It’s hard to forget a performer like Michael Armstead. Usually dressed in all-black and known for joking around with audience members before his show, the 23-year-old sets himself apart not only in his energetic live performances and quirky character but also in what’s behind his spiritually influenced rap music.
Armstead performs at Spanish Moon, a place he calls home, regularly. Even as a young performer, he’s already developed a strong stage production, setting the tone with flashing lights and fog machines. Everything is calculated, he says.
Armstead has been passionate about music since he was 4 years old, riding in the car with his pastor father. The two listened mostly to gospel music. At church, his mother played the piano while Armstead played the drums.
“Music found me,” he says. “It wouldn’t leave me alone. Plus, I sucked at everything but music.”
It hasn’t just been gospel music that has moved him. In 2013, during a “dark place” in his life when he was battling depression, Armstead discovered Kanye West’s just-released seventh album Yeezus. The anger West expressed on the album resonated with how Armstead felt at the time, he says, and that changed his life.
Inspired and transformed, Armstead has since created music that on the surface sounds like standard club-ready rap songs. But, he weaves Christian influence and references into the lyrics.
In his favorite song to perform, “Swrv,” Armstead sings about how he looks to his faith in God to guide him, while ignoring negative influences and doubters. Lines like, “The Devil always tryna pull a fake move, but I’m God’s body” and, “Look up in the sky, oh my God, what’s the word?/ Then he told me read Romans 12:18, and now I’m tryna live in peace till it’s rest in peace” reference that connection to his faith.
Through his music, Armstead wants to not only change the sound of Christian rap—“Christian rap really sucks,” he says emphatically—but also give listeners something to believe in.
“Music found me. It wouldn’t leave me alone. Plus, I sucked at everything but music.”
[Michael Armstead]
That’s especially true for Armstead personally since becoming a father. Having his 2-year-old son Paxton be able to enjoy music that isn’t saturated with sex, drugs or violence is important to him.
“That’s why I always tell my rap friends: Make something I can play while my son is in the car,” Armstead says.
He’s finishing up his next album, which didn’t have a release date as of press time but does have a name—The Death of Michael Armstead.
The meaning behind the title stems from his belief that in order to please God, he has to “kill” his flesh, symbolizing the transformation from his old self and sound into a more spiritual person.
He says the album reiterates his goal of creating more modern Christian rap.
Growing up, Armstead encountered many people who tried to discourage his dreams of being a music artist.
“In ninth grade, they asked us what we wanna be five years from now, and I said, ‘I want a Grammy!’ A girl turned around, looked me dead in my face and said, ‘Good luck with that,’” Armstead recalls. “That’s what really motivates me.”
Motivated by those on his list who doubted him (yes, he keeps a real list), Armstead plans to continue making music for as long as he can, whether rapping, singing or making beats.
“I’m not even in the door yet,” he says. “Why would I half-step?”
