Christian hip-hop artists Derek Minor and Canon opened up about their new album “Vigilante” while on the red carpet at the 56th Annual Doves Awards.
Minor shared that the project took six years to complete and described it as an “audio movie” borne out of a season of darkness and spiritual healing. He shared how ministry burnout inspired the project, and he reminded Christians about the importance of restoration and reflection.
When ChurchLeaders asked what message they had for the church in today’s divided and high-pressure world, Minor said, “You cannot save the world if you hate the world.” He urged believers to lead with empathy and patience, remembering how long God continues to work on each of us.
RELATED: ‘I Want To Reach the World’—Lecrae Discusses ‘Reconstruction’ and Misconceptions
“I went through a real big season of darkness where I felt—and I think that a lot of Christian leaders will be able to understand this—you feel as though you have to save the world,” Minor said. “Especially, I know a lot of homies that are pastors. They constantly feel like they’re putting out fires, and then you constantly feel like no one is putting back into you. That’s why you see a lot of burnout or crashes with Christian leaders.”
“This album took us six years, because I thought I was going to be able to just put this out, but I had to actually heal through the process,” Minor explained. “This album—I like to call it an audio movie. This audio movie healed me.”
Canon agreed, sharing, “The album changed us as we continued to work on it. For me, man, I got a chance to grow out of certain things, grow into new seasons. It just made me realize, man, the process really matters.”
“I couldn’t have written this, couldn’t have released this album four or five years ago,” Canon continued. “Couldn’t have done that because what I said on the project, I had to develop to say some of that stuff.”
With that, Minor reminded Christians that God is still “working” on them. “Wherever you’re at in your faith journey, there’s a lot of Christians right now that I would say are seasoned but they’re burnt out,” he said. “And what happens when you’re burnt out is you get forgetful.”
RELATED: Barna Research: Stress, Loneliness, and Politics Named as Top Reasons for Pastor Burnout
“The thing I want to tell you is—the people you see online who are struggling, who may even think differently from you, look differently from you, believe differently from you—I need you to remember how long God worked on you,” he added.
