20-year hip-hop veteran KJ-52 just released his 11th studio album Jonah Pt. 2 as well as a documentary about his long career.
Jonah Pt. 2 was birthed out of bonus songs that grew into a full-blown project. It features appearances by Datin, Zauntee, Canon & more. Get it here
“Our world is broken. It’s gone nuts,” he said. “But there’s still hope for us all. We can know who God is, help each other out as friends, and seek His purpose for the next steps in life.”
KJ-52 (Jonah Sorrentino), broke through at a time when rap and religion rarely mixed. His early success helped steadily lead the genre into the mainstream Christian market, making the scene via guest spots on pop records (Newsboys, TobyMac, and Jeremy Camp) and amassing six Dove Awards and 750k career units sold.
After thriving through the transition between a newcomer at the tip of the 2000’s to one of today’s most respected and ambitious rap/hip-hop heroes, KJ-52 continues pushing the musical and lyrical envelope.
In addition to his latest independent album, KJ-52 has collaborated with Atlanta filmmaker Denver Bailey (TruTV’s The Carbonaro Effect, HGTV’s Flipping Virgins, and Netflix’s Rotten) to produce a documentary about the rapper’s life.
“It all started with a plate of tacos following a performance in Atlanta, Georgia,” said KJ. There he and Denver fleshed out what a movie about his life would look like. “We began shooting almost instantly. Jonah called me to let me know his Dad was in town, and this was the prime opportunity to catch an interview with him. I drove down to Tampa, and it all kind of snowballed after that,” Denver said.
After shooting a majority of the documentary, they launched a Kickstarter campaign – for 52 days. The campaign exceeded the $10,000 goal by 20%, and post-production began. The duo set out to make a rap documentary, but they admit there’s not a lot of rap in the movie. Somewhere along the way, the documentary became more about the human experience, and the documentary serves as more of an à la carte to KJ-52’s music than a behind the scenes.
“The Jonah Movie” (Runtime: 52 minutes) released alongside Jonah Pt. 2 on February 15th.
It’s the story of an unlikely candidate that followed the path God laid out for him. “The Jonah Movie,” will be available on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital outlets starting with Vimeo on February 16th.
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