Datin Talks ‘The Menace Mixtape’ and CHH
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“Datin is a believer in Jesus Christ, a disciple, a servant, a follower, a husband, a dad, a friend, a minister. That’s it.”
God Over Money Records artist Datin believes that Jesus and his disciples were menaces, as were other pivotal Old Testament characters. He wants listeners to be bold for Jesus’ sake and make disciples. “Christians can be a menace just by disrupting their comfort. When you stand for something that’s a threat to them and you’re bold about it, you can do it in the most loving, gentle way.”
He says that when Christians share their faith and tell the truth in America in 2017, people look at them as if they are hateful and mean, even when there are no such intentions. In that way followers of Christ are seen as a menace.
Recently Datin has been working on his sophomore GOM album. He had a surplus of songs from the album and thought that he should release them as a mixtape.
“It was all inspired by a fan on tour. He said, ‘You make rap-in-the-mirror music.’ I was like ‘What’s that?’ He said ‘I stand in the mirror and recite these lyrics as if I wrote them and they encourage me.’”
Datin was inspired by this fan to make music that would encourage people to be bold and share their faith with others.
The album cover features a man with a rock standing in front of Datin who is kneeling in prayer. In the book of Acts, Stephen becomes the first martyr of the church when he is stoned to death for preaching about Jesus. “It’s just me there accepting my fate. I’m not being violent. You don’t see me snarling. I’m just [saying] ‘Hey, I believe it, if you’re gonna kill me for it then so be it.’”
Datin says in “Draw The Line” that Christians have to make decisions so that they do not compromise on their faith. “As a traveling minister myself, there are many areas where we will try to infiltrate and they’ll say ‘You can’t say Jesus. You can’t do this. You can’t do that.’ You’ve gotta be able to draw the line.”
He is concerned that leading artists in Christian hip-hop are compromising preaching boldly about Jesus in order to infiltrate mainstream hip-hop. “As for me and my house, I am drawing a line. I’m not going that far.”
“Bout Dat” further addresses Datin’s objections to some of Christian hip-hop and is meant to encourage people to be faithful to boldness in ministry. “My issues are not with Lecrae and Andy [Mineo]… I think that they’re following the direction of the Holy Spirit. I see fruit in what they’re doing and I believe they’re following the calling of God on their lives, but now my issues are with everyone else following them because they want to emulate the success that they have.”
He says that many aspiring or new Christian hip-hop artists see that Lecrae and Andy Mineo have become more well-known while being less outspoken concerning their faith, and seek to do the same.
“If your concerns were preaching the gospel through your music then you wouldn’t even care about that.”
“There’s this scripture that says, ‘Life and death is in the power of the tongue.’” Whenever Datin hears people preach about it, he notices that they focus on how what people say can lead to others’ spiritual death. In “Words You Don’t Say” he addresses how Christians are also responsible for sharing their faith, speaking life to people. “We’re always warning people not to speak on the death, not to speak death, but what about encouraging others to speak life? I’m sure we’ll be held accountable for the words we don’t say.”
“God or Government?” is about how Datin believes the U.S. government is increasingly implementing laws and policies that are against how God wants us to live and that restrict Christians’ expression of their faith.
“The Pharisees were an authority and they ordered Peter to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. He said, ‘Are we gonna do what you say or what God has told us to do?’”
“We respect authority but when that authority is telling us not to respect our God then we’ve got some choices to make.” He says that when Christians are being persecuted, they should be encouraged because it shows how God as revealed in the bible is truthful.
The tenth track on The Menace Mixtape features Roberto from Datin’s alter ego Instagram. “My fans were demanding I put Roberto on a skit.
Outside of music, Datin likes to spend time with his wife and daughter, watch movies, and go to theme parks. “I fellowship with my brothers. When we fellowship we’re in the word, we’re enjoying each other’s company, reflecting on what God is doing in our lives.”
As mentioned earlier, Datin’s next album is in the works. “I’m excited for the producers I’ve worked with. Most of them I’ve already worked with on The Roar. Daniel Steele and Tee-Wyla and Wit and all that. I got them on this next album… Very concept heavy, concept driven.” The name of the album is announced on the final song of The Menace Mixtape.
Concerning the rest of the God Over Money Records team, Jered Sanders’ debut GOM album is complete, Bumps INF is almost done with a mixtape, Bizzle is working on an album, and Sevin’s album is almost done. “God willing we’ll all be dropping new music in 2018.”
“It’s been promised; we’re gonna be hated on. Get over it, but in it be encouraged to go harder. Not harder against them and not harsh in a way where they’ll hate you because it says to address everyone in gentleness and love, but it shows you that the time is near, the end is a lot closer than we think it is. Be on guard, be on mission, and make disciples.”
You can follow Datin on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
You can get The Menace Mixtape on iTunes, Amazon, or Google Play. You can listen on Spotify.
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