Two and a half years after the release of his Still Livin' Mixtape, London, U.K.-based rapper Jahaziel released his first full-length album, Heads Up. The project is Jahaziel's first on Xist Records and is delivered from the heart with as much passion for his community as we saw from Alex Faith on ATLast, and as much zeal for the Word of God as we saw from shai linne on Lyrical Theology Part One. The album contains the type of wordplay we are used to from artists like KB and Andy Mineo and bangin' beats like we usually hear from This'l.

So while we're acquainted with his style and flow, we don't know much about the man himself. On November 19, 2013, the release day for Heads Up, I got to talk with the rapper about football, food, family, his testimony and the new project. 

Thanks for taking some time out to chat. So, let's get to know Jahaziel. What's your favorite football (soccer) squad?

The Tottenham Hotspurs.

Your favorite food?

It's a traditional West Indian dish called called Ackee & Saltfish.

Nice, I'm familiar with Ackee & Saltfish; my wife is from Trinidad. Who would name as your largest musical influences?

Hmmm, largest musical influences? They vary. Growing up, reggae was a big influence, you know, Bob Marley, and my uncle, Maxi Priest were big influences on me. Then, when I got into rap, I guess my early influences were the kind of gangster rap like NWA or whatever, then I got into the more kinda conscious stuff like Common, A Tribe Called Quest and then, I guess, you know, when I became a Christian I was heavily influenced by the likes of Cross Movement and Gospel Gangstaz, stuff like that.

Have you heard the new Gospel Gangstaz album?

I'm definitely gonna cop that man. I'm interested to hear what their doin'. From the reviews I saw, it looks quite good.

As I was doing some research I came across this project you were involved in called "The Eden Project." Can you elaborate on that a little on what that is or what that was, whether you're still involved in it?

Yeah, I am still involved. The Eden Project is a charity organization, and basically what they do is mobilize Christians to do local missions. So what that means is people move in intentionally for a period of time—like we have committed to five years—but it's basically moving into a local deprived housing estate and working in partnership with the local church in building relationships to engage local young people. So practically what that looks like for us is we put on different events; we put on a talent show every other month, doing special youth services, football club, youth club, where they just hang out and socialize and just make friends and be a part of the community. Instead of working on it from the outside-in, it's really being a part of it and seeing change from the inside-out.

That's awesome. In my little amount of online research, I came across a single you did last year, 2012, and it was around the pornography epidemic, kids getting involved really early. What can you tell me about that?

Well, the song was one I did for a campaign called the SafetyNet campaign. It was a campaign that pushes for service providers to have pornography blocked generally, with the option for those over a certain age, who want to access it, to log in to connect to that. At the moment, the Internet is such that it's available freely without really much protection, especially for children, and then if you don't want it you have to opt out of it and install particular software or whatever. What we want to do it reverse that so it's blocked as a standard but then you have to opt-in to access it.

So in the song I share my experience with pornography and how young I was—I think I was about 6 years old when I first encountered it—and just the effect that it had on my thinking at the time. Also how that kind of affected my later years, my teen years, and even as a married man now, how that, to a degree affected and somewhat shaped my perspectives and how God has helped me through that process and through that struggle.

Cool. I don't personally know your testimony, I've heard snippets here and there, I wouldn't mind hearing that from you.

Cool. I was about 18 or 19 when I became a Christian. Prior to that I had a difficult childhood in that when my parents split up it was a very volatile separation. My mom was physically abused and there were times that we—me, my mom and my brother—had to hide from my dad and this kind of stuff. It had the effect on me that I guess I became quite rebellious and I subsequently was constantly kicked out of school. I went to four secondary schools and two primary schools. I was constantly being moved from school to school, and I became just a lord to myself, really.

And then what happens is, when you leave school with very little qualifications—which I did, because I was hardly at school—crime is just the obvious, inevitable option. So I began to hang around with guys who were selling B-class drugs—ya know, marijuana and stuff like that—and then you kind of graduate, and I started selling cocaine in night clubs and pubs. 

I wasn't even old enough to get into half of the clubs we went to but that became what I was doing, and along with that comes an amount of territory and violence and stuff like that. It started to become really real when people that I was working with or hanging with were becoming imprisoned or even killed. It was literally after one particular friend, called Lurch, was shot that it really had me thinking about mortality, life after this life, and the purpose of life. All of these types of questions were swirling around in my head. I found myself having conversations with people often about God and the reality of God. 

When I was younger, my mom used to take me and my brother to Sunday school, so I had some grasp on the Bible teachings or the God of the Bible, but to be honest I never wanted that to be the way. I had family that are Rastafarian, friends who are Nation of Islam and they seemed more attractive to me. Maybe it was because they allowed room for vengeance, they allowed room for smoking weed and getting high, so I much preferred one of those to be the option. 

It seemed the more I thought about it and the more I talked to people about these things is the more Jesus came up and it seemed like He was or at least Christianity seemed like the only option that pointed to a God that loved everybody—a God who wasn't partial to color or a particular culture. It was accessible to everybody and it wasn't a God that I had to reach up to find but it was a God who reached down to find me. 

Around that time I was thinking of what way to go, and to cut a long story short, I ended up in a situation where I was sitting in a house with a loaded gun waiting for a guy to show up and if he did, I was going to shoot him. And I was thinking to myself, "How did I end up here and how do I get out of here?" Thank God the guy didn't turn up, and when I was walking home I just prayed the Lord's prayer and said, "God if you're real just guide show me the way to change because I don't know how." I went home that evening and the last words I had said was, "God guide me. Amen." 

I went into my house and the phone rang and it was friend of mine I hadn't seen for at least two or three years. When he spoke to me he told me he was a born again Christian and I knew that it was a sign. I knew I had prayed and I knew it wasn't coincidence. So when he invited me to his church, normally I would have brushed it off, but I said yeah. I went to the church that Sunday and it was like a family reunion, it was like meeting with my long lost Father that weirdly enough always had His eye on me; I was just ignoring Him. I repented from ignoring the Man and I've been a Christian ever since, just on this journey getting to know Him even more.

Nice. Thanks for sharing. So on to the album... which, by the way, is incredible. It was a moving album right from the first listen. Talk to me about the meaning of Heads Up and where that title came from.

It's funny, I had the title before I had an album and before I even had the meaning, I just felt really strongly that was what the album was going to be called. There are a few meanings. One is a general theme that I hope the album brings across is quite an uplifting one so there's a heads-up in that sense like lifting up your heads.

I quote Psalms 121: "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord." Then there's the sense where someone says, "I'll give you a heads up." I'm going to give you some information on something, put you on to some important information, giving people that eternal information. There's a lot of songs out there that deal with social issues, and I try to address some of those issues as well to a degree, but I feel like the bigger picture is eternity, so that's something I try to address in my songs.

Then there's the ultimate heads-up when Jesus says, "When you begin to see these signs come to pass in the end times, lift up your heads, your redemption draws near." I feel like this is a real call for the believers to get ready for the coming of Christ and to be about doing the work of an evangelist and making disciples as we prepare for the return of our Saviour.

Last question: What would be the most personal song for you on the album, the one that gripped you the most through writing and producing?

There would be two. "Round and Round" is a very personal song to me. The last four years have been really challenging for me health-wise and my marriage has gone through some storms. I feel like that song is very much kind of coming out of it and God just giving me a right perspective on viewing those experiences. I know that a lot of what I'm saying sounds a bit cryptic; you have to listen to it to really hear my heart on it.

The other song that is very close to my heart is "Angel." I wrote it about 10 years ago. It's as relevant today as it was then. It is a song I wrote for my wife before she was my wife. The song is dedicated to her, but at the same time it is dedicated to the institution of marriage as well and all of those that have taken that step of obedience and love to make their woman their wife. It's a dedication to marriage, really.

That's great man. I appreciate the truth and reality you bring to your music. That's all I had for our chat. I really appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time, it was great chatting.

Take care, bro. God bless.