Love. It’s the inspiration for a seemingly endless number of pop songs, the theme of so many great works in literature and the elusive quest that’s supposed to conquer all. But on her self-titled debut, 17-year-old Kylie Jean isn’t interested in talking about love the same way they do in songs featured on “American Idol” or in the latest episode of “The Hills.” Rather, Kylie is intentional about singing about a love of another kind—the unconditional, never wavering, life-affirming love of God. “One thing I want everyone who listens to my music to walk away with is the revelation of just how much God loves him/her,” Kylie says. “And all they really need to do in life is be a true son or daughter of the King. That’s what life is really all about—not all the other stuff we get caught up in.” For a young woman of only 16, Kylie is surprisingly self-assured, something she chalks up to her relationship with God and a supportive family. And unlike the majority of people who figure out “what they want to be when they grow up” a little closer to college, Kylie’s mom vividly remembers the day she knew Kylie would sing about her growing faith for a living. “The story my Mom always tells me is that I was sitting in a Christian bookstore, looking up at all the CDs on the shelves, and I got this look on my face. And she was like ‘Kylie, what’s up? What are you thinking?’ And I said ‘I was thinking about what I would feel like when I saw my CD in the store,’” Kylie recalls. “I’ve always been a very visionary person, and I’ve always known I was going to do music. It was just a matter of waiting for God’s timing.” Emphasizing that she’s been “very blessed and appreciative of my parents because they’re really visionary,” Kylie says they’ve been her greatest support of what God has given her to do with her life. And for Kylie, there’s no greater call than reaching out to her ‘tweens and teens with the life-changing message of God’s love. While the inevitable comparisons to a much buzzed-about entertainment wunderkind like Miley Cyrus may surface, given their energetic pop/rock stylings and similar age, Kylie makes it clear that she’s not simply trying to be another Miley. “Each song that’s on my self-titled CD has a very specific message that I believe is going to touch the hearts of people,” Kylie says. “Miley’s doing her thing, and I’m doing mine. Basically, my life has seriously been changed by knowing God, and I have no idea what my life would be like without my faith. So that’s a message I want to share—how much God loves us and wants to change our lives completely.” During an unexpected experience at summer camp last year, Kylie says she was given a vision of who exactly she was going to reach through her music ministry. “It’s funny because I didn’t want to go to camp, but a month before God told me He was giving me a new song. So I was thinking ‘Sweet! Maybe He’ll give me a song that I’ll write, and it’ll hit #1,” she shares. “Of course, I was wrong, and really, that’s the great thing about God. We think we have things figured out, and He puts His spin on it. But during the last day of camp, the coolest thing happened when God showed me this vision. “I was looking up at the stars, but the stars were girls’ faces. He started revealing to me details about the girls—silly stuff like ‘this is Stephanie and she uses Crest toothpaste every morning, loves to dance, and her favorite food is grilled cheese sandwiches.’” Kylie says. “Then the little girl’s face became huge in the sky, and she was beaming with Joy. Then all of the sudden, I saw a stadium packed full of young girls stretching their hands as high as they could, worshiping Jesus, and I was up on stage worshiping. And that was the end. After God showed me this, He told me that this was now the new song of my heart. And it has been my passion ever since to reach young girls and show the love of Jesus, so that they can have that personal encounter with Him.” Armed with an arsenal of catchy songs that Kylie describes as “happy rock,” her self-titled debut, which is available September 1, shimmers with hope-fueled anthems like “Sparkle Factor” that reaffirms our worth by God’s unique set of standards and “Vertical,” which is a personal testimony on how God has lifts us higher through whatever circumstances we may encounter in life. “I wanted my music to be the kind you want to crank up every time you get in the car,” Kylie shares. “For me, music is the perfect forum for opening up people’s hearts. When you simply talk to someone about Jesus, he/she will likely put up a wall. But music is a universal platform that allows for non-threatening dialogue, which makes me so excited about what I’m doing.”