At the age of 18, Steven Cooper went to church and heard about Jesus and it changed his life. Cooper, who had already begun writing songs, turned his efforts towards spreading the Gospel message with the goal of changing the lives of others.
Under the pseudonym of Lyrycyst, Cooper recently released his label debut project, Masquerade, which tackles the false pretenses under which many of us live our lives and go about our business. I talked to Lyrycyst a bit about the album, his past and hope.
That conversation follows. brenten gilbert: Alright. We'll try to be pretty quick today, since you're on a vacation of sorts.
Steven Cooper (Lyrycyst): Yeah. You're fine. I have a little bit of time.
Good deal. First up, how and when did you get into hip-hop?
Okay. Well, I started back in high school. I started when I was 16 years old and basically, like. . . I had a bunch of friends who were into doing music. Really into doing hip-hop. They didn't do it professionally. They just kind of did it as a hobby, but they would never include me in it, because I was the white guy. (laughs)
Yeah. So it was more of a dare that really got me into it, because it was really just to prove to my friends that they were wrong and that I could do what they were doing. So I would lock myself in my room for a little bit, practice, and write songs. I had always been writing songs for about two years before that, but I had just never really written hip-hop. So, when I started, I actually loved it and when I showed my friends they were all, like, impressed and you know. It just kind of escalated from there because I had proven them wrong and now I wanted to prove other people wrong. And I'm still trying to prove people wrong today.
(laughs)
Yeah. You'll probably never get over that.
Yeah, exactly. It's a never-ending battle. (laughs)
Okay, so which artists did you listen to and look up to back then? Back then it was. . . Actually, my favorite style of music is more rock than hip-hop and rap.
Okay.
But back then I was really into, like, Outkast and Tupac and all them guys. And then at the same time, I was really into, like, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and you know (laughs).
Yeah.
I had a pretty wide variety of music, like I would listen to anything. Even now one of my main things is that when I went out and started to challenge people to open up their minds and let go of their stereotypes about rap music and listen to more than one genre, I really got convicted myself, because I didn't have a very well-rounded collection of music either. You know what I mean? So that really convicted me, like, I need to have an open mind as well and start listening to a broad spectrum of stuff.
Yeah, I go through phases myself as to what genres I listen to or like most. It kind of depends on my mood, I guess. Yeah. Exactly. Well, like I tell people all the time - Everyone assumes that all my influences come from hip-hop and even if they don't shine through, as much as I would like them to since everything I do is hip-hop driven. . . Even now, most of my influences come from like the rock side than anything, you know? And even like Lifehouse and Jack Johnson and those guys. I love them, too. So it was really weird (laughs) when I started doing hip-hop because I have all these other influences.
Yeah, I hear you. I listen to hip-hop and jazz and rock and all of that and it surprises a lot of people.
Yeah, I think that's so great though, especially when you're making music, you know? You find those little influences leaking in there in areas you wouldn't purposely do. . .
Well, there's something to be learned from the way anyone makes music. There's little nuggets you can take with you. Yeah, exactly. I think it's more fun that way.
Keeps things fresh. For sure.
Alright. The new album is called Masquerade. . . Right.
. . . but I remember that it was going to be called, American Dream. Yes.
I have that original disc and, most of these songs are the same. Did you ever release that album or what happened? Well, the thing that we're really trying to stress right now and for any new artist, there's that long, hard journey to get your breakthrough, you know what I mean? And that's really where we're at. We're in a transition period. American Dream. . . I worked on that for three years trying to get those songs done and when I finally got it done, we signed distribution that kinnd of released it, but ran it into the ground immediately afterwards - the company filed for bankrupcy, took a bunch of money, all this. So, a lot of people came to me and told me to just move on and start my second record. . . move on, you know. It's not the end of the world.
Right. But to me, it was like, those songs that I put on that disc meant something to me. They weren't just music, you know what I mean? I didn't want them to just get lost in the shuffle. So, we signed a new distribution deal and I basically told the new distribution company that I'd like to do an amped up version of American Dream. I'd like to go back, add a few new songs, give it like a facelift and I want the message to be put back out there, because I'm not satisfied moving on to the next record when I don't feel like this message from this album had gotten its proper attention. You know what I mean?
Sure. And so that's really what Masquerade is. It is a re-release of American Dream, but in the big scheme of things, American Dreams was out for a very short period of time, very few people even know about it and it really felt like Masquerade is a more complete version of American Dream anyway. So we're really trying to. . . We want this record to have the breakthrough that we feel it deserves before we move on, because we don't feel like out music is disposable, you know?
Sure. And the titles are pretty complementary in some sense.
(laughs) Yeah, really. For sure.
(laughs) And it fits with everything that happened, too. With the whole, like. . . You know, 'cause it's like, even though I'm in the Christian market, I still deal with the same stuff I used to deal with back when I was in the secular market. It's like, I've been taken advantage of. I've been burned. And it's like this big game where. . . you know, the reason I called this album Masquerade is because everyone's going around saying that the Christian market is an industry that you can be real in, but then everyone has this mask that they put on and there's a lot of fake activity going on. (laughs) And it's time to really let go of that.
Yeah. I think it's more that the Christian market should be a place where you can be real, moreso than it is. Exactly. We all wish it would be that way and it can be that way, it's just going to take people speaking up.
Definitely. So, did you have to change the title because of some sort of contractual agreement?
I did and I didn't. The whole Masquerade concept felt better to me than the whole American Dream concept did anyway. You know what I mean? I like that the title says. . . It's more of a summary of the entire theme whereas American Dream was a more specific thing, you know? So, to me, Masquerade is a much better title, overall, but I did have to change it because when we pulled out. . . There's a bunch of legal issues still going on with that company we were with and that album, the American Dream album. . . If we would wait for all the legal stuff to finish out and clear out, we would have to wait an extra year or so to get that album back out and into the hands of the people and I just wasn't willing to wait that long. Again, I feel like the message needs to get out there. That's why I worked for three years to get it done.
Fair enough. So we gave it a new title and gave it a facelift and put it back out there with some new songs.
A lot of good albums have been held up due to legal issues.
Yeah, for sure, and I just don't want to be another one. . . You know, I do feel like this album, being my first album, really does represent, in a nutshell, what I'm about and what they can expect to hear from me in the future. So it's like, if I skip over this one, (laughs) I don't get my foundation.
Alright, well, you do have the song called "American Dream" still on this new iteration of the album and it paints a pretty dismal outlook of society. . . Yeah (laughs)
Do you see any hope for America? (laughs) Yes I do and I really want people to know. . . I want to stress, hardcore, that the reason I have that outlook is because I believe we can do better, not because I believe that there's no hope, you know what I mean?
Sure. I really do feel like. . . I mean, I'm a victim of what America creates. My story is based upon, being raised by a drug addict, having no stability in this society and not being given a chance. Being looked on like I was a nobody my entire life, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
And then, when Jesus got a hold of me, it was like this whole other realm opened up to me and I became something. In some people's eyes, I still might not be anything, but to me, I'm living my dream, I have a relationship with my God, my family's changed, everything about my life is different. And for the first time in my life - when I became a Christian, from the age of 18 - I've actually experienced hope and happiness. From 18 and beforehand, I never experienced that.
Right. So, I do believe there's hope, because of the hope in my life. Because of the change I went through, I feel like anyone, anywhere has the ability to change and I feel like society as a whole has the ability to change. And I think sometimes pointing out the flaws is a good way to open up people's eyes as to what they're missing out on. I mean, that song "American Dream" is written to inspire people to stand up for morality and stand up for Jesus and stand up for the things our society was built on in the first place, not to act like there's no hope and just let it be torn down.
Alright. That's good. And you mentioned your personal story, and it's difficult to go through those hard times growing up, but I'd guess that now you can look back on your life and see how those experiences prepared you for doing this, right? Yeah, for sure. I made peace with my past literally within the first year that I was a Christian. A lot of it had to do with, you know, God showed me so much love immediately after I got saved. I experienced it so much that it made up for all those years when I felt like I wasn't experiencing any of that.
Cool. I don't know, it's just been a cool journey. I like how my story gives me a tool now, you know what I mean? I can go now and I can relate with so many people that, if I didn't have that story, I don't know how. . . I'm not saying that my story should be. . . When I go and I speak and I share, I don't wish my story upon anyone else. You know what I mean, I don't hope that there's people who have experienced these crazy beginnings to their lives and then get through it and change so that they can have a story. I don't wish that on anyone. I wish everyone had my wife's story - She was born in a church, raised in a church, got saved at a young age, never really had a backsliding period, that kind of stuff, you know?
Right. I wish (laughs). . . I wish that was for everyone, but we live in a place that's not. . . I feel like God finds those people who have those stories and once they get redeemed, He uses them to the fullest to hopefully stop others from experiencing the same thing.
Yeah. So what advice would you have for someone who feels like they're stuck in a hard time right now? Well, in my opinion, the best advice that I can give. . . For me, the thing that kept me from experiencing this earlier is that I'd never heard about Jesus. I didn't hear about Jesus until I was about eighteen years old and that was the first time I had heard anything about Him. So I didn't ever have another option. All I ever knew in life was this garbage and I didn't know that there was actually hope and there was actually another way. Then when I actually experienced that, like I said, it was like this whole new world opened up to me. So, my advice to anyone going through hardships or difficult situations would be: Don't forget that you have another option if you choose to take it. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
It doesn't mean that those other things will disappear right away, but having the feeling of having a God behind you and knowing that you're living for a bigger purpose, that you're not just created with nothing and created with no purpose. All those things are good things to help you get through those hard times so that they don't feel as heavy as they would if you didn't have God behind you. So, my first priority for anyone struggling with that stuff would be to make them look towards God not away from Him.
That's pretty interesting. As you were saying that, it occurred to me that when you think about free will. . . Most of the time you hear about it as though we're given the option to sin, but since we're already bent towards sin at this point, it's almost more that our free will gives us the option not to sin. Yeah it's like that's the first natural thing, to choose the dark side (laughs). Follow your sin. Follow the natural ways of your flesh, but I think if you're challenged to go against the grain, to go the other way, I think you start seeing the results, right away.
Yeah. The moment I was challenged to follow God. . . When I got saved, I made a deal with God and it was a pretty simple deal. It was more like: If you can change my situation. If you can change my family. If you can change my life. Then I'll do whatever it takes to follow You. That was the deal that I kind of laid out there. And God, (laughs), He didn't have to, but He followed through. He changed my family. He changed everything about my life. And that's the reason why I'm still going today.
And now you're out to influence others as well. Yeah and I'm hoping that it doesn't just stop there. It's supposed to be a chain reaction where those people go on and become the evangelists and change other people. It's supposed to have a multiplying affect. That's why no one person is supposed to get the glory.
Well alright, we'll kind of wrap this up. You're celebrating Thanksgiving with your inlaws, do you have plans for Christmas? Yeah, we'll actually be back at home. We kind of took December off, except for a few little things here and there. And we'll actually have Christmas at our house for the first time this year so our families will come and visit with us.
That sounds like fun. It's such a good time to just stop and recoup. We've been traveling for the past two-and-a-half months straight on a tour and then we came right out here, so I'm glad that the holidays are right around the corner. We can just relax and just have the month of.
Alright so the album is out already. It's called Masquerade. Yep, it was out on October 30th.
Very cool. Have a good time off.
(laughs) Thanks. Have a good night.
For more on Lyrycyst, visit LyrycystMusic.com, MyCCM.org, and MySpace Masquerade available now at: Amazon, CBD/ChristianBook.com, or iTunes