Sitting in a penthouse lounge, 29 floors up and staring down at the streets of Midtown, Trendsetter Sense is recounting what he calls his “valley situation.”
The DJ and co-founder of legendary crew The Aphilliates remembers a rat making its home inside the walls of his old Summerhill apartment. His new rodent roommate took a liking to chocolate in the cabinets. It was the pandemic, and like many artists who make a living from live music and events, the opportunities were few. His finances took a hit. Sense had the apartment because he’d lost his house. “I hit rock bottom,” he says.
He’d already committed to reading and the studying the Bible more, but was ready to give up hope. Desperate, he recalls a clear day, standing on his back porch repeatedly saying out loud that he wanted to actually feel God’s presence. Then it happened. In his words, a “thunderous energy” struck down in front of him from the sky.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
“It knocked down the branches from the street to the left of me, and it scared me. If you refer to Scriptures, it says, ‘the Lord speaks a thunderous voice’” he says. “I was just like, ‘whoa, it’s real’.”
It’s a story Sense tells when you ask about his pivot from being one of the guys who brought us the popular Gangsta Grillz mixtape series to co-host of “Chosen Journey,” a faith-based, Christian hip-hop radio show on Hot 107. 9. The show debuted June 9 and airs weekly 8-10 a.m. on Sundays.
Despite a genre historically dubbed “corny,” Sense’s hope is that, like he did with The Aphilliates, he can give emerging and established Christian rappers, as well as R&B artists a showcase. He also wants to give younger generations a chance to hear voices from peers embracing their spirituality.
“I wanted to be able to have a platform where young people could feel comfortable about their journeys and their purpose,” he says.
A holy spirit visit
Sense’s journey toward his purpose started in his native Philadelphia. He went to church with family and his grandmother once saw a life at the pulpit in Sense’s future. He started DJing in high school, and studied at Clark Atlanta University where he met DJ Drama and Don Cannon, also Philly natives. The trio formed DJ crew The Aphilliates, helping break artists such as T.I. and Jeezy with popular Southern rap mixtapes series Gangsta Grillz.
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
After landing the crew deals with Cartoon Network, a radio show on Sirius, and launching his own R&B-focused mixtape series Rhythm and Streets, Sense was at his peak.
In 2016, Sense started managing day-to-day production for Lil Jon’s world tour with stops in China, India, Russia, Mexico and United Arab Emirates. Though he says his faith was wavering, Sense made time to pray when he could. Right before the tour started, he received a message.
“The Holy Spirit was talking to me and told me that you’re only going to work with Lil Jon for two years, and I want you to learn everything that you’re going to learn,” he recalls.
Sense’s first time on the tour was Memorial Day weekend in 2016. Exactly two years later he left the tour. That same voice told him he would lose his house, which he did. He was also told he’d have to let go of his prized matte black Jeep on 22-inch rims.
“I was still trying to chase what I thought was my dream, and how the world would approve of me. It’s funny because every time I tried to get approval from the world, I kept bumping my head,” he says, admitting that he eventually let the car go. “I kept stumbling.”
Love, faith, beats
Sense caught a break thanks to the dating app Bumble. It’s there where met his now-fiancée. “She loves to tell people about it,” he jokes. He talks about his fiancée a lot, citing her as the source of his transition out of his aforementioned valley. She didn’t care about the rat at his old place or the flooding and molded walls in his newer place. Eventually, he moved in with her.
The early muses for “Chosen Journey” came out of their relationship, specifically Sense’s future mother-in-law who encouraged him to start a ministry. His in-laws had experience building churches and suggested he launch a nonprofit geared toward offering aid for people experiencing homelessness, troubled youth and those living with mental illness.
As he started filling out paperwork and getting his 501(c)3 off the ground, Sense felt like he needed to amplify the mission and, knowing his history, a radio show felt like a good bet. He and his fiancée settled on the name Chosen Journey Inc. for the nonprofit and “Chosen Journey” for the show, both a nod to Sense’s long road to finding a renewed sense of value.
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
That purpose got clearer as Sense started studying Christian artists including Lecrae, Forrest Frank, Hulvey, Jackie Hill Perry, Bizzle and others. He felt something akin to when The Aphilliates were at their height powers discovering, breaking and promoting with street and trap backgrounds. He gets passionate talking about the specific artists, lyricism and production coming from the Christian rap community.
Credit: Norris Danta Ford
Credit: Norris Danta Ford
“That’s one of the exciting things, just the energy of putting people on to nobigdyl., putting people on WHATUPRG, 1K Phew — that’s the excitement I had when I first heard the mixtape from T.I., Jeezy or a Lil Wayne. It’s that same energy,” he says.
Pray with me
Every “Chosen Journey” show revolves around a theme such as humility. In addition to playing songs from Christian artists, Sense and his guests (Killer Mike, Zaytoven), share testimony of their experiences with the chosen theme. Sense also shares related Scripture.
Sense says he initially approached nationally syndicated radio host Darlene McCoy of Praise 102.5 about bringing “Chosen Journey” to her station. McCoy suggested that the younger demographic at Hot 107.9, where Sense already had a history of hosting shows, was more in need of the message.
He knows that younger audiences falling on every lyric from Future and Lil Baby might not be quick to open their ears to Christian artists. Sense is also aware that despite positive feedback for “Chosen Journey,” it’s not for everyone. Ultimately, he stopped caring about what others may think.
“These were concerns I had when I was worldly, but when my faith and the spirit grew stronger, the purpose was more important to me than the opinions of man or woman,” he says.
“As a DJ your responsibility is delivering someone else’s message,” he says. “DJs are kind of like your little ministers if you think about it.”
In the future, Sense wants to host quarterly events in partnership with Hot 107.9′s parent company, Urban One. The programming — concerts, giveaways, fundraisers, Bible study, mentorship opportunities — are a means to help raise money and awareness for the Chosen Journey nonprofit.
“We have to effectively impact those that need it,” he says. “The show is a driving force in support of that. It’s very fun to do the show, but there’s people that need this service.”
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