Jam The Hype had chance to sit down with Rachael Messini, formerly of Souljahz and ½ of the Washington Projects, to talk about her new solo project, Honestly, which just dropped. Rachael digs deep and shares her heart about the album, her personal struggles that inspired the single “Selah,” available as a free download, as well as some of her influences, and what to expect from the album.
JTH: What’s been going on? I know back in the day you were with Souljahz and then you and Je’kob collaborated as the Washington Projects, but what’s been going on since the Washington Projects?
Rachael: Well, I got married about 5 years ago. Man times flies. I have been doing music professionally since I was 12. It’s been a really long road. It’s been amazing, but it’s been my number 1 priority for so long. I got to a point where I wanted to live a normal everyday life where I wasn’t traveling all the time and doing the music stuff for 15 years. Once I got married, I just felt like I wanted to settle down, be home for a while, and live. Around the time my husband and I were trying to have my daughter, I decided to scale back a little bit. Je’kob and I had released three albums as the Washington Projects; Light Up The Dark, Commanders Of The Resistance, and [Space Time Continuum,] a remix album to those two records. Things were going really great, but I didn’t know how long it was going to take for my husband and me to conceive. I have a story on my blog about [it] and how I was told I would never be able to conceive. I have all these conditions that say I will never be able to have a baby. So, I thought I had a lot of time, but God had different plans, and I was able to conceive. It happened rather quickly, and we were so blown away and so excited. So, I just took a break and decided to stay home with the baby and focus on being a mother. So, yea, I just been living and it’s been great. I have been living all along, but it felt good to take some time to find myself and let the Lord kinda lead what direction He wanted me to go in moving forward.
JTH: I think it’s great that you took some time off because it’s so important to do so when you have a major life event like a marriage or a child, and you had both.
Rachael: Yea and having a child is a job within itself. There is just no preparing for a child. But, I never had any intention on stopping music for good. But it felt good to take some time to grow up and figure out who I wanted to be and to reassess. My calling hasn’t changed, but the way in which God wanted to use me has. I have also been so excited for my brother Je’kob who has been doing his thing. So proud of him.
JTH: Well, we are definitely glad to hear things have been going well and that you are rested and had a chance to get back in the studio and create another album. Congratulations on the marriage and the new addition to the family. Tell me about the single off your album, Honestly, entitled “Selah.”
Rachael: Well, that song is actually about my daughter. The song is about how God just totally turned my world upside down. I say a line in the song that says, “My body may broken but my God still lives.” That’s the main message behind it. It’s a song to my daughter from me, but it applies to so many people. God has a plan and the doctor or no one else in the world can tell you what is going to happen in your life. I was diagnosed with these conditions when I was 19 and told so many times that I would never have children. In my heart, I didn’t believe that, but I prayed that God’s will be done and God proved the doctors wrong. My daughter has changed my life so much, changed me as a person, and helped me see what real selflessness is. Becoming a parent changes you in so many ways. It changed my calling in a sense that I always felt called to help young girls and God gave me a daughter, so that just reinforced it and made my passion to do it and fuels that passion even more. But, that song is about my daughter and how it changed my life and what the Lord did.
RELATED: Rachael Messini – Selah [Free Download]
