Preach

The repeated message hip-hop culture presents to this generation is."Get money. Get women. Get fame. If you ain't got it like so and so, you ain't doing nothing." Its no wonder why youth in America are struggling for purpose, for some type of an identity. They get the same regurgitated message from the media of who they need to be. Joshua Crum's heart broke for this dying generation and started putting in work to introduce these hurting people to the one who has a real hope for their future. Jesus.
J. Crum was born in Detroit, MI and raised in Omaha, NE. As a kid, he really just wanted to know who he was. What he was created to be. His father left him when he was young so he was looking for a place to belong. "As a young kid up to my teens I really didn't know where I belonged. I tried to fit in with whatever was popular. I had literally no idea who I was." says Crum.
When he was 13, a few of his friends started free-styling at the lunch table. "They would begin to beat on the table and people would jump in and start rhyming. Wanting to fit in, I jumped in. That's when I found out I had a gift." He started to attach himself to the hip-hop culture. It motivated everything that he did. From the clothes he wore, to his thought-process. 'Get more. I don't have enough'. By his freshman year in high school after achieving popularity he still felt empty, like there was something more out there. He tried to find fulfillment in the world, but came up short every time.
At the age of 15, J. Crum developed an infection on his brain. It put him in a 3 day coma. After awakening out the coma, Crum had a powerful encounter with God. He realized that he was on this Earth for a reason. He was on this earth to serve the One that made him, to serve the One that saved him. Jesus Christ. He then realized that achieving his own fame was no longer important. Making the one who sent him famous, however, became vital in his life.
Crum met Mark McGaffin, Pastor of G2:20 and founder of the worship band WatersEdge, in 2007. Mark had a vision of reaching teens of all colors, backgrounds, and creeds for the the LORD. "His all or nothing mentality is revealed in his music and his lifestyle. J. Crum is more than just an artist, but a way of life as he strives to tell others about Christ." says Mark. Crum and WatersEdge joined forces in the summer of 2008. Combining hip-hop, rock, and indie styles to reach the young generation on all cylinders. He released, The Portrait, with WatersEdge in February of 2010.
J. Crum's singles, Skitzo, How I'm Living, and Refuge from his new solo record "Kingdom Minded" (released 2010) have gained him a quite the following, sky rocketing him to the number 1 Christian artist in the state of Nebraska on Reverbnation. With WatersEdge right behind him at number 2.
J. Crum is still in Omaha serving in the local body, along with pursuing steadfastly after music ministry. Through his music, he hopes to help these lost revolutionaries find their identity in the One who made them.