Today we’d like to introduce you to Fredrick Shaw.
Fredrick, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve had a passion for music since a young age. I began rapping in my early youth and expanded into producing music soon after. I began doing Christian music after recommitting my life over to Christ in 2002 and was licensed as a minister in 2004 by Plymouth M.B. Church in Hattiesburg, MS. I attended and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Entertainment: Management. Since college, I have worked in Artist Management, Independent Label Consultation, and even Audio Recording, Engineering, and Production.
In 2017, I founded the Faith-Centered Music Artist Society, a non-profit organization that gives support, resources, and aid to aspiring Christian artists. Within one year’s time, FCMAS has grown to over 150+ members, spanning over 14 countries. We are also active here in Houston, on the local level, giving one-on-one support to artists, and co-running a monthly Houston-Christian Rapper forum, called the Rappers of the Round Table.
Has it been a smooth road?
Rejection is definitely a common component of my story. Being a young aspiring Christian rapper in Mississippi definitely had its challenges, being the church scene in MS is very traditional in its musical taste. After college, the income that was being generated from my production and engineering services started to dry up, and I started to grow a distaste for music altogether. What bothered the most was, in my mind, I did it “the right way.” I didn’t just go drop out of school to pursue a career in music; I went and obtained a college degree in it. To end up back at “square one” was disheartening. I set my focus, thereafter, on finding another enjoyable source of financial stability, outside of music. But, as I became more financially stable, my passion drew me even more back towards music. When I stopped wrestling against returning and went with it, it felt like a rebirth. I was now in a position where I could do what I have always loved to do, and not have to worry about ever making a dime from it. It was freeing! Within that feeling came the desire to help those artists who aren’t in the position to walk in their musical ambitions; and, in that, came the birth of the Faith-Centered Music Artist Society.
Please tell us about Faith-Centered Music Artist Society.
The Faith-Centered Music Artist Society is a membership organization solely dedicated to the unprecedented aid and assistance of aspiring Christian Music Artists. Our goal is to enrich, assist, and sow selflessly into the growth and development of Christian artists, in a manner that completely breaks all previous and current standards and norms. We purposely push against all status quo standards of for-profit service, aggressively advocate for perpetuation of Christian Music, and deliberately strive to become a trendsetter in the magnitude of giving within the Christian Music Community.
As previously mentioned, within one year’s time, FCMAS has grown to over 150+ members, spanning over 14 countries.
What I’m proud of the most, and what I hope to create an industry model of, is how selfless our organization is. We don’t see artists as dollar signs, but gifts in need in of support. We want that to become infectious. We are tired of seeing artists being financially preyed upon to a point where good messages, wrapped in great gifting, lack the financial resources to be properly presented to the world. We want to be cross-bearers for them because they deserved the chance to be heard.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see the independent music industry, as a whole, moving away from needing the traditional platforms of radio for exposure. With the rise in social media tech, the opportunities to share your music to an entire world is now at any artists’ fingertips. The importance of the “big media” gatekeeper (radio program director, major magazine editor, etc.) will continue diminish, as opportunities of “direct-to-consumer” marketing becomes easier and more accessible to independent artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fcmas.org
- Email: contact@fcmasproject.com
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