives us responsibilities and gives us opportunities And when we take care of our responsibility, he can give us more opportunity man We neglect or we exchange our responsibility for an opportunity He takes the responsibility and the opportunity away from us because you're not a good steward over what he gave So first things first or making the main thing the main thing is basically the principle of Prioritizing overbalancing because if I put things in their right space Then god can honor what i'm trying to do in making everything like this interview is happening at this time of night because we had to put our kid to bed Like people don't know that it was like, yo right at this time, we normally do it Sorry, but the kid is home from school and we do work and we got a sucker in the bed and after dinner and everything but at this time You know that's what we free you know i'm saying So Why would I just say okay would a baby can go to bed, you know virus? I'm saying put us up the bed because I got this interview.
That's not responsibility I love it. I'm trying to level. I'm trying to place your amazing show and my daughter on the same playing field Yo, this is amazing story. Um where I think it's amazing where I had an opportunity to perform in front of a hundred thousand people At a concert called celebrate freedom.
Uh, it was a traveling kind of contemporary christian music concert radio stations when hosted And this one in at lanta was going to have a hundred thousand people there Uh, and they wanted me and uh our church victory church at the time They wanted us to come and to perform right in the middle of the day And I was like well, I can't be there in the middle of the day because my sister Saturday my son has a football game right at 2 o'clock I was like, can we go on early in the morning? Can you put us on 11 now? We can't put you on 11 because this artist this artist this artist started we need you on it too I was like, can you put us on later? Can you put us on it like five or six because I can get back over now?
We can't do that because artists applying in there the headliners and we can't do that We need you on it too. And so I basically turned down the opportunity to minister the gospel in music to a hundred thousand people For my son's game And people would say that but that's ministry that's the ministry opportunity to reach a hundred thousand souls Why wouldn't you do that? It's because God gave me an opportunity for a hundred thousand souls, but he gave me responsibility for one And so I need to make sure that what my son is looking up in those stands He sees his dad there even though those hundred thousand may remember me I need my son to be able to know my dad was there for me at that game Now the beautiful part of it is I chose my son my son had a spectacular game We went back to the concert after the evening and then a third day Uh with mac cowl and the group or whatever they were the headliners They knew I came back and they wanted me to perform with them as they headline that night So I still got to perform and I got a chance to do it with the headlining act because I knew the difference between honoring my responsibilities Rather than exchanging them for opportunities. That's what first thing first is it's prioritizing overbalancing I literally believe and I'm not I'm not saying it's likely I literally believe that that that's life-changing for somebody because Knowing the difference between a responsibility and an opportunity like there are so many people I talk to like And I'm gonna just give you one the most basic level.
I'm gonna keep it super basic I'll talk to dudes that I know that's like, hey, man, my wife won't support this or that and I'm like, well, you know What you got going on? Well, you know, this dude might be up playing, you know, playstation, you know or whatever or something like that And and I'm like, well, you know, I have this rule with my wife where you know, I tell people my wife knows this so I'm gonna say this I don't know if I ever say this publicly, but she I said it to her so she knows like here's the thing with me It's kind of like it's a formula for me. We're like People like people that know me ask like man, she support everything or you can have a podcast Montellar and do all type of stuff music whatever my wife supported off But I always tell people was like, that's what you see what you don't see is that before I started that I went to her and made sure she had everything she needed for me Right. So it's like for me before anybody see anything.
I'm like dude. It's like, no, behind the scenes Like we didn't went somewhere. I didn't like we didn't I didn't make sure she was all the way good Before I even you know, uh, I just didn't do anything So I think what you're talking about now I really I hope like people really grab that and and I'm sure that you know, you know, we might not as a good time There's so much we could get to but I know we come in short on time I do want you to talk a little bit about um marriage masterpiece And I know that that's probably a part of first things first But if you could talk a little bit about marriage masterpiece and also uh masterpiece church and the things that you're doing now Um, you know so that people can get more of this type of information that you're kind of giving us some gems on them For sure for sure. Well, this is what we're up to now I'm a wife and my wife christen i've been married for 28 years going on 28 years And thank you.
Thank you and and we know we're gonna be together forever We want to help save a million marriages and so we came up a couple of years ago with a curriculum with a Uh, a 501c three called marriage masterpiece and part of what marriage masterpiece does is trying to get people to take divorce off the table Uh to do that and efforts to do that. Uh, we formulated something called a marriage masterpiece retreat center Uh, that's coming to a city near you and it'll start out in california basically a marriage masterpiece retreat center is where we are trying to help Public marriages heal privately when you look at a kanye and uh kim kardashian and you watching that play out in the public I my wife and i for years have been helping couples behind the scenes so you don't see What's playing out in public you get to see nothing Because it's done in in private where god does what he does and we're obedient to that and it deals with therapy It deals with uh biblical guidance all of those different things Uh, we do that in three ways we do it for couples with 911 situations couples in 411 situations and couples with 100 Situations that basically means if you're in a 911 situation the divorce papers are drawn up You've been separated for a certain amount of time. This is the last ditch effort that the camel's back has been broken It's a wrap, but this is our last shot at if there's any hope this is it That's what we do for the 911 couples. We spend five days away and what's called it intensive With us and with therapists and we try and help people get to a healthy place of trying to save their marriage Then there's the 411 couples the 411's they're not as drastic as the 911 411 is information We keep bumping up against this we keep circling back around this issue right here We're good, but we want to get better and so uh, whereas the 911 wants need intensive the 411's need retreat And so we put together a five-day event different style still with therapists curriculum all of that But it's built differently for couples to feel like they're getting a retreat and they're getting the info that they need to be better in their marriage And then the 100 couple's it is what it is.
We we not get the bores We're not arguing but we just need to get away and rather than just taking a regular vacation We want to go and be with the Jordan's we want to relax. We want to have a fantastic time We want to steal grow our marriage we want to get some fine tuning and enjoy the presence of God and the presence of the enjoyment of the world Uh, and that is what is known as a getaway. So the Jordan's do intensive we do retreats We do getaways and we do all of that in private Which is what marriage masterpiece and what marriage masterpiece retreat centers do The flip side of that coin is masterpiece church masterpiece church is launching october 30th 2022 that is a church that my wife and I will be pastoring The location is in atlanta, Georgia, but it is a virtual church So house church But what we are doing is we learned during the pandemic that churches were had these venues where when you couldn't meet in a church They would go into their venues and create these services as though you're in the big church And send that message down into your phone or or tape or record or stream that message down to your computer screen We are not trying to create a big church service. We're trying to create an intimate from our living room to your living room type of service We have conversations.
We have meals. We have coffee We have worship and from our home to yours We teach people how to turn their homes into sanctuaries because not everybody can go to church Some people are physically unable. Some people are incarcerated. Some people are health compromised Some people have to the pandemic that i'm not going back to church But whatever reason you can have artists who can't go to a church simply because when they get their people like what you signed my bible And they can't just go in and get the word of god and worship freely And so in those instances master peace church is coming to be able to allow people who can't go to church This is not we want people to be a part of the local church But for those who can't and for those who won't we will allow the gospel to meet them right where they are using the virtual platform and our Influence to be a global church that will reach people all over the world right where they are Master peace church.
I love it in marriage master peace.com all of that information is going to be in the link of this show as well as your Instagram at mr. Jordan 1 9 1 1 My tale man, um really appreciate the conversation and the time to talk to you I've enjoyed kicking it with you. Um, you share some intriguing stories drop some gyms gave people something to think about And I just appreciate under the efforts that you're making in the body of christ as well And again, I've listened to some of your sermons and I really enjoy your speaking style and a lot of the things that you said So, um, you know, I'll give you the last word to guys people, but really we appreciate, you know, you taking the time to talk to us today Yeah, thank you, jay. Will first of all i'm closing this out i appreciate your platform I'll take a grant a lot of you would ask me to be a part of it Looking forward to coming to Detroit soon.
I think i'm going to win this will with this podcast will hear But I think around may 20th. We will be in Detroit hanging out with some good friends There And an amazing church and i can't wait to be able to give a pastor's psychs over there and do that Um, I want to say man, if I could leave you with anything Um be the you that god loves the most Uh, that's a place of peace man that if you can find out the the you that god loves the most Um, that's a place that you cannot pay for Uh, it is the authentic You that god created you to be and then you don't have to try and live Uh to no man's expectation no woman's expectation You're literally not working for god's grace you're working from his grace and that's the sweet spot Where i am and where i'm trying to stay and where i'm hoping other people have a desire to get to To being the person that they are that god loves the most because i'm not the only one that has spiritual skin So, pretty most people have multiple personalities or they have different people that they are around Uh, that you either become the company you keep or the company you keep becomes you And I believe when you know who you are because you know who you are then people want to be more like you because you're more like christ That's all i got that's my story and i'm sticking to it I can see beyond the tears you cry I saw every hill you had to climb just a make it here when you say you ain't afraid to die Is it safe to say you lie When you blame the haters I made you the other reason you ain't made it Take your focus off the fame create to lift his name Jesus go from down enough to made new the newer you the same soul It's deeper than the dollars in the pesos the devil is still on attack you gotta be quicker than that Store the church and heaven you can't be richer than that I mean, how you gonna reach the net? Yo, so hopefully y'all enjoyed that interview and I think man, I don't know I know he didn't been on all type of uh platforms interviewing But I think I got some stuff some information out there You know i'm saying that you're not gonna find on Wikipedia That was my goal like you know what i mean to get get um some behind the scenes on some experiences I do want to touch on a couple things that I thought was interesting number one for the people who've been rocking with this show for a long time You know, you heard some things like that is dope because these are things and concepts that we talk about And um even just our last show as we talked about, you know, theoretical or theory Opinion experiencing those things it was real cool to have someone with the experience, you know, and who has lived Um and some of these circles to share some of the things that he did. Um, so what I thought was interesting Um a you know, he's been married for 28 years.
So I think the dynamic of Like being an r&b singer in a sex symbol and dealing with the labels and things like that and kind of having to hide his marriage Um, I think that's really interesting how the dynamics of the work of him and his wife christen do now Um in their first things first, which is completely opposite of where they started when he was um in that lifestyle. I'm like fully Um trenching it. So I thought that was interesting. So that I really like the first things first that really goes into Now i'm gonna tell you i've been thinking about this for a couple days like responsibility versus opportunity And I think that's a life-changing concept and thing to think about as you You know, just say like because because people are losing track of prioritizing like in the midst of like chasing dreams and all these things you want to be And all these ambitions, man We have to be able to prioritize and again that takes like in this show man We're trying to exercise our minds our brains our spirits to critically think to not just be followers to be leaders To be doers not just talkers.
Um, not just hearers And um, you know prioritization is one of those important things Um, you got children and a family out here. You can't neglect those things like kind of like I said like look these last three to four weeks I had to live life. So I had to um, you know focus on my responsibilities Um, even though like hey inspire guys people to do this podcast It's a great opportunity that I don't take for granted and I enjoy every second talking to y'all But I can't get so engulfed in oh, I got to do a show where I got to do this or I got to be here That i'm not living my real life. I got a real life, you know a wife a family people who need things for me I was painting doors and you know moving spaces and all type of things have happened over the last month and um, never matter fact I have a you know Really important corporate job as well, um with a lot of responsibility So I thought that was life changing.
We may actually do a entire episode of responsibility versus opportunity I thought it was real cool. Um, he brought out something man Shout out to you mind tell if you listen into this part, you know, are you a marvel critic? Listen, let me know Bro, like did you listen as long as you cut it off after your part was over? It's all good.
I ain't gonna judge you. It's all good. You know, I'm saying we still love you over here But uh, you know, um, I think it was really interesting to bring out this dynamic of like the good in the hood Like tight trip actually had a song back in the day called good in the hood. It was a dope song by the way Um, but one thing about the hood like if you're not from the hood I know I got people that listen to this show this from the hood people that's not and you know, that's my culture being from the inner city of Detroit.
So, you know, that's we share that I respect, you know, diversity of wherever you from But the the hood is a unique place that on the outside looking in you see all this negativity And it's challenging to think through honestly Like I was just thinking about real life my family like you know, some of my family for instance go skating and you know, uh, skating rink You know, they might be playing all type of songs or whatever or just different things in the hood where on the surface it can look so bad And I'm not saying there's not like maybe bad aspects to it. That's not what I'm trying to do But it is very interesting to think of it in that way of like, you know, people skating on the skating rig like the songs maybe talking about whatever But it's like there's a lot of joy and love in that and even the pain and struggling in the hood like you can be going through so much But like the hood man has the strong family value. That's really what I'm especially the the old hood like my grandma's hood, you know what I mean? I don't know what's happening today.
I think the world in general is just changing but Back in grandma's day, man. It was a lot of love in that struggle, you know, I'm saying like I got a lot of saying that my bad But there was a lot of love in that struggle. I thought that was interesting how he talked about that and then lastly man, um You know, it was really interesting And I think this really deserves a whole show Um the dynamic of like um, you know, so many people out there that feel like the church is judgmental And with that does to people like that. I'm intrigued.
You know, sometimes we call it church hurt I don't know. I just certain titles just read me the wrong way I just don't like the title the the sentiment may be true, but the title just throws me off It's like love languages like my boy Matt always talking to us about love languages. I'm like, bro You gotta call it something else, you know what I'm saying? Like you might give me on board if you call it something else.
I just don't like it I'm sorry whoever created that, you know, I mean shout out to you I guess um, but the this dynamic, you know, people are hurt by the church and again I think that's worth a whole episode. I almost don't even want to share my thoughts I just want you to know that I have thoughts maybe that's something that um until once to come back and talk On maybe that's something that me and lavelle discuss But I think it's worth discussing because so many people are impacted by the church in different ways And I think there's pros and cons on both feet like sometimes I think it's the people sometimes I think it's the church sometimes I think it's just the fact that we want to Simplify things that are very complex and life is challenging and the experiences that we have not just with the church But with all people who represent an organization can be challenging and can forever um take our view of that but I think at the end of the day, um, you know, it's good to see people return to christ and Hopefully this interview just like many of the interviews We've done and like you're able to grab various things from the interview and think for yourself about how you feel about them You know my goal is to present opportunities and conversations and of course we deep dive on a lot of things But hopefully, you know, you're able to take something from all of these conversations We have and more that are coming and share those with me hit me up germane wilsonmusek at gmail.com Also, hit me up on instagram at mr. Underscore bell weather mr. Bell weather you can see all the links for this stuff Like if you just read the description of the show I got links for like how to find my music how to find our youtube Which is uh, we struggling, but we growing we just started it though, you know, we just started our youtube and i'm not Consistent at all with videos, but it's coming people It's coming we growing and we trusting god you feel what i'm saying listen people seeds of faith grow trees of faith Thank you for listening you're a real one if you listen in this far into the episode god bless you I love you.
Let me know if you listen this far too. Your other ones. I'm really i'm liking your post You know, I'm saying I'll respond in your your comments if you listen in this far in if not, you know, I mean I could talk about you because you ain't listening anyway. Love y'all man.
Have an amazing day