Sir the Baptist: I’m from Bronzeville. That’s Southside of Chicago right before you get to Hyde Park. I believe Bronzeville is my music. I claim to be this Brownsville baby, it’s been a long time since Bronzeville produced an artists like me who stayed thru to themselves and not try to chase the radio. The reason why I tie this to me is because my dad was born 1924 and migrated to Bronzeville during The Great Migration when it was still called Douglasville with the help of the Chicago Defender. When that happened Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, all the people I look up to and have affected my music came from Bronzeville. Bronzeville has completed shaped my music and with my dad being so old he was during that time with them. I have a song I’m about to release with Musiq Shoulchild pretty soon and it talks about interracial dating and black economics and topics like that come from Bronzeville.

How did you get your stage name?

Sir the Baptist: Being in what a lot of people call “Chiraq,” and I know we hate to say that but reality is more killings than Iraq? It needs to be addressed. It’s a problem but not as much. When Martin Luther King came up it was racism and it was his opportunity to attack that problem. That problem might be your calling. With mine being my music and Chiraq, to help it out the wilderness like John the Baptist. So I went with Sir the Baptist because it was my chance to come up and say something and really bring in as many as possible to make some changes.

When did you start rapping/singing?

Sir the Baptist: I started making music around 10 or 11. Just as a preacher’s kid you are required to sing in the choir, play the piano and play the drums if the summer don’t come to church. I’ve been doing music for a long time just providing music on a different level. Just not necessarily as an artist.

Who are some of the biggest influences to your career?
Sir the Baptist: There is quite a bit, my brothers and my sisters. One of my brothers plays for a lot of people in Gospel and a few of my brothers have been on 30 different tours and traveled the world. My mom influenced me a lot, my dad also with topics and stuff like that. Outside of that people have influenced me but they aren’t even artists but artists of what they do. Ravi Zacharias and he’s like an apologist, I’m inspired by people about music but elements in Bronzeville, I’m like Sinatra and all kinds of stuff, I did stuff with the Joffrey Ballet so I’m in love with orchestra music. Rap, I’m a big fan of Kanye still, Jay Z, I had the chance to work with Chance [the Rapper] and them. Everybody contributes to who you are, you’re just not a blank canvas, and everybody influences me.