KJ-52's eleventh studio album and first independent release, Jonah, released January 20th. KJ-52 (Jonah Sorrentino) has a long history of defining Christian hip-hop and determining what that genre actually looks like. "The grind of life can really wear on your creativity, but this newest project that I've been working on could be the most powerful stuff I've done since the beginning of my career," KJ shared as he prepared Jonah. "The new record was inspired by my real name and reflects the transparency of how I've been feeling in my current writing."

In the song "Hold On," KJ addresses his younger self at three different points in his life, offering advice to hold steady and never give up hope: "This is all about to change, know there's a better way. Roll with the punches, you can hold on for a better day." I had the chance to speak with Jonah about "Hold On."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

The order of the songs on the album is the actual order of how I wrote and recorded them. "Hold On" was the first song I wrote and recorded for the album. It is how I like to organize my albums when I work on them, and I thought it would be interesting for people to listen to it in the same order. 

Anyway, this song had been a concept that had been bouncing around in my head for several years. If I had to say something to myself at a younger age, what would I say? I realized there were three really significant times, my early adolescence, my teen years and my early twenties, when I would want to tell myself information. The song is partly based on a teaching series I did for a year and a half with some twenty-somethings called "twenty things I wish I knew at twenty." That was really the songwriting process. 

Initially I was going to write kind of a follow-up to "Dear Slim," and I thought that was too specific of a song. I thought this song had more universal appeal and that it was still very personal. I wrote the verses super quickly, and I couldn't come up with a chorus at first. I worked with Curt Anderson on his last album, and I connected with him. I heard a quote that said "before you die make more memories than regrets," and I liked how that sounded and thought that was a great quote to live by. I worked with Curt and Pete, and we wrote the chorus together.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV): "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Hebrews 11:40 (NIV): "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

Isaiah 43:18-19 (MSG): "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands."

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV): "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV): "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

What is the takeaway message?

When I wrote this song, I felt like fifty percent of my work was done on the album because this was the main thing I wanted to say. It became the root of the album, and everything flowed from there. 

I've hung onto Proverbs 18:24. It's about finding good friends, and it's also about for me how a lot of things in my life had come to ruin. I'm coming off two years of the hardest choices I've faced financially, spiritually and career-wise. I feel renewed from a creative stand point, and I feel like I'm in the best place I've been in years. 

Once I found Christ when I was 15, I learned that He was going to stay closer to me than any friend, closer than a brother. That's the underlying theme of the song. When I write personal songs like this, I think people aren't going to relate to it. I've learned that my story relates to what a lot of people go through, and the words of the chorus have universal meaning: "hold on, you got this."

Lyrics:
Hold on
You got this
Don't throw it away
Learn to forgive but don't forget
Even when it feels like the works
Hold on you got this don't throw it away
Make more memories than regrets
If nothing else just live and learn

What if I was talking to the younger me
Way back when I was three
Running up and down the street
Not a thing I'll ever need no shoes up on my feet
Sitting in the puddle causing trouble for my family
I would say "get ready things are about to change"
I would say "hold steady even if you run away"
I would say "nobody knows what you about to face"
I would say "oh buddy hold for a better day"
You got them teachers aw upon your case
Watching it just slip away feeling like it never
And now you're feeling like you're so deranged
Staring out the window where nobody seems
To know your pain
Help now is on its way God knows what you face
Wipe all the tears away let go of all the hate
This all about to change know there's a better way
Roll with the punches you can hold on for a better day

What if I was talking to the younger me
With the shirt clean and some dungarees
Acid washed ripped jeans
Stripe like a bumble bee
Running from the bowies in the hood tryna' come at me
Punch'n up the wall with hall while in mumbling
Shoved in the stall then I fall down stumbling
Crawl to the wall then I have out hustling
Head home where it's all fall down crumbling
Wondering, wondering, anyone loving me?
Yes there is for the kid feeling ugly
Zits on your face and your kicks quite struggling
Helps on its way its gonna change quite suddenly
Screaming at the top of your lungs till its thunderin'
Words pound threw ya head ya angels now bubblin'
Ran out the poor down the street to your cousin nem'
Found out everything you need He had it covered Man

What if I was talking to the younger me
Right around twenty three
Young MC hungry
Head full of dreams got a heart full of ministry
Head full of stream got some art for the industry
Can't find a part just to start in my own space
Too white, too broke, no talent, no name
That's what they said I went my own way
Messing with my head I don't listen to what they gonna say
But I need to be slow to speak
Take time just to breathe it keeps me in perfect peace
And enjoy all the mystery
Learn to shut up dude
Learn how to listen please
And through the darkest of your days
He promises to stay
You gonna make it through ok
And this is what I'd say...

I loved the chorus and catchy theme of this song when I first heard it. The depth of the struggles that many of us have to overcome, feeling that nobody cares or knows what we are going through, is something we can all relate to. For me, one consistent prayer is for hope, and I love how this song has that emotional edge and ultimately points me to Christ for peace and hope. Know that Jesus loves you and has something better planned for us if we trust in Him as our Savior. The message of this song challenges listeners to think about our own doubts and how Jesus calls us to rely on Him and the power of His resurrection, to remember that He has overcome death and fear. We can know that He is real, He is near and He is just a breath away.

My conviction based on this song is to stop and listen to God and find out what He is asking me to let go of. Growing up, I expected to find success in worldly pursuits and thought happiness and joy could be won in the game of life. Since I've come to be a follower of Jesus, I now have a better understanding that success for Christians is defined differently. I think many Christians, including myself, struggle with this very issue of holding onto our dreams and expectations and not letting God show us what He wants for us. 

I can't help but pray and sing along with the last verse with all of my heart, mind and soul: "Take time just to breathe, it keeps me in perfect peace, and enjoy all the mystery. Learn to shut up dude, learn how to listen please, and through the darkest of your days He promises to stay. You gonna make it through ok." You can't go wrong with that advice. All we need is faith, and God will show us what He has planned for us. He's the author of our lives and knows what's best for us, much better than we do. Make these words to live by: "Make more memories than regrets."Amen to that!

You can listen to the song below.