Interview: Rawsrvnt, Omarosa & Donald J. Trump

Published on June 16, 2010

We sometimes pray and ask God for opportunities to be a light in the midst of a dark world, yet when opportunity knocks sometimes we refuse the package because it wasn’t wrapped or delivered the way we expected. Not so for Eddy Puyol, a Christian rapper who goes by the name of Rawsrvnt (pronounced raw servant). He will be one of the bachelor’s competing for the love of Omarosa on TV One’s new reality show Donald J. Trump presents The Ultimate Merger. Before the show premiers on June 17th, Rawsrvnt took time out to speak with HolyCulture.net regarding his motives, his music, and how he’s prayed and prepared for such a time as this.

Rawsrvnt: You know Shine, God is into the very things that we are into. God desires to give us the desires of our hearts [Psalm 37:4]; that’s why He says “If you delight in Me, I’ll give them to you. I’m longing to satisfy you in a way that only I can. Come vibe with Me. Come hang out with Me. I got you. I truly am your Daddy.” You know Shine, we were kicking it last night about how I really wanted to go to the beach today. It’s been gloomy the past few days over here in West Palm Beach, FL so I just threw one up and said ‘God this is my request…tomorrow I would really love to go to the beach. Can you hook me up with a beautiful day so I can spend some time with You?’ And today, (pauses) He couldn’t have painted a better day!

Shine: (Laughs).

Rawsrvnt: It was like in His genius-ness, the Great Picasso He is, He painted very few clouds in the sky, the water was just rippling so lovely, not too heavy not to light, the right temperature and everything.

Shine: The Ultimate HD!

Rawsrvnt: Yeah man! It was perfect. One thing I love about the Lord is that He conveys in His word (the Bible) “My sheep know My voice.” One day I was kicking it out there on the beach gazing out at the water and I was like ‘Man God, it’s so cool how it just goes on and on and on. It seems like it never ends,’ and He said “Son that’s just like my love, it never stops. It never ends.”

Shine: Right.

Rawsrvnt: You know that’s what’s on my heart to share with people, God’s not no ordinary love. That’s the big reason we [Soul Deep Records] titled my new album No Ordinary Love. Strategically we dug into the ocean of entertainment and snagged up quite a big fish with the whole Sade [No Ordinary Love] joint. I snagged that so people could go “Oh yeah, I remember that!” Then I flipped it on them and said since God is the ultimate love, what would it [No Ordinary Love] look like if we put it in that perspective? And it’s been a real blessing yo, because people have been like “Wow man, I never saw it that way.”

Rawsrvnt: Too often people think that God is out to get them and that God is punishing them. That’s so far from the truth its crazy. God’s wrath was satisfied 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We’re in right standing with the Father because of Christ. The things that happen to us that are negative are because we’re doing it to ourselves. The bible clearly talks about sowing and reaping. If we sow foolishness, we reap foolishness. If we sow destruction, we reap destruction. If we sow peace, we reap peace, and so on and so forth. So when you look at it from that perspective your whole world changes.

Shine: Right. I feel you. So a little bit about your new album [No Ordinary Love] that was released on 3/16/10. Any reason for the specific release date?

Rawsrvnt: O yeah! You see in the gospel there is such a profound statement made in John 3:16. God shares with us how much He loves us and values our relationship with Him that He was willing to sacrifice His best for us so we could live with Him forever. This truly is no ordinary love. Since music is released here in the states on Tuesdays, we felt like it was a God thing that we got to tie in the verse with the release date and fully encompass the mission of sharing God’s not so ordinary love.

Shine: (Laughs). Yeah that was nice. How has the response been?

Rawsrvnt: It’s been great man. I mean people have been falling in love with the new things that I’ve introduced in worship and have been falling in love with Jesus in a new and refreshing way. I get people who come up to me or message me on Facebook or Twitter and say “I never knew I could enjoy love music for the Lord like this.” “I never knew I could enjoy party music for the Lord like this.” So it’s been cool man. Plus, my producer Chuck Hemann and I really flexed our muscles even harder on this project and have all sorts of vibes on it. From the remake of Sade’s award winning “No Ordinary Love,” with the Gospel Diva herself Lisa McClendon, to the Rap/Rock anthem “On Fire,” to my reggae track “The Almighty,” to even the smoothed out R&B song “Speak,” with my boy Bobby Tinsley, we keep listeners enjoying an album that appeals to a lot of taste buds.

Shine: How big of a hindrance do you think it is regarding worship, if cats don’t fully understand their relationship with God or the love of God? Do you think it hinders worship if they don’t understand the heart of God?

Rawsrvnt: Good question. (Pauses). Ok lets say you know somebody who’s important and of great stature, like the president of a company. You don’t really know him, but you see him and everybody treats him a certain way. Well if you knew the boss and knew that he thought the world of you, whenever you saw him your response toward him would be very authentic. It wouldn’t be fake. So, when you realize God thinks the world of you, your response to Him is very different. That’s how I believe worship happens. It comes from a direct relationship with Him.

Shine: Awesome. Well let’s talk about this opportunity that you’ve had.

Rawsrvnt: (Laughs).

Shine: For the readers who may not know, what exactly is “The Ultimate Merger?”

Rawsrvnt: Well it’s about Omarosa’s quest to find a mate. I’m competing with eleven other bachelors for her love. The bachelors range from foreign currency trader to lawyer to fashion designer to special events company owner to former NFL linebacker-turned-fitness coach to New Jack Swing recording star, songwriter and record producer Al B. Sure, to yours truly “the Christian rap artist.” It was filmed at the world-renowned Trump International Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas and was a lot of fun.

Shine: How has the response been for being a part of the show? Has it been love or criticism?

Rawsrvnt: Well of course from the people that know me and know my heart, they were totally cheering for me. As a matter of fact, when Phillip Rood of Rapzilla.com called me and told me that Trump’s production team hit him up regarding getting a Christian rapper for his [Trump] new show, he said “Hey man are you single?” (Laughs). And I thought ‘That’s random. Are you going to be another one trying to hook me up with somebody?’ (Laughs). But he was like “Nah man for real.”

Rawsrvnt: And sure nuff it was official. Since I know that the world gets what the world wants, I felt honored that God heard a request of mine that I’ve had for years and decided to put this in front of me. So I was like ‘Yeah, this would be a great opportunity to share Jesus with the world and of course with my potential mate. I’d love to show women all over the globe how they’re supposed to be treated and show men how to approach women from a godly standpoint.’ I didn’t hunt down the opportunity, the opportunity hunted down me. I was just in a position to receive it. The bible talks about “Many are called but few are chosen.” I believe that’s because few set their hearts and minds out to do the work and prepare themselves for when it’s time to make a move.

Shine: Right.

Rawsrvnt: Now on the flipside, those who don’t know me or what I’m about, when they hear a Christian rapper is getting involved on a TV show like this, they freak out! They get all sorts of religious on me saying things like, “We’re not supposed to be of the world.” “We are supposed to be in the world but not of it,” etc. And I understand what they are striving to say but I feel like they don’t understand we can’t alienate ourselves from the very people we’re striving to reach. If that were so, Jesus wouldn’t have been able to reach us because of how filthy and worldly we are. So I propose this thought, there’s a verse in the Bible that says, “Send me I’ll go.” That’s something that I’ve prayed for. I’m ready for that atmosphere because I’ve prepared myself and have asked for it. I’ll end it with this…if I’m not going to be foul and foolish when I’m off the stage and off the mic, why would I go and do that in front of a cameras or around people?

Shine: (Laughs).

Rawsrvnt: I’m still going to keep it honest. I’m still going to keep it funky. I’m still going to keep it raw. I’m going to be me. Why am I doing this reality TV show? To show the world what a Christian man looks like, and what a man who’s in love with Jesus looks like, and also give women hope that they can have a godly man that will treat them right.

Shine: Another question is that we know Donald Trump is watching his own television show. So how does it feel to have had an opportunity to express your faith before someone like him?

Rawsrvnt: Amazing, to be honest with you. The Bible talks about in Proverbs 18:16 that “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.” In the eyes of the world, Donald Trump is considered a “great man.” I mean look at what he’s done from the entrepreneur standpoint. He has succeeded and made an incredible name for himself. I felt honored that God chose me to partner up with Mr. Trump to show the world what a man who’s in love with Jesus looks like. I’m also blown away at the fact that he [Mr. Trump] understands that hip-hop is the language of today and sought after endorsing a Christian rapper for his new TV show. I believe he figured that since hip-hop is the language of today there had to be some positive, uplifting hip-hop he could promote. The fact that he sought after a Christian rapper as opposed to a regular rapper was just first class to me.

Shine: What do you hope to see come from all that’s happened?

Rawsrvnt: (Laughs). That the world would see that people who are in love with Jesus aren’t crabs and aren’t stuck in a bubble. I hope the world realizes that they’re [Christians] cool, they’re hip, and that they’re not fools either. I pray that they just see Jesus and that they know that God loves them and always wants the best for them. I pray that women would begin to have hope that they can have a relationship with a man that would consist of more than just a sexual relationship before marriage. And of course that TV One and Donald Trump would say “You know what we need to do? We need to have a Christian reality show.” (Laughs).

Shine: (Laughs). Right!

Shine: How can people get your music?

Rawsrvnt: Because everything is so internet driven, we at Soul Deep Records have all my albums available on iTunes as well as any major digital outlet.

Shine: Well Raw, I want to thank you for taking time out to speak with HolyCulture.net. I’m looking forward to catching you on “The Ultimate Merger” and as always homie, continued success. God bless.

Follow Rawsrvnt: facebook.com/rawsrvnt | twitter.com/rawsrvnt

Written by Shine: shineis@ymail.com
Follow Shine: twitter.com/shines140

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