“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>If someone were to put Nehemiah “Millie Boy” Holly and Steven “Steve-T” Towns in a group of rappers for a game of “guess the holy hip-hop duo,” the challenger would most certainly lose.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>With tattoos, baggy jeans and the genuine rapper swag, the two have an energy that blends in with the industry –which is rooted in their past lives. But the message of the music that the childhood friends team up to create is another matter altogether.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>But it didn’t start out that way. Millie Boy tried his hand at gangster rap, but it didn’t fit him. Steve T scored a major deal thanks to The Bangaz club hit “Run up Get Done Up” – a song that on the right night could inspire a melee with one wrong shove.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>But today, the childhood friends are in a new place with their music and their faith.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“God is even in our control as far as our destiny,” Steve T said. “He had his hand in it so that I could only go so far because of the mandate on my life. He just used that situation to draw me to where we are right now as a group.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>After being frustrated by a deal that seemed to leave him stagnant, he teamed up with Millie Boy in 2008. Their second single “Put Me In” reaches the public next week. The song is all about getting put in the game for whatever you want to do and taking charge of your life.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We decided that we are not going to so much push doctrine or religion, we just want to free the minds of the people,” Millie Boy said. “To give them something that lets them know that it is okay to be who you are. You don’t have to follow the trends of the media or entertainment. We have so many lost identities because people are afraid to be themselves, not knowing that people standing up and being who they are can empower someone else.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>They’ve even set themselves apart from the traditional Christian hip-hop by pegging their music as “freedom music,” as opposed to inspirational, spiritual or gospel.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”> “We wanted to put as much Christ and as much Jesus as we could in it,” Steve T said. “But you have to reach people and meet them where they are and not shove it down their throat. And we didn’t want to present something where we would end up preaching to the choir.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The group wants to create a universal message that hits the hearts of the most hardcore hip-hop heads. They are confident that their flow, production quality and quality songs – for which they credit their experience in the mainstream – will give them an edge.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Somebody needs to take it to the places we are willing to go to,” Steve T said. “When you look at the gospels and you look at where Jesus was, he wasn’t always in the temples or in the synagogue. He said he came for those who were hurt, who were sick and who were lost.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>And Forever believes that freedom music will send them on the path to help others see the light of the One that led the way.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We just want to be an example through the music and the life that we live,” Millie Boy said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>For more information on Forever, visit www.iamforevermusic.com.
