Flame

Born Marcus Gray, FLAME is a living testament to Jesus’ pursuit of his heart.  Exposed to a maze of drugs and partying as a teenager, at home his father battled addiction while his mother suffered from schizophrenia and depression.  Despite their own struggles, they wanted a better life for their son and desired for him to know Christ.  “As a young person, while trying to make a decision as to who I am going to be, where I am going to settle in, what I am going to dress like, what words I am going to say, what things I will care about—I was just torn,” he shares, “so I tried to fit into both worlds.”

Mired in a life of drug abuse, a series of incidents during high school led to his expulsion. But little did he know God would use this as a turning point in his life.  On his way to orientation at a new school, FLAME was involved in a horrific accident as the car he was riding in was struck by an 18-wheeler three times, shattering the entire left side of his body.  “As the collision happened, I just remember being terrified, not even thinking about the pain, because there was pain,” he says, “but I was just thinking, ‘Man, I’m about to die. I’m 16-years-old, and I know I haven’t lived the things I believe as it relates to Christianity.’”

The experience shook the young teen to his core, and he sought wisdom from his grandmother, the strongest Christian in his family.  They talked about repentance and redemption.  A week later, his 55-year- old grandmother died unexpectedly of a heart attack. These two life-changing events broke the ice clutching FLAME’s heart.  “I was invited to church, and I resisted for a while,” he continues.  “Then eventually I went, heard the Gospel, heard about Jesus’ love, dying for my sin, and I wept like a baby and gave my life to the Lord. I was 16-years-old.”  It was then that he began seeking out Christian rap music and listening for God’s direction in his life.

In all his efforts, whether onstage, in school or operating a record label, FLAME is bridging the gap between the sacred and the secular.  While his music is unashamedly Christian, he hopes it might also affect seekers as well.  “I just want to encourage the Christian and the non-Christian who may be interested in peeking over the fence of Christianity that in this faith—in this worldview—you can have true freedom.