Introducing Holy Hip-Hop Artist, CeeJ (pronounced Siege)

Right after Thanksgiving, I was riding southbound on I95 south, coming from dropping my daughter back off at college. My friend Logan told me to check out his cousin, Darian and proceeded to put the CD on. I found myself rocking in my seat to the mellow sound of Darian Logan singing his new song Be Around. The melody, the chorus, the overall production was much better than I expected.

Just as I was really getting into the track an emcee came on and started rapping. He had a mellow laid back almost Warren G type flow except he was much more lyrical and from the south. I immediately inquired to my homeboy, Who is the cat on the mic?" He replied, "CeeJ, and told me it's pronounced Siege."

Every so often you come across a new artist and know that they got that special something. You know something a little different than what everyone else is doing but still nice enough not to standout too much to be marketable. While most of his peers sound like Jay Z or Lil Wayne, CeeJ has his own style, flow, cadence and sound. An artist looking to carve his own path instead of following the current chart toppers of the week!

Logan asked me if I'd mind answering some questions about the business for them. So I spoke to Darian that night on the ride back and told them give CeeJ my number. When we spoke the next day, I knew this cat was going to do big things.

As impressed as I was by him as an emcee, I was more impressed by him as a person. Just a laid back brother, who had a gift with the lyrics and an incredible, laid back type of flow. Not like a lot of today's crop of cats who want to get in the business with unrealistic dreams of getting paid in full or trying to live out his gangster fantasies on CD. But a cat who realizes a record contract is a privilege not a birthright, who would rather rock a mic than a Rolex. I had been looking for a few good artists to write about who were still under the radar but just about to blow. Today I introduce to you CeeJ (Siege).

AJ: Who is CeeJ (introduce yourself to the world, explain what the name means)?

CeeJ: CeeJ is 25 year old, Morganton, NC born, Greensboro NC bred brother that be getting it in for the Lord. I'm doing my thing outta Spartanburg, SC right now focusing on this ministry, trying to be a mouthpiece for the streets, for the people looking for something more outta life. It's a bridge between the streets and the church; I'm the one standing on it relaying messages back and forth. They call me CeeJ meaning, Christ -esteemed-elevating-Jesus.

AJ: When did you know you wanted to rock the mic?

CeeJ: Me and my partner Trapp was in the 8th grade, I remember Eminem's 1st album had jus dropped, DMX was doing it big, Roc-A-Fella had the game on lock, but up until we sat and listened to Eminem's joint I had neva wrote a rhyme n my life. But it had us amped so we came up wit an idea how to record a track. We put two radios together, one for the beat, the other to hit record on. We used headphones as a mic and recorded our 1st track. When I heard my voice it was a wrap, this is what I was going to do.

AJ: Inspirations?

CeeJ: Back in the day the people who inspired me to get into this was. Jay, Eminem, DMX, Cannibus, yeah Cannibus he was nice wit it lol, The Lox, really it was hip hop as a culture that got me hooked, now its any body that's saying something the means something you know, I don't hate or discriminate man I don't condone in a lot of stuff but at the same time I know where I came from, and know I could b the one who change another person mindset.

AJ: I heard you & Darian connected after 10 years or so?

CeeJ: I was recording a few tracks at joint heirs studio in NC, Darian walked in and the engineer introduced us, he said he seen some stuff online and was a fan and we chopped it up a little bit. About 3 hrs later Darian jus asked me who my grandma was lol, turns out my grandma is his mom's sister. I knew he looked familiar but it had been over 10 yrs since I seen him last. Since then we jus had a connection, he had done a track called "be around" I loved it so we did a remix to it, spiritual minded radio picked it up and the rest is history, we jus finished a duo album and the future is looking brighter than ever.

AJ: What would you like to see more of in holy hip hop or hip hop period?

CeeJ: I want to hear more tracks where artist are actually being artist, what happened to the story telling and that tracks that paint a picture for you like music is supposed to do. In holy hip hop, personally I want to see more artists stepping out the box and bringing there craft to a level that reaches the masses and not just believers.

AJ: What do you think is missing in the game?

CeeJ: I think I'm missing in the game lol! Nah not just me personally I mean this whole genre, not Christian but KINGDOM... real life music, that addresses it all and then gives you the answer. Christ. I feel like we should be just as main stream as any other genre. It's really a diamond in the rough waiting to be explored, and I know that's my assignment, to be a pioneer in doing that.

AJ: What is GameOver Music?

CeeJ:GameOver Music is a family, artist are me, Darian Logan, Trapp, and Frieda's Boy. We are trendsetters for the new generation of music, KINGDOM music. Music that can be played any where any genre but we stick to our calling and will never conform to the world. The days of playing around in the streets and playing around in the church being confined is over. GameOver we are setting a new standard, and new culture. Just like when hip hop started, the same concept this is KINGDOM. "Don't call me a gospel rapper, 'cause that puts me in a box, and I'm much more rounded, I'm no square, but drop me off on the block, they say '˜they're lost in them streets, CeeJ you can't save 'em you crazy, yeah I'm lost n my mind, but you can't neither you lazy"... CeeJ

AJ: You dropped a mixtape, The Alien - tell us about that, (explain the title).

CeeJ:The Alien Mixtape was crazy. I did that whole album n bout 2 maybe 3 weeks wrote the tracks and recorded them all in 2 days. I had a lot I wanted to get out so I took a lot of popular "secular" songs and flipped them. Jus to put something n the streets that I knew people would listen to, to add substance to what they already hear. The alien was me saying that being a Christian in the world, I am the outcast, the minority, plus I separated myself from the world so I'm an alien. It was a success and I had mad feedback about the lyrical content and overall quality of the tracks, that album is my baby lol.

AJ: You been grinding for a minute, mixtapes, shows, a single hear a single there, When is the word going to hear an official album from you?

CeeJ: Early 2011 it's going down, no we say it's going UP. The Trial of Chris Jefferson will drop it's a work in progress right now. I call it that '˜cause I actually took my whole life and summed it up. I started from the beginning to where I am now and actually wrote out a storyboard for each track. So every song is dealing wit the real me, real issues good and the bad. I call it the trial of Chris Jefferson and not the trial of CeeJ because its about the man, not the rapper. I feel this album will be in a class of its own, I don't know anybody else who has done an album like this but it will be something everybody can relate to on some level. The songs will be generalized but at least one part of every song has something true to my life in it. It is built around me being in court on trial about to be condemned by the world for my past. It will definitely be special, so be on the lookout for that next year. Probably around January.

AJ: What would you like to world to get from you music?

CeeJ: I want the world to hear a Christian, but I want them to feel like its the same thing that they would have said, or feel the same way they do. I want the world to find a relationship wit god they didn't know they can have, not religion. I want my craft to be respected, it might sound cliché, but I want to change the game. Change the way artist think and the stuff they put out make them realize how much power music holds. Like when I do shows I want to give people an experience not just a show.

AJ: When its all said and done how would you like to be remembered?

CeeJ: I want people to say, at the end of the day CeeJ was one of the realest. From how he lived, to what he said, to how he gave back. He wasn't the same as everybody else, and it had to be God!!

AJ: Any last words?

CeeJ: Much love to everybody supporting what we tryna do check out the site www.gameovermusic.com Become part of the street team, show some love. Cop me and Darian's album Rags2Righteous, September 15 on the site. Look out for the TV show, GameOver Music presents: Choppin' It Up, I'm hosting that and will air at the end of this year on access 21 in Charlotte, NC and on the site. The Trial of Chris Jefferson, January 2011, Trapp's debut album, Pain Medicine will b dropping next year 2, and the GameOver mixtape will drop n the next couple months. Go to the site and follow everything we doing. 1God 1mic 1man...CeeJ

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLWORoQEIDY Be Around music video