Christian Rapper NF is Unashamed to be Honest and Authentic, 'Music is the Only Place that I Don't Mind Being Really Blunt' (INTERVIEW PART 1)

Christian rapper NF has been making waves with the release of his self-titled EP, and BreatheCast had the chance to chat with the very talented singer and hip-hop artist where he opened up about about honesty, emotion, and his own personal struggles.

As NF's name is getting out there more, the humble emcee wants people to know that he will keep pushing on, and if everyone likes what they hear now, they should wait to hear what is coming next.

"I have the mindset that like, every time I set a goal, if I reach it, I just set more goals which I think a lot of people do," NF shared, "So it's still a lot of work. It's the beginning for me. I am really excited that people are enjoying the EP. I'm excited to push forward and keep putting music out. There's a lot more to come that I am even more excited about."

His real name is Nathan Feurstein, and he said he honestly could not come up with a rap name. Feurstein, pronounced [Fire-Stein] was too difficult to say, and it was hard to not pick a cheesy rap name and regret it later he shared.

"The whole NF thing actually came from one of my buddies. We were trying to think of a better way... my last name is horrible to pronounce. I wanted to do something with my name but I just didn't know what. My buddy came up with the NF thing. I just kind of stuck with it because it was still my name just the initials. Nothing crazy, I wanted it to just be simple and kind of just incorporate me or whatever," he explained.

NF's music is known for its honestly and authenticity. Every line he raps contains some sort of actual emotion in it or carries some weight of impact. There is no better example than the opening track of the EP, "All I Have."

"Music is the only place that I don't mind being really blunt. I don't just come out and talk about that randomly to people (losing his mother to a pill addiction). It's always been something that I do in my music for sure," he revealed, "I don't know why but it's always been that way. Music has always been that place that I can go to. If I'm angry and I write a song that sounds angry it's because it's a song when I was angry. I don't mind being open about it because I feel like people relate to those things. They relate to you being honest and open. There's going to be a lot more songs like that, when you listen to it you realize how it really works."

He continued, "You don't just sign to a label and then you're like rich, then you get a CD in stores. That's just not how it works. That doesn't mean you are rich, when you sign to a label it's just the beginning."

The first three tracks of the album are intense and powerful. He brings the mood down with "Only One," which is a straight love pop type of song. He again mentioned being able to tap into his emotions and how he is feeling at the time of writing the song.

NF
(Photo : Press Release)

"When the album comes out that's where I'm going to be in my life. When you hear the ep you get a taste of where I'm at. When you get the whole album you really get an idea of who I am," he said, "'Only One' definitely went the pop route, but there will be a lot of singing songs that have a hip-hop vibe to them. There's only so much I can express on a six song EP. The ep is only to show people to give them an idea of what I can do. 'All I Have' and 'Wake Up' which are very emotional hard tracks. I went to 'Hands Up' which is kind of more traditional intense, concert, hip-hop stuff, but it still has a little side of me that's a little different."

His next track, "Thing Called Love," takes his music even deeper into his soul, and pulls on the heart strings with his most intimate track. The song portrays the destructive nature of love and how it could take over someone's life negatively. Most songs are about being in love, and the feeling of happiness. NF went the dark route.

"That song is like a roller-coaster for me because sometimes I feel like that's what love is. Sometimes it's very complicated, sometimes it's just what the lyrics says. It's just how it feels. There are specific things in my life. That's where I wrote it from, I knew tons of people can relate to that because everybody has been in love, everyone knows what it's like to fall into love or fall out of love," he said. "It's just a roller-coaster of amazing how hurtful love is. There was no specific story, it's just how I felt. Some of the things that I've been through, some of the thoughts I've had. It's very personable to me. I think a lot of people can like it and relate to it."

With his songs being so deep and heartfelt, NF is easy to relate to. He said countless fans have approached him and told them their testimonies. He feels his ability to be open gives others the courage to do so as well. When asked about these testimonies, he responded:

"A couple of people just talking about how they're having parents or themselves addicted to this or addicted to drugs. They felt like listening to some of the songs really made them become open about that, and want to express and figure out what to do instead of keep going in that direction, he said, "Everyone is addicted to something or struggles with something. I think it just opens up people. I definitely have some cool stories of people saying the music has impacted them and they want to get clean or they want to stop. They don't want to hurt their family. Whenever I do a show there's always someone who comes up to me and says 'My dad died' or 'My dad committed suicide' or 'My dad overdosed."

Authentic through and through, NF is certain of his goals, message, and abilities. Come back tomorrow for part two with the rap sensation where he speaks on, evangelism, not being "Christian enough," being a white rapper, and standing out.

Read our review of NF's debut here.