An interview with hip-hop artist ODYC

Born in the city of New Orleans, ODYC was raised in church since a young child. He used his experiences in the church and the streets which he grew up on as his influence his style of hip-hop. After being asked to perform at a church night function he felt the calling of God on his life to promote the gospel of Jesus through the genre of Hip-Hop.

We recently interviewed ODYC for our magazine. Sharing it with our readers here.

Twist Online : First of all tell us about the start of your professional career?
ODYC : If you knew me you would have never pegged me as the guy to be on stage or in front of people talking but I started out rapping in New Orleans and just fell in love with the culture and the message I had and I was all in. My first actual gig was at a night club because some churches didn’t want me to perform there. It was amazing and as I saw how people gravitated to what I was saying it was awesome. I performed for hundreds of people and ten people but I was doing the work of God so it didn’t matter how many people were there I had a motto “just one” meaning if one person is in there they going to get 100 percent from me because it meant something for them to be there. I did mix tapes and a few originals but nothing like what was to come with Bloodwashed.

Twist Online : Who or what inspired you to get into music industry?
ODYC : I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life, I was just trying to figure out what I should be doing. I was in college but I wasn’t taking classes I wanted so I was a little lost in my life’s course. I started praying and asking God to reveal my purpose in life and immediately he did. So to ODYC your Twist Online it was me just listening to the voice of God that was my true inspiration. As far as musically I always like the sound and vibe of rap music so for me at the time Nas, Big Daddy Kane, and OutKast was what I listened to and marveled at the way they put words together. AMAZING

Twist Online : It seems Hurricane Katrina proved to be a life changer for you?
ODYC : I Thought it was the worst turned out to be a blessing. The Bible says God will make all things work together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). I was so angry at God for what I thought was him taking things away from me, I was to blind to see the good he had in store. I don’t know if I ever would have been able to have the walk I have with him if that didn’t happen because I wasn’t strong, I thought I was but I wasn’t. As a Christian I was not a good believer. I was so judgmental and damming that I often sit and wonder back to comments I used to make about things and people and cringe because I wasn’t showing the love of Christ I was running people away. I’m at a place now where I’m not perfect but everyday I strive to be more like him. I understand now that being a believer is about showing his love in the mist of it all just as he did on the cross for us. Without Katrina there would be no Bloodwashed Album to talk about.

Twist Online : Tell us about your recently released album ‘Blood Washed’?
ODYC : It was awesome!!! Making an album is a fun process, especially making an album that you never thought you would make is double rewarding. Bloodwashed is 8 tracks of God word delivered by servant of God. It speaks to the ups and downs the times you gotta just say enough is enough and also just remembering that as Children of God we are in great hands. Bloodwashed has beats that kick and words that speak to the heart of the listener. It doesn’t matter what you are going through you can pop in Bloodwashed and get what you are looking for. Now once you make the album you are not done it’s a whole lot of interviews, video plugs

Twist Online : What kind of response you have received from the release?
ODYC : Really good response people love it. People that have never heard the word of God delivered like that. Others have told me they play certain songs to help them get through. That is so humbling to think something I’m apart of is changing someone’s circumstance.

Twist Online : What attracts you more, performing on stage or working in studios?
ODYC : The process of being the studio creating a song hearing it raw and fresh, being able to change up and recreate a verse is great but man nothing beats that stage. When you see people head bobbing, hands up and knowing your songs better than you it’s crazy. The stage feels like home to me it’s where I need to be. Funny because I’m not a very vocal guy but it’s just something about that stage that gets me going.

Twist Online : Have you set some target to achieve as a music artist?
ODYC : I would really like to go around the world and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to just have so much music in my catalog that I’m always ready to give the people something they can listen to with their children and their grandparents, and of course to minister to this generation. I don’t write songs to just to waste words I want people to play this like praise music, workout music and just ride music.

Twist Online : Are you currently working on any other project?
ODYC : I write a lot I like to stay fresh with ideas just in case. At the moment if someone needs a feature I’ll do it but I’m currently just trying to push this album. Second2NoneSound and I will be shooting a video soon to one of the songs on the album not sure which one yet but it’s going to be a good one.