Today we’d like to introduce you to Jakari Jefferies
Hi Jakari, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Well, where to start is questionable. However, I’ll start by introducing to you who I am. I’m a singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and CEO of “Chace Entertainment LLC” (Record Label/ Production Company), which started in 2018. I have been singing all my life. Music was a place for me to experience liberation from this world. I grew up in church! I was enveloped by musicians. My father Aaron Holloway and grandmother Hilda Hollaway were both musicians and seeing them cultivate sounds that moved people heavily impacted me and inspired me to create my own sound and a name for myself. After high school, I moved to Atlanta for hair school. This move helped me to find who I am as an artist and a person. I was 18 years old in a new city with a new scenery. Everything about me changed. I was privileged to be led to Anthony Burrell Center For Dance! Where I had the honor to be groomed artistically by Beyoncé’s choreographers (Chris Grant, Frank Gatson, Anthony Burrell, etc.)! I met so many talented people there! I was awe-inspired by the drive and precision every dancer and performer put into their craft!
I never felt a part of them though (not in a bad way). But, I felt as if I myself was unreachable (or for better words set apart) by another force. By my own will, I wanted to be a part! However, God had other plans for me that I didn’t have knowledge about at the time. I met Ebony Tye there. Ebony Tye is a celebrity choreographer who worked at Anthony’s studio. She chose to work with me under her Artist Development company! It was surreal that she only had a few artists. To name a few: Jennifer Hudson, Chloe x Halle, and ME! ME? Who am I? I felt as if my wildest dreams were unfolding. As It says in Romans 8:28 “All things God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.”. Little did I know that the road would be a little bumpy for me down the line. Regarding my dreams, they were at a pause. I had started gaining a little momentum in social reach. Building a platform in 2019 on BIGO with some well-known people. However, I was fresh out of high school and so many sexual opportunities were being presented to me and I wanted it. I came out of the closet as a gay feminine male in 2020 and started to fall away from my goals to chase after men who only wanted me for pleasure.
In 2021 I started back pursuing my music and taking my career more seriously. I was on a show called Flip The Network by Queenzflip. Queenzflip took me as a nephew and took care of me and gave me a platform to express myself and share my talents with the world. I got the ability to grow my fan base on social media gaining thousands of views and earning money on social media. We even did a live show! At this time I rebranded my image to match my lifestyle. I was borderline transgender. Losing my identity by the day. I was surrounding myself with people who didn’t have my best interest at heart and allowing their opinions to manifest in my life. The saying is true “You are what you eat.”. I didn’t grow up being taught to do any of the things I was doing. Yet, ended up doing them for man’s approval and attention. I was dating so many men. Looking for men on straight dating apps and taking a dangerous risk by not being truthful about my identity as a male and portraying myself as a female. Naturally, I was already feminine looking and sounding so I had more of an advantage of attracting straight men. I was genuinely looking for love that I didn’t know came only from God. Jesus has been a huge part of my life ever since I can remember. What he did for us left a love mark on my heart for him and it has grown and gotten deeper as the days passed. I would tell men that I would sleep with about Jesus and his love (as a lot of the men I would be engaged with were lost). You could never take that away from me (as some tried) and I always saw him protecting me from harm and would hear him warn me of upcoming danger.
Fast forward to 2022. I was radically encountered by the salvation power of Jesus Christ! I had been dealing heavily with lust and masturbation. It was a stronghold over my life that I didn’t know how to break out of. It came to a point where I was at the end of myself and I cried out to God pleading for him to take it from me! I heard the voice of God say in my spirit strongly! “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”! it shook my spirit! I knew in that moment that my life would forever be changed! I felt myself being drawn to read the bible for the first time. I had my own premeditated opinions about the bible not taking the whole thing as truth. I thought that some scriptures were rewritten by men and some scriptures were put in because of man’s homophobia. But this time I was open to just receiving the words of God! To whom I so firmly believed. When I read it! It felt like I was drinking fresh cold bottled water in the driest desert. It even says in the word that he is the living water (John 7:37-39). Well, this living water rushed through my whole body and I remember feeling different and rejuvenated! I was being filled with the Holy Spirit! I was set free from the bondage of lust and porn so I asked the Lord for a husband… Still unconvinced that homosexuality was a sin. Then I was led to scriptures that spoke about men that sleep with other men being a sin. I opened up the bible to random chapters and would be talking about homosexuality being a sin (Romand, Corinthians, Leviticus). This was a time were I was heavily convicted! But I had no issue choosing Jesus over my sin. This experience took place when I was homeless and sleeping on a broken couch. I was recently on a TV show “Bad Boys Houston Auditions” on Zeus Network. Gaining over 30 million views and posted on 8 major blog sites. But even this was not fulfilling. I was empty and displeased with my life! During my encounter with the Lord, I was in the process of writing for my album. But my salvation and experience were so great that I gave it all up just to follow him and to learn more about this God who was so gracious and loving to me in my sin. He later then told me to pick up what I through down but this time do it for him. So I did. I have been rebranding myself back to God’s original intent for me. Working on music, and my businesses!
And so shall it be!
I recently moved to Houston, TX! After the Lord commanded me to move away from home, quit my job. and start over. This was hard for me. I had a stable job. Saving my money for music and my own place. Yet, God knew that was the only way I could succeed. Was to go out on faith and trust and believe God, and not in my own strength! Once I cried out to him for a way out. I got a random text from my best friend and she had asked me not knowing I was praying and crying out to God for help. She asked me “When are you coming to Houston?” (She knew I was supposed to move months prior). I told her to call me and she said that I was able to stay in her apartment for a month and that the Lord told her to move back to Canada. This was all God! So I quit my job, packed my things and left two weeks from that day. When I came to Houston I had time to really seek God for answers and It came to a time when I needed to find a church. I asked God what church I should attend and started to look on Google Maps to see what churches were in the area. Then I got a message from this woman I met back in Virginia. I had gotten a dream from the Lord that I was in a dentist’s office and there was a Puerto Rican woman there. So I woke up thinking I needed to go to the dentist! I saw an ad for a dentist in my area and made an appointment. I went and spoke with the receptionist and introduced myself. I told her that I was a singer and I made music for God. She told me that a dental assistant on the property does Christian rap and she introduced me to her. We connected and she invited me to NovaHub Church in VA but never got to attend. When I moved to Texas she saw on social media and after asking God for a church. She messaged me and told me that she just moved to VA from Houston and invited me to check out “PowerHouse Houston” since I’m out in Houston! I thanked her and went that day! Instantly when I got there I knew that these people were my family! The supernatural thing about it is that. They recently changed their name to PowerHouse Houston and I recently changed the slogan to my business “Home of the Kingdom Powerhouses.”. It was all God’s plan and is still unfolding!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road but the more failures the more wisdom and understanding you will receive! Cycles are a result of continuous bad decisions. A list of my struggles could be listed as Homelessness, Sexual Identity Confusion, and Family Rejection!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Christian singer, songwriter, actor, fashion designer, and CEO of “Chace Entertainment LLC” (Record Label/Production Company. Founded in 2018. I make r&b/pop-sounding music with a piercing gospel message. I bridge the gap between the world and Jesus. By sharing my art through my testimony! I’m known for being an overcomer of homosexuality and being a disciple of Jesus Christ helping millions of people via social media understand more about the Love and redemptive power of Jesus Christ!
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My favorite thing to read is the Bible lol! But if I were to choose a book to read that is not the Bible. I would be reading “Prophetic War & Decrees” by Prophetess Miranda (I love! Prophetess Miranda she is like a mother to me and has helped me so much on my walk with her astounding wise counseling content). I also really want to get Kevin Zadai’s first of many books “Heavenly Visitation”! Although I pretty much watched almost all his content and know his testimony of dying and going to heaven. Meeting Jesus Christ for 45 min in 1992. I think it would be amazing to read the more in-depth details of his exhilarating experience! I cant wait to meet my beloved savior Jesus Christ. Hold him and kiss him for loving me and saving me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j4k4ri/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jjakarii/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ijakari
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0BzCE55V6vmjhi8FUQ4EoH
Image Credits
Devon Coleman (Dangerous Cover)
