A while ago I had chance to talk with Sean Slaughter. He gave me insight into his views on being an artist, family man, and mentor. In this interview, Sean touches on some tough underbelly issues of being a performer in the Christian Hip Hop genre.
Edward: How has the genre changed since you have been performing Christian Hip Hop?
Sean: I think musically, quality, recording and marketing has gotten better, but it seems that we have become less creative. Some artists think to capture a listener they have to sound like a mainstream artist. I hear a lot of mimicking. There is nothing wrong studying another artist. As good as we gotten quality wise, we are still an alternative. It’s like, if you don’t want to buy one brand of popcorn you can buy the generic brand popcorn. There is a large fan-base of listeners who only listen to Christian music. They don’t hear the sounds and compare them to secular artist.
Edward: One thing I noticed is that your skill and sound has improved from Die Daily to Prototype. What do you attribute to that to?
Sean: That is easy – a team. On the previous albums before Prototype I had a lot of other producers and I engineered a lot of the tracks. I had too much of my hand in those albums. I hired a creative director. I meet up with (producer) Prose. We began to build a solid relationship. It is tough finding a producer who can make my voice sound competitive. Prose makes a Neo-New York sound that works with my voice. I told Prose when he stops producing me I’m done with rap.
I didn’t record, come up with the name, track order, or the video concepts for Prototype. With Prototype 2 we are going through the same process. This next album is going to be a lot more personal and eye opening.
Edward: You have toured with the live band called the Dirt Naps. Can you tell us what that is like?
Sean: I would love to perform with a live band all the time if I could. At concerts I’m smiling backstage and when you add a live band it takes it to a whole other level. You have the ability to transition artistically to whatever the Holy Spirit moves you toward. I put together a set list about five minutes before I get on stage. I like going around feeling the atmosphere and putting together a set list that addresses the needs of the people and what God wants to do. You can plan and be open to the Holy Spirit a lot easier with a live band.
Edward: So how did your What In The Ham Sandwich?! radio show/podcast come about?
Sean: One thing people don’t know about me is that I love ESPN, Netflix, and Comedy Central. I’ve watched The Daily Show even before John Stewart. I’ve always been a fan of smart comedy. Cook and I have seen a lot. I’ve seen the background of TBN and other settings. I felt like I was the guy that didn’t belong there. I got to see a lot of things that people don’t see. Some of it was good and some of it was not right. The first show came about due to a prayer cloth I received in the mail. The second show was about armor bearers. Some people address the issues in a serious way. Some people who want another option can listen to us. We use comedy to get truths across about some hard messages.
Edward: I enjoy the foolish freestyles. How do you let Cook still do those foolish freestyles?
Sean: You have to understand Cook is a drummer. Cook is a pastor’s kid. Pastors’ kids are some of the most derelict rebellious kids you meet in your life. Why do we let Cook do foolish freestyles? I have no idea. At one point we were going to stop and do other things because it was getting too foolish. So we set some parameters. From time to time he would step over the boundaries.
Edward: What is it like being an artist and podcaster?
Sean: We try to talk about everything. How we move and think as people fascinates me to no end. What the Ham Sandwich show has done for me is let me look at life as a whole. My music has gotten broader. When Lecrae said he wanted to give more general revelation than special revelation in his music – I got that. I want to be an artist, not a pastor. I want to give my viewpoint as a Christian and not just a ”Christian viewpoint.” When someone gives me advice I never say “Here is my Christian point of view.” Researching topics for Ham Sandwich has spilled over into my music.
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Edward: Have you ever gotten a push back from the community to be more theological?
Sean: That push hasn’t come. I think people realize I don’t care. I love those guys that do theological rap. But I think my travels have shown me that fans will take an artists’ words as being gospel. I’ve seen super theological people fall. I’ve seen unbiblical people teach me things and vice versa. I understand the Calvinist movement is a response to the prosperity, loose-Bible teaching movement. If you understand your Christian history you will see whenever God gives us something it is perfect – then when we touch it, it messes it up. I’ve been around TBN. I’ve seen stuff behind the scenes. I understand what shai linne was trying to do.
The Pharisees at one point in time were good people. They rejected the cultural blending of Rome and said they served YHWH. When Jesus came they were more in love with the law then who the law is talking about. It seems like on most Calvinist websites, I’m not knocking all of them, they are in love with the Bible. I’m in love with the Bible as well, but Jesus still speaks. Because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I can use the Bible to discern what is and is not of God. I feel that in response to bad theology, I feel that some Calvinists, have made the Bible God. Even the Bible talks about following all of the letters of the law but missing the spirit of the law. This is why I haven’t felt any pressure and if I did receive pressure I wouldn’t care. When I zoom back and look at it in context, Calvinsts are just another group.
No denomination has rights on Jesus. Ravi Zacharias once said that denominations put extreme focus on minor things. I think a lot of that stuff is. I’ve seen it all over the world. I take those good things and apply it. The good thing from the Calvinists is that they know the Bible and they teach their butts off. All the extra stuff it doesn’t bother me. I get mad at foolishness, but that is it.
Edward: I previously did an article about “#1 spot” and “Fal$e Teacher$.” I had some problems getting a hold of Flame for feedback. How do you feel artists should handle controversial topic matters?
Sean: One thing about the Ham Sandwich Show – we have made some mistakes. The show is a way for me to be transparent. I remember when Cook and I did a show about homosexuality. The show was bad. We really blasted gay people. We had someone write in and say that they would be offended not by our stance but by how we said it. So we apologized. As a leader who puts things out there in the atmosphere you have to be accountable for what you say.
If shai linne did some interviews and interacted with Paula White’s son then that is what you are supposed to do. Same with Flame. If you put out “#1 spot” you can’t run and hide. Christian hip hop is growing. Our fans are confused. They are looking to us to answer basic issues such as to drink or not or even how many times to go to church in a week. If we are going to say these things and make innuendos you need to be man enough to face it.
DJ I Rock Jesus listened to some of the tracks from my new album and he said that I would be doing interviews until the cows come home. I’ve been praying on that to deal with it when it comes.
Edward: How does having a family and a business impact your touring decisions?
Sean: Everything hangs on leadership, trust, and decisions. The last couple of years we built Life Power Mentoring and set up a recording engineering institute. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. When I made that decision, by default, other things took a back seat. My relationships with my wife and two girls are the most import thing to me. It comes down to vertically or horizontally aligning your priorities. I vertically align my priorities so there is stuff at the top and stuff at the bottom. It also means that if something topples other things can fall. This means the decisions I make have to line up to the vision. If there are things that line up with vision I put them aside.
I feel like I’m getting toward the end of my career musically, so I put less energy toward it. You don’t see me as active musically as I did before. If I did put that energy toward music I wouldn’t have time to see my girls when they make honor roll or have time with my wife.
We understand the blessing is in the quality of life. If something is sucking out the quality then it has to be reduced. At one point of my career I was doing 100 to 150 dates traveling a year. It hurt the relationships in my life. The last two years I realized a whole other life that existed. I hadn’t realized until recently how big Easter was. It sounds stupid. I was usually performing on Easter.
I’ve just recently in the last few years going out to dinner with friends on Fridays. You have to understand that in the past, most of the time I was traveling Friday through Sunday. Sometimes I even had a midweek gig. Now that my schedule is limited to spring and summer it allows me to have higher-quality relationships.
I have a line on the new album that deals with my relationship imbalances. I actually give an apology to my family and friends. I know other artists that are dealing with this issue right now. Do you tell someone stop touring? That is how they eat. Achieving family balance is tough.
Edward: What do you love about your local church and what type ministry do you do?
Sean: I have an interesting relationship with my church right now. I youth pastored for two years and realized that it was not my calling. I love the community but that wasn’t my route. I enjoy dialogue with people.
To be honest, when I came off the road traveling so heavy the first thing I looked for was to do something in church. After a long talk with my wife she said she wanted me just to go to church and sit in the pew with her. Prior to that I would go do the sound for the youth. She really wanted me present during service. The last two years I’ve worked on being a regular church goer.
For the sake of my family I just go to church. It has been wonderful. I know all the ministers and they try to lure me back. I’m trying to be a regular church dude. I enjoy sitting next to my wife hearing the Word and worshiping. I’ve been saved for almost 14 years and this is the first time I’ve been able to do this. Ever since I came into the church I was in the church working. I’m just being a regular attendee and it is pretty cool and I’m enjoying it. It gives me energy for my family and the community. I’m actually able to sit down with the people I invite to church.
Thanks for reading. You can check out the What In The Ham Sandwich?! show at https://www.thehamsandwichshow.com and follow Sean on Twitter @hamsandwichshow. If you have any comments or feedback for me you can comment below or hit me up on Twitter @speakredwords. Thanks for reading.
