The Start

In the corner of a crabby dorm room, there's calculus and art books stacked on a makeshift desk with the paint fading from years of usage. Underneath the fray of study guides and tablets, are two yellow legal pads full of rhymes. Within his first semester of college, Channel had already written enough material to record two full albums.

Hip hop culture had always been a staple in his household. Turn on Tupac's All Eyez On Me album and he can describe the scenery of hearing California Love blasting through a beat up stereo in the living room of the rickety shack he grew up in.  The house was situated in a rough neighborhood called the Low End. On the corner, amongst the dope dealers and hustlers, he'd hone his rap skills. He's  also candid about his passion for basketball. It's how he met his wife Crystal in high school and bonded over the sport when he was only a freshman. Love and Basketball.

The storyline almost feels like a movie. But it's more Allen Iverson-esque than Kobe Bryant. The plot is all too familiar. His dad wasn't around to teach him how to become a man. The uncommon thread was that he embraced the faith of his grandmother. So what happens in the late 90's to kids trying to embrace God yet remain authentic to a culture mired in violence, womanizing, and the love of money?

 

KINGDOM MINDED RECORDS

It started with a simple idea to fill a void that was missing in our area.

Amongst the fray of papers and tablets on his desk, was a stack of red flyers. Every week, he'd run into Ron Johnson near the university center and every week, he'd hand him the same flyer. It was an invite to a bible study held each week by Men of God Christian Fraternity, Inc. It was there, he would meet, Gabriel Moore and Edwin Tatum and they'd forge a bond over their love of music and the arts.

Edwin had this grand idea to started a record label. Within the week, the three of them sat down and Kingdom Minded Records was formed. Cross Movement was the only label we knew that was visibly breaking ground in the genre at that time. They had a dope east coast vibe but nothing that fit the southern mold, so they set out to fill that space.

Taking his extra student loan and scholarship refunds, Channel bought a computer, some studio equipment, and they started recording music. Four albums and three mixtapes later they had performed before thousands of people, created a small reach that expanded outside of Texas, and formed an incredible discipleship group geared toward helping local artists and encouraging believers to have a deep love for the Gospel; hence, the Red Ink Movement began.

In 2008, the Red Ink Army was formed to connect the people to the music. They started building with local artists and helping form avenues to disciple people in their local communities. The Crown of Thorns album became a staple as they sought out to expand the movement.

THE HIATUS

The team decided to transition from Nacogdoches to Dallas Texas in hopes of growing the movement. Once they touched down, they faced adversity at every turn. The burgeoning movement they had toiled many years to build was now dying.  

It was the tough season of life. In the fall of 2013, Channel would release his most intimate piece of work to date, Red October. The entire mixtape wreaked of honesty and truth that none of the previous projects had reached. Every day for 8 years, music was an intricate part of his life and now it was gone. Struggling to find his identity in God, he spent 3 years in a dark place, trying to reconcile what was next for him in life. That's when Art of Homage was born.

In May of 2015, after receiving emails and encouragement from fans wondering what happened, God provided a new vision to share his experiences and help other visionaries and dreamers in their pursuit of greatness. There's music for the fans, designs for the lifestyle, and encouraging content for entrepreneurs and those who are struggling to stay encouraged throughout the day.

So here's a few cool bullet points about Channel for those new to his art.

• I'm a husband and father of two boys.
• I design music and product for a living, but it's not who I am.
• I'm just a dude from a small town in Texas that loves God.
• You can find all my latest designs on Instagram; but here's my twitter, facebook, and snapchat (@artofhomage) as well.
• You can contact me here.