Music As A Window To Our Souls: Candi Staton & nobigdyl.
Candi Staton: If it’s for you, I think you will finally get there. God has opened doors for you. You’ll finally make it. If that’s your purpose in life, you’ll make it somewhere and somehow. It may not be on your timing, but it may be God’s time.
Music As A Window To Our Souls: Candi Staton & nobigdyl. – Episode #393
Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. Of all the languages in the world, music is one of the most profound. Its many shapes and forms can stir up a vast spectrum of emotions and tell stories in a way like no other.
Candi Staton is a legendary, 4x Grammy-nominated R&B and gospel singer. Candi vulnerably opens up about how her music was a direct reflection of things she was facing, including an absent father, an abusive marriage, and a battle with alcoholism, and how the music helped her build a bridge to God for herself and others.
nobigdyl. found his way into the music industry at an early age, and stumbled upon an unexpected blessing when his mentor, Christian rapper Derek Minor, fired him so that he would be “pushed out of the nest.” Now, in his music, he addresses difficult topics like mental health problems in order to help listeners feel less alone.
Let’s begin with Candi’s story.
The Pursuit of a Better Life
Candi Staton: My name is Candi Staton. I am an artist, national and international artist. I’m on my thirty-third album right now.
I was born in Hanceville, Alabama, thirty miles north of Birmingham. My father was an alcoholic and a gambler, and he worked in the cotton fields. We had cotton. We had corn. We had peas, butter beans, and sweet potatoes. We raised our own food.
My father would receive the money from the cotton after it was picked and then he would just spend it on alcohol, and he would gamble it away. And we went barefoot a lot and didn’t have clothes. My mother would actually make our dresses out of flour sack material. We couldn’t afford shoes, so we had to stay home from school and sometimes from church and special things like Easter Sunday when everybody else was dressed. And deep down inside, I needed more. I wanted more. I knew there were some better things on Earth that I could get.
My sister and I had a way that we would do things. We would go up into the woods. In the forest behind our house, there was our tree [where] we would pray. My sister and I prayed and we prayed to get out of there. We prayed to leave, and God allowed us that opportunity.
My oldest brother, Sam, had moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and he had a house there. And he told my mother, “When I get to Cleveland and get a job, I’m gonna send for you.” And he did.
We got on a Greyhound bus and ended up in Cleveland in Twinsburg, Ohio, and my sister-in-law was going to this big church, His Holiness Church, that had a five piece rhythm section, and they were drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, and the gospel steel. And it was amazing. I’ve never heard such beautiful music in my life, and my sister-in-law knew we could sing, my sister and I could sing. She heard us at the house singing. And she put us up on stage that night and told the bishop, Bishop Jewel, that “These little girls can sing.” And we began to sing and they began to play behind us.
And Bishop Jewel said, “Don’t go. I want to talk to you. I want to talk to your mom.” And so we waited around and everybody left. And she took us all to the big house because this woman was rich. She had thirty churches, she was overseer of thirty churches, and she had lots of money and had a school in Nashville, Tennessee. And she asked my mother, “Could we go to school in Nashville?”
So we got in a big old limousine and drove to Nashville. She had a great granddaughter, her name was Naomi. And Naomi could sing, too. My sister and I taught harmony to her. We showed exactly how to do it, and that’s how the Jewel Gospel Trio got started.
A Gospel Music Career Takes Off
They signed us to Nashboro Records in Nashville. We had six hit records. This is when we got to know Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, Staple Singers, Aretha Franklin. They were all into gospel at the time. We became friends, you know? Mighty Clouds of Joy, The Soul Stairs, Pilgrim Travelers, Five Blind Boys.
We met all these people. They became family to us and we grew up with them. We got real famous. We didn’t go there to be the stars of the show, we were just three little girls. We were just kids that could sing.
Singing from Experiences
The passion that I have for music, the sincerity… when I sing, I sing from my heart, not because I know a song. I put everything in that song that I would do if I was singing it for the first time. I listen to my words as they come out of my mouth. And I listen to them and I refer to them and I see pictures of things that I’ve gone through, when I sing those songs like “Young Hearts Run Free.” “Young Hearts Run Free” was written especially for me because of what I was going through at the time.
“The passion that I have for music, the sincerity… when I sing, I sing from my heart, not because I know a song. I put everything in that song that I would do if I was singing it for the first time.” – Candi Staton
I had a very abusive, ignorant husband and he threatened to kill me and my children, my mother if I ever left him. And he was a pimp, you know, he wanted to live off my notoriety and the money I brought in and didn’t even think about how I got it. Then he’d take me back home and treat me so badly. Then I would sing, and he’d take all the money.
Candi’s Struggle with Alcohol
I didn’t drink at all. However, my dad, when I was seven years old—Daddy and I used to sit on a porch in the evening and Daddy would make me some moonshine and we’d sit there and he had to drink with somebody so he picked me. And we would sit there and he would go in the kitchen and he’d pour me some moonshine in a little glass and put some water and some sugar.
But then I didn’t drink any more until I got with Capitol Records. We did seven major cities just to introduce—they spent probably $1,000,000 making me a name. Capitol Records had me everywhere, but we went to a lot of different cities and we’d have parties. And so they would give me champagne, Dom Perignon champagne, and I would have to toast. I would be dancing with folks and just having a great time, and I like that feeling.
So it went from champagne to Johnnie Walker black scotch, and that’s how I started drinking. And I realized one day that I was hooked. Before I ever went on stage, to not be nervous, I always had a drink.
And then I realized I couldn’t stop, even when I got home, before I could go to sleep, I had to have that drink. So for thirteen years, I was an alcoholic. My kidneys were failing and I was taking antibiotics. It was really getting bad.
One Sunday afternoon, I don’t know, it was just time. God was calling me. Come onto me, all who are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you and learn of me. My yolk is easy. My burdens are light [Matthew 11:28-30]. You know, I came into the world for this purpose, and I could hear it in my sleep.
And I had gotten drunk that night before, and I was still kind of hung over, and we went down to the lake and they were swimming. And I sat on this rock. And I said, “God, I want to be as solid as this rock. Can you make me as solid as this rock?” And I started walking through the woods. Just talking to God, just started talking. I said, “Take this away from me. I don’t need this anymore. I don’t need it.”
I went on a three day fast, and when I came out of that fast, I had cooked a great meal, it was a Sunday afternoon the next week. I had cooked, I heard the Lord, and I went in the room and shut the door so I could continue fasting. And then I heard Him say, “You can eat now, you’re healed.” And I went in there, fixed me a plate, and I ate. Never desired it to this day, ever again. Totally, completely healed.
God Knows the Beginning & End
Difficult times always come, you just trust God. He knows the ending from the beginning and the beginning from the ending. He knows all of that. He’s already been there. He’s already paved the way out. And if you keep those kinds of things in mind, knowing that God has got your back and He’s going to lead you into the path of righteousness for His namesake, you can make it through anything.
“Difficult times always come, you just trust God. He knows the ending from the beginning and the beginning from the ending. He knows all of that. He’s already been there. He’s already paved the way out. And if you keep those kinds of things in mind, knowing that God has got your back and He’s going to lead you into the path of righteousness for His namesake, you can make it through anything.” – Candi Staton
Jesus Listens, March 8th:
Lord Jesus,
You are a shield for all who take refuge in You. When I’m feeling disappointed or afraid, draw me closer to You—reminding me that You are my refuge. I realize You don’t shield me from absolutely everything. There are some trials You have prepared for me to handle. Thank You for giving me a significant part to play in this world. Please help me lead the life You have assigned to me in joyful dependence on You. Then my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You!
In Your supreme Name,
Amen
Narrator: To learn more about Candi, please visit www.candi-staton.com, and be sure to check out her music on your favorite streaming platform.
Stay tuned to nobigdyl.’s story after a brief message.
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Our next guest is nobigdyl., a Christian rapper from Nashville who’s nurtured a passion for creativity and music from jazz, spoken word, and hip hop influences. He believes that by showing his scars and being real through his life and music, he might just be able to prevent others from getting the same wounds.
nobigdyl.: My name is nobigdyl. I am a Christian rapper from Nashville, Tennessee, and I’m also a president and director of Holy Smoke Festival in Nashville, Tennessee.
Growing Up Years
I actually was born in Hayward, California, in the Bay Area, and I lived in nine different states before I was nine years old. So I moved around a lot, had a very diverse upbringing, and experienced a lot of the subcultures of the U.S. I lived in every region except the Pacific Northwest basically, and got to middle Tennessee in fourth grade. I grew up here, so this is definitely home for me, but I still have a different kind of vantage point than a lot of people who were born and raised here.
I think I always knew I wanted to do something that was outside of the box. I think seeing all these different parts of the country… and my mom was also very into educating us at home, even though I was part of a private school as well, but she would take us on impromptu field trips and kind of expand our horizons. And I think that she really instilled in us that truly, the sky’s the limit. You don’t know what God has for you.
I wanted to be an actor at one point. I wanted to be a musician. At one point, I wanted to be a marine biologist. I just kind of always had these big ideas of what the future could hold and what I could be. And I think that along with my uncle at the time being a jazz drummer and playing in a lot of jazz clubs and me going to see him as a child and hearing his music—there would inevitably be spoken word poets as well at the clubs—I think I knew I wanted to do something that had to do with music or the arts.
A Love for Hip Hop
From the time I was very, very young—how deep I was into hip hop and hip hop history at a young age was very abnormal. I always just loved the ability to communicate these complex ideas and these commentaries on culture in a way that is very accessible to the average person or to the masses in a way—when I say accessible, it’s not too lofty for people to understand. And also, it has an aspect of being able to kind of pierce through the noise and pierce through the misconceptions and and preconceived notions about culture and about politics and about just the state of the world. I always loved that. And then, the celebratory nature of hip hop as well, and the theme of resilience that is in hip hop.
Putting in the Work
I went to MTSU for the music business program, and they encourage you to take internships. And so I applied to be an intern at Reflection Music Group, which is Derek Minor’s record label, and was accepted. I was doing the normal intern thing, I was getting coffee, I was sweeping floors, I was making food, sitting in the studio sessions with them, and going on tour with them and things like that.
It was definitely eye opening because before that, I was just a fan. And so I just had a fan’s perspective that these artists are untouchable members of society. And then once I got in there it was very eye-opening to see all of the work that artists put in.
That’s where I really learned the ropes and the more time I spent around them and kind of built up that trust and they can see my work ethic, then I had a number of different jobs at RMG—merch manager, and then eventually road manager, tour manager.
The foundational contacts in the music industry that I gained was from that job—everybody from like Lecrae to Kirk Franklin, being a road manager and being around those tours, it’s true that everybody’s just human, you know? A huge thing is people think like, Oh, you’re either just like born within that class of people or you’re not. But it’s like whatever job you have, whatever career you have, that amount of hours and those setbacks and changing direction and second guessing yourself and redoing it and failing and then succeeding, it’s the same thing for artists. They didn’t just get here because they came out singing like that.
“Whatever job you have, whatever career you have, that amount of hours and those setbacks and changing direction and second guessing yourself and redoing it and failing and then succeeding, it’s the same thing for artists.” – nobigdyl.
Derek’s a very generous guy. Me and some of my friends who, by that time, had started being like discipled by him and hanging out with him in less of a formal capacity, he knew we liked to record. So he gave us an extra key to his studio and said, “You can go and record in there anytime.” And that’s just kind of the type of guy he was.
He left a bag in there, so he came back during one of our sessions, and he heard a song that I was working on and he was like, “Whoa, who is this?” And I was like, “This is me.” He was like, “This is you for real?” I was like, “Yeah. We just recorded this.” And he’s like, “This is dope, bro. This is dope.” And he ended up tweeting that song out, and that’s how I got my first little bit of buzz within the community was him sharing that song.
And so he kind of encouraged me to continue making music, and at the same time I was road managing him. And he was like, “Do you want to be a road manager forever? Because if that’s true, then we can work on these things, I’m willing to grow with you in this. Or do you want to be an artist?” And I said, “Well, in a perfect world, I would just be an artist, but that’s risky. That’s one in a million, and I got a good thing going here.” And he was like, “Okay, okay, bet. You’re fired.” And he was like, “I’ve never known somebody who has made it as an artist who had a safety net. And so I got to push you out of the net so you’ll really pursue it, because I really think that you got something here artistically.”
Guiding Principles for Making Music
A lot of Christian music is just, pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and I’m not knocking anybody or anything, I just think that the answer is not a one size fits all for everybody.
I think that being a believer, a follower of Christ, no part of our life is exempt from caring and honoring for the other person. Just because I’m an artist, it doesn’t mean this part of my life can just be about me or just be for self-expression, though self-expression, I think, is a good thing. What I’m writing and what I’m performing and even how I promote it, how can this benefit the person that is experiencing this, whether visually or through audio or whatever? What are the things that I wish I had growing up? What’s the music that I wish I had to encourage me or to teach me or even in some ways correct me or inspire me or expand my horizons to invest in me? You know, what do I wish I had? And that’s kind of my guiding principle for the music I make.
“I think that being a believer, a follower of Christ, no part of our life is exempt from caring and honoring for the other person.” – nobigdyl.
He has created us in His image, we are very complex creatures, and I think that an honest look at the Scriptures suggests so much of what we need in these situations where we feel depressed or we feel anxious or we’re hurting in any way. We need people to sit with us, to walk with us, to care for us tangibly.
“He has created us in His image, we are very complex creatures, and I think that an honest look at the Scriptures suggests so much of what we need in these situations where we feel depressed or we feel anxious or we’re hurting in any way. We need people to sit with us, to walk with us, to care for us tangibly.” – nobigdyl.
I’d rather show you my scars than keep them to myself if me showing you my scars keeps you from getting the same wounds, you know? So I think that it’s important to talk about it in a real way instead of just putting a smile on your face because putting a smile on your face was around when I was young. And now my whole generation is in therapy trying to unlearn unhealthy coping mechanisms and learn how to be present and work through our traumas.
Prayer and Mental Health
Prayer is essential for me, and one thing that I learned about prayer was that the less I thought of it as a kind of rigid ritual and the more I thought about it as meeting with a Father who loves me, that kind of opened up my prayer life in a whole different way.
“Prayer is essential for me, and one thing that I learned about prayer was that the less I thought of it as a kind of rigid ritual and the more I thought about it as meeting with a Father who loves me, that kind of opened up my prayer life in a whole different way.” – nobigdyl.
I actually started walking and praying, and that changed everything. I used to be like, Man, I don’t know how I’m going to pray for more than five minutes. And sometimes I pray for an hour because I’m walking. I’m realizing that God’s presence is truly with me in this, and that opened up other things like prayers and silence, like listening prayer, like just listening for God, you know? And you don’t always have to be saying something, you know what I mean? It also opened up short and sincere prayers, it took away the shame of like, Okay, I only have a couple of things to say right now. That is legitimate. And that can be a very intimate moment with God in a situation where you are feeling pain, you are feeling hurt, you can have a short, sincere prayer with the Father as well. I think that prayer is something that, daily, really grounds me in God’s presence. And when I’m grounded in God’s presence, I don’t feel alone.
Jesus Listens, November 16th:
My Shepherd-King,
Your Word tells me that You are a Shield for all who take refuge in You. So I draw near to You, Lord, and I find shelter under the umbrella of Your shielding Presence.
I’m so grateful that You are my Shepherd! You’re always vigilant, and You know exactly what is on the path ahead of me. You anticipate perilous situations and prepare me for them. Because You’re a masterful Shepherd, You can shield me from danger so skillfully that I remain blissfully unaware of it. Moreover, You are totally trustworthy—the only absolutely Good Shepherd. As I seek to follow You and Your ways, I thank You for protecting me from both danger and fear.
In Your sheltering Name, Jesus,
Amen
Narrator: To learn more about nobigdyl., visit www.dyllie.com, and listen to his latest works wherever you get your music.
If you’d like to hear more stories about the beauty of music as a reflection of our individual journeys, check out our interview with Gloria Gaynor.
Next Week: Jen Lilley
Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we’ll hear from actress Jen Lilley, who’s starred in Hallmark movies and shows like Criminal Minds, General Hospital, and Days Of Our Lives. Jen opens up about her struggle with bulimia, and how she realized that by placing her trust in God, she could find healing and the strength to move past it.
Jen Lilley: The best definition that I can come up with for sin is trusting in anything more than you trust in God. So I was like, Wow, I am trusting that by being thin I will get acting roles. I am trusting that my bulimia will keep me thin and that God can’t heal my metabolism. But I would say to myself, “God, I’m trusting all these things more than I’m trusting you. And I don’t want to trust these things more than you.”
