get yourself into a next opportunity,” says Vas.
When asked what other countries he would like to travel to, Vas responded, “I've wanted to see Japan ever since I started learning the language. You learn about the culture as you go along and realize it’s a place definitely worth seeing. I've also wanted to see America as it is a place I eventually see myself residing, with the work I want to achieve in the future; so many different states. It’s a tough one to decide and pin point exactly, but if it’s sunny then I'm down for it.
Vas says that his main destination that he would like to see is Ghana. He also wants to see as much of Africa as he can; but Ghana just to see where the ancestral line begins; to see the history not spoken about, not taught, the culture not seen or broadcasted. “It would be a dream come true for me.”
Aml Ameen, a UK born actor, has been an inspiration for Vas, as he has followed his journey from the start. “Starring in the UK hit Kidulthood in 2006 and then recently in the film The Maze runner, his drive and determination and willingness to go that bit further keeps the positivity flowing through me as I embark on my own acting journey.”
Actor Juel Vas Intervew (continued)
a TV in our house, so my mother would let us all do something we wanted to do. My brother would pretend to be Prince, my sister would just get up and stand there and I did this rap from the movie “Beach Street” and when I did that rap, that’s when it started. I knew that it was something I wanted to do and my mother told me I had a voice and to keep at it,” he cited.
When Tha Corinth and his family moved to Minnesota that’s when he found more avenues into doing music; to learn how to write it and to do what he needed to do to set myself apart from other people. His dad is a retired musician and his grandmother (his dad’s mother), is a popular gospel singer. He also had uncles who were break dancers and could have made it big, but didn’t keep pursuing it. “I’m very humble and I’m a minister now. I got saved when I was thirty. I gave my life to Christ, at the time, to appease a woman I was with, but not knowing when I gave my life to Christ a seed was going to be watered and it turned me into the man I am today,” explained Tha Corinth.
The musical genius has a brand new company that is taking off in ways he would have never imagined. “God has definitely put so many doors in front of me, I don’t know where to begin. I put out a few CD’s when I did secular music. I almost had a deal with Jermaine Dupree and that deal went downhill. I taught myself the industry in’s and out’s, so that I would know how to treat my own business. I didn’t want to learn how to be rich. I think a lot of people look at the business to be rich, but that’s not the best way to go about it. I wanted to learn about this business to help teach other people to be able to do things that no other CEO in this business can do, to put myself on a platform to do what God would expect me to do for other people. I taught myself the business. I bought book after book, I worked the numbers, I worked the marketing, I worked the promotion, and I watched a whole lot of documentaries.
I guess I’m a man after God’s own heart. “God’s word has been so true and so tangible in my life. I’ve heard people say you have to hit rock bottom to find your way up and sometimes we do hit rock bottom. When I hit rock bottom it wasn’t until I put out my first gospel CD, that I gave my life to Christ. I was in a hurtful season at that time. My heart was so broken and when I’m hurting you can expect from Tha Corinth that you’re going to hear about it on a record; my truth. My mother said to me, set yourself apart from these artists. Always write what your feel, even if it hurts, because if it hurts, it’s going to help somebody. I stuck to that script and it works.
Tha Corinth put out “The Storm Is Over” in 2010 and sold over 2,500 copies. A friend of his from Alabama bought a copy. He is also a pastor. He called and said, “Young man I’m going to tell you this and listen to me carefully, and you need to get ready to ride.” So I said Lord if You want me to go where You want me to go, You will have to make this CD do its thing. When the CD first came out, I thought, I’m about to blow up, not knowing that the devil had his plan to. I was being very naïve to not using the word. This is a true story. It’s how I got to where I am today. The devil sent a jezebel my way. Now you would think being a minister, you would know a lot. I didn’t know a lot. There was a jezebel living in my home. A spirit manifested itself in my home and I lost everything. My business went down, I lost my home. I lost my car. I lost everything in one year. It wasn’t until I started to see that God got my attention. When I got a good example of where Jesus was taking me, I was living outside, I was homeless. I was crying out. I was mad at God and I told Him, Lord you get me back to the gospel and lead me where you want me to go, I’m not going to compromise it for nobody and ever since then when I made that vow to God and when I repented to God, I am now in a position in which I have a calendar from here to the end of October. People reach out to me when they see the good works that I’m doing. I have at least four or five interviews a month. The re-release of “The Storm Is Over” is coming out on April 28th. I have a tour that I am financing on my own.
When I came back to the gospel, I didn’t want to come back with the same identity. I wanted to come back with something where I knew I could help people because I knew what I could do. I read Fredrick Douglas’ book. I want to give people the help they need, but not a free ride, because no one gave it to me. I want to help artist with the tools and connections that I have, so they’ll be able to set a platform for themselves. I see that the type of music that I’m doing helps people.
I have a strong woman in my life who definitely supports me. She came to me and asked, “Do you know what led me to you? And I asked, “What led you to me?” she said the way you spoke to me. I asked, “What is your attraction?” She answered, “The way you spoke to me.” I said, “But I only spoke to you because that’s my heart, the Spirit was in me.” She said, “That’s it. I know what I’m attract to, but you are different. I was blown away by that.
FUZIONZ MAGAZINE AND TV: Who has been the inspiration in your life?
THA CORINTH: Three people have been an inspiration in Tha Corinth’s life. The first person is my mother because to see a person with four kids, on welfare, to even drive a car, with no windows in it, in zero below weather to go to school to get off welfare. To see her work hard for us gave me the gall to work. Seeing the abuse she went through, inspired me not to hurt a woman. I told her that I would never hurt a woman like that. I made a faithful commitment to God not to do it. The second person, that I hope one day will hear something that I say and that we are placed in a position where we can talk or do something, is Deitrick Haddon. The reason why is because I have labeled myself as the Deitrick Haddon of rap music. (A true story) Deitrick Haddon was working on an album and at the beginning of the album he did an introduction The storm is over, the storm is over, the season is being broken and I used to play that song over and over and when I played it over I got the name of my album and at the same time I was going through things. I was sleeping in my bed one night and I heard his song in my mind, The Finished Prayer and I was like “Oh My God” and I wrote down the last three words of that song and I went all day looking for his music. I needed some type of ingredient to make my album. I made the album, I wrote the album, but Deitrick (indirectly) showed me how to give God’s music in the form of rap music. Deitrick Haddon inspired me to write the music the way that I do, but with love and to keep that love in rap music. One of my favorites that I have out is “Can You Love Me like Jesus.” My third inspiration would be Jesus, because He shows me how to be a man. He shows me, as a good man, you can’t hurt a woman. The word changes us from the inside out. To know that Jesus walked this earth and died on the cross for me… Who am I? It helped me to understand my purpose in this life. It helped me to understand that everything that is given to me has helped me to bless someone, touch someone’s life or show love to someone. So I named myself Tha Corinth and I’m bringing that love to rap music. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I make declarations to grow closer to God in some way.
FUZIONZ MAGAZINE AND TV: Give me your favorite scripture and why it’s your favorite scripture.
THA CORINTH: My favorite scripture is 1 Corinthians 13: 4-11. As you can tell my name is Corinth. Here is why. To know how to love someone, you have to be taught. We, as men, always try to love women our way and the bible gives clear instructions on how to do that, but we don’t follow it. We don’t want to follow it until we lose the woman and when we lose the woman, we still don’t learn from the mistakes. I Corinthians 13 is my favorite verse because of the love there. I never knew what it was like to be loved by somebody. I’ve always chased love and I’ve always given love to women the right way, but it was the wrong person. When you allow love to work for you, you will win. 1 Corinthians 13 is what I use a lot. I preach about it on stage and you can hear it in my album. That’s what I stand for, love to be loved. You can find Tha Corinth on Facebook and on Instagram.