Clean rap: Oceanside musician brings Christian sensibility to the streets

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 31, 2006 1:42 PM PDT ∞

Tee-Jay looks like your typical rapper: the oversized football jersey, the ballcap at a rakish angle. And whether in live performance or on his new CD, he sounds like much of what is heard on the radio. At least on first listen.

"People don't even notice that I'm not cussing, because it's catchy," the Oceanside resident says of general reaction to his performances.

As much as the Christian faith that informs his music, Tee-Jay (given name: Herman Tamar Johnson) says it was the music he listened to as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh that has influenced his decision to make positive hip-hop as opposed to violence-drenched gangsta rap.

"When I grew up on hip-hop, it was the 'Golden Age,' " he said, naming bands like Public Enemy, KRS-One, Run-D.M.C. and Tone-Loc as artists who proved that hip-hop and rap can be popular without glorifying violence, without having every other word be one that would cause your mother to wash your mouth out with soap for using at home.

"When you use profanity, it's such a limited vocabulary," he said.

Tee-Jay still rues the end of what he calls the "Golden Age" of hip-hop and rap:

"When NWA came out, rap went from party music to image," he continued. "Now, it's who can out-raunch; it's just marketing. This country sells sex and violence, and people just put up with it."

Most of us, maybe. But as the father of a young son, Tee-Jay says he wanted to do something different with his new CD, "My Testimony": "I wanted to make an album that my mother and grandmother could listen to. When it's done right, hip-hop is beautiful."

Tee-Jay said that while he listened to a broad range of music growing up, he was most strongly drawn to hip-hop because "Hip-hop is the only music that brings everyone together ---- white, black, Asian, Hispanic."

With a day job as an accountant and no big record company on board to distribute "My Testimony," Tee-Jay is both grounded and realistic about the music business. While he would like to have success with his music, he lives in the here and now.

"You don't have to be an NBA star or a rap star to be successful," he said. "Get an education ---- no one can ever take that away from you ... get a good credit score, and get a financial education."

And while Tee-Jay is working on both a children's book and a movie script, the music is his creative focus for now.

"50 Cent is my motivation ---- as much negativity as his music has, I want to be positive. It's sad that people think it's cool to get shot."

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