ON THE RISE
Burt Bankkz is an artist who makes music based on emotional authenticity. And, this authenticity extends beyond the booth. As someone with a passion for community, his desire to spread positivity and encouragement reverberates throughout the music he makes and how he treats people around him too. His latest single, “Dreams,” tells of the obstacles he faced in his own life journey. He hopes by sharing his ideology to keep moving forward, someone else will be inspired by it and do the same in their own lives.
“I want people to feel motivated, I want them to realize they don’t have to lose hope because there’s always a better way to look at and overcome a situation.”
The track “Dreams” is a peaceful guitar based track with bouncy trap drums and rap-sung vocals from Burt and feature T-Rell. The passion comes through in Burt’s vocals as he talks of people doubting him but proving them wrong and making those who believed in him proud. Even amongst the motivational talk, he still gets a punchline in as he says “Now I’m on top like an apostrophe.” T-Rell continues this theme effectively.
When speaking with Burt, I immediately noticed his headstrong thought process when it came to how he carried himself. Being emotionally transparent in his music is one of his core focuses because he hopes people find what he says relatable. He also wants to connect with people outside of the booth and continue to spread motivation and positivity there too. He told me about how he and his team regularly host toy drives in the community around Christmas time. Even outside of these moments, Burt continues to verbally spread his positivity.
“I try to give positive feedback and input to whoever needs to hear it. Anything positive, I’m all for it.”
Heading down the path of positivity is even more important to Burt because of his past. After a series of unfortunate circumstances which included juvenile detention and incarceration, he now prides himself on making the right decisions not only for himself but for others too. With multiple people telling him how his music inspired them, he says this is what keeps him going to make more of it. He plans to drop an EP in the very near future as he continues to build his fanbase through interactions like this that are based on people relating to his authenticity.
“When I hear things like that, it shows me that people are watching and paying attention. And that helps me keep my drive going.”
Burt has plans to do more shows both locally and across state lines. He wants to connect with more people and continue to spread his motivational and uplifting music to as many people as he can. By maintaining his emotional authenticity, he knows his message will resonate with those who want and need to hear it.
“I’m not looking for recognition. The art and the craft will speak for itself. All I’m pushing is authenticity.”
You can keep up with Burt Bankkz on the following platforms.
ON THE RISE
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Lettie Law is a vessel for God’s message and she spreads it through her music. She gives Him all the credit for the songs she releases, which she says come to her from Him directly. Her latest single, “Forward Ever Backward Never Jesus” is one that celebrates the ever lasting power she believes He has.
When I spoke to Lettie, I could feel how strong and at peace she was just from our conversation. She shared a variety of stories of her life with me and God was the constant throughout all of them. She has a writing process for her songs but as earlier mentioned, she always credits Him with giving them to her.
“I write songs as they come to me from the Divine. Something is whispering to me to tell me what to write, how to sing it and what instruments go with it. Sometimes I’ll get partial parts of a song gradually but for this song, everything came together at the same time. It all comes from Heaven and I give out what I receive from the Almighty.” she said.
Sharing God’s message is a part of every song Lettie releases but this one was specifically crafted to encourage people who are dealing with everything happening in the world today. Lettie sees all the turmoil people are going through in the world and wants people to know that they will make it through any situation they find themselves in.
“No matter what is going on in life at this current time, you can look to God. If yesterday was not good for you, you don’t need to look back. Look to God and there is no way He will not deliver you. Keep moving forward and doing your best and look to God.” she said.
Lettie believes that music and singing can bring people joy, hope, courage and also healing. The latter can come in the emotional sense but also the physical sense too. During our conversation, she shared a story about how one of her other songs, titled “Yaweh” had a large impact on someone’s life.
“My favorite thing about music is how it can be healing. Not all diseases are physical. A woman called me had shared how she had been dealing with insomnia for eight years and had taken all kinds of medication for it. But once she started listening to my song, she would sleep like a baby.” she said.
Lettie Law knows about the power of God and music from firsthand experience. She shared that while she enjoyed singing in front of the congregation at church as a child, this changed as she began to get older. She became more shy and reserved not just in church but in life and in general.
Her shyness and reluctance to sing became the catapult that would push her to sing as God wanted her to after she went through a life altering situation.
“I ended up getting sick and my son suggested I record one of the songs I had written in the books I had from years ago. But once I started recording more, the sickness left my body. But recording and singing in public are very different. So it became a tug of war between me and the Lord because He wanted me to sing publicly but I didn’t want to.” she said.
“A different situation happened and I ended up in a coma and I could hear various voices around me as I faded in and out. I thought I was dying but I woke up on this side and realized I was still alive. The Lord asked me ‘Are you ready to do My work now?’ And I said ‘Of course! I’ll sing in front of the congregation. I will tell my story to the world. Wherever you send me, I am going.’ And when I woke up, all my family members who I had heard while I was fading in and out apologized because I heard them planning for my funeral and things like that. So the Lord spared my life and I’m not shy anymore. The Lord gave me strength and I chose life.” she said.
As Lettie said, she truly did go wherever God sent her. She’s since sung at Boston College, in Connecticut, at churches and even a club.
“University students love Christ. They were singing and dancing and they wanted me to come back. In the club, people were drinking and smoking and couples were dancing and it was nice because everybody belongs to the Almighty. God sees a sinner and knows one day they will become one of His children.” she said.
Lettie Law is West African with her father being from Nigeria and her mother being from Cameroon. The range of the diaspora is felt throughout “Forward Ever Backward Never Jesus” whose production is far from traditional Gospel instrumentation and blends a variety of musical styles. The positive and uplifting atmosphere is felt through both the instruments and the lyrics.
For many Gospel artists, their foundation was laid by someone older than them that raised them in church and likely also had them singing in church as child. For Lettie, this person was her father.
“He played a very big role in introducing me to Gospel and the Almighty. He introduced me to reading the Bible and he and my Mom introduced me to reading hymns.” she said.
Lettie Law has a 10 track album coming soon which will include songs like “Prayer is a Masterkey” and “God is Our All in All.” Her journey with Gospel has encapsulated her whole life and her ongoing faith continues to motivate her to keep making more music.
“I am just a vessel for His word and His message.” she said.
“Forward Ever Backward Never Jesus” is available on streaming services now.
You can experience more of God’s messages through Lettie Law by following her on these platforms.
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