Columbus, Ohio emcee Copywrite has undergone a transformation. The once sharp-tongued punchline emcee made quotables with bars like, “I like my chicks like Erykah Badu, with no common sense,” often talking about sex and drugs in his three studio albums, and works with MHz and The Weathermen. However, approaching this month’s God Save The King, due February 24, Copy says he’s finally being true to himself.
Photo by Mara Gruber
“[God Save The King] came about because I was working on a project that was supposed to be a UK-only release. And at the time, the album had nothing to do with spirituality or God,” began Copywrite to HipHopDX last week. “It was a play off the Sex Pistols album called God Save The Queen, because they’re a UK group. So we figured that since I’m a big fan of the UK and UK Hip Hop in general, I’d make an album where I [collaborated] with a lot of UK artists. So I basically figured I’d do this album real quick as I was working on the MHz [Megacy] album. But also during the course of that, I realized I didn’t like doing worldly music any more.”
Now a global release, with single “Swaggot Killaz” 
featuring Jakki Da Mota Mouth, Copywrite further revealed his connection with faith and spirituality, “I’ve been a Christian since I was 16 and been rhyming since then as well. I was saved the same year. And I almost quit Rap for God. It was sort of God’s way of laying the foundation for what I was about to do. Towards the end of the album, I couldn’t write the way I used to write. I didn’t have any enjoyment in it because I felt I was lying. I didn’t want to write about sex or smoking weed or embracing drug addiction. I just lost interest and started changing who I was through Christ and my wanting to be closer to Him. So the album title related with me in that way as well.”
With this transformation, Copywrite also admitted that he’s no longer entertaining beefs of any kind. The former Eastern Conference Records artist has had profiled feuds with 7L & Esoteric, High & Mighty and most recently a 2009 one-way attack on Asher Roth, but that’s all stopping he now says. Copy stated, “Man, you know what beef is? Beef is stupid. Beef is insecurity manifested by human actions. I’m not really into Hip Hop beefs. And it’s funny ’cause I didn’t even know people looked at me in that light, that I was involved with all these beefs. I never felt that I was in any beefs. Nowadays, it’s just stupid man. I appreciate old school Hip Hop beefs where it was strictly on wax and solely based on skill. Nowadays, being a Christian, you can diss me all you want but I’m not gonna respond back even if I can roast him so easily. My beefin’ days are over.”
Copywrite’s God Save The King releases February 24, 2012 on Man Bites Dog Records.
Additional Reporting by Jake Paine
It’s probably shallow of me to think “whatever. Another rapper finds God and suddenly repents for talking sh!t on wax all these years”.
Yea, probably.
you know, I’m a uk spitter and this guy was emailing me back and forth, tweeting me props on my punchlines on twitter, all that. i asked him if he wanted to do a collab, uk-usa. he says yeah for sure. i email him to get it wrapped and the dude turns round and demands an up front cash fee for a verse. sends me his pay pal details and then insults me all over twitter when i call him out for it. real christian of him. lol. i stopped listening to him then. he used to be so dope. now he’s just washed up. shame…..
^^ do your own thing
a copywrite feature will do nothing for you
“diss me all you want, but as a christian i wont respond”
probably the softest, gayest, corniest thing i ever heard from a rapper
then again its copywrite
petey nelson the same loud mouth that got knocked out on camera by his ex buddy for talking shit
twitter showed the bitch in a lot of rappers, but copywrite was a bitch before twitter
knock this faggot out if i ever see him and thats not some internet tough guy shit its the honest truth
hell go for the gospel rap angle when this shit flops harder than every other flop hes ever released
HOW IS THIS GUY STILL RELEVANT..HES SO CORNY AND TERRIBLE ON THE MIC…ALWAYS HAS BEEN..AND YES I CLICKED THE ARTICLE EVEN THO IM HATER OF THIS FAGGOT
Him, Cage & The High and Mighty were always corny to me, never got into any of them
I think its funny when people be like “Uhh, Cage and Copy Fell Off”….. Nah man, you just finally realized what the rest of us knew all along, they always sucked
I mean… good for him as a man, but I’m not buying it as an artist. Dude always seems to be coppin’ pleas.
copywrite is a corn ball. no one is looking for your shit man. your shit is corny, always was. now you almost quit for god? you just elevated your corniness. you can mature, but when youre the guy most known for starting indy rap beef and getting knocked out because of it you wont ever live it down. rakim never had to mature in his career, he was god body at 19. this guy seems confused, idenity crisis is something that should happen to a corny, aging, unsuccesful, white rapper.
99.9% of all rap beef is dumb.
“god” is even dumber.
CORNBALL is a kind way of describing this dipshit; who knew– or cared– what the fuck he was up to?
keep praying douchebag…
it won’t help!
>calls someone a douchebag
>bashes religion in the same comment
never become a rapper, hypocrite ass nigga
God doesn’t exist.
shut up and keep them lies to yourself.
My point exactly.
More (lyrical MC’s) need to step up to the plate and drop that street knowledge, such as mc’s like Ice Cube ,Tupac,Nas,Big Daddy Kane,Rakim,The old Krs1,and Professor Griff. I’m so sick and tired of these fake ass rappers(slaves)allowing these record lable’s to turn them into robots and getting hypnotize by a check. I can’t leave out the producers either! Ya’ll just as sick as these undercover homo rappers… Give our children something positive to listen to just like the old school gave us something to remember years later. I just love real hiphop not this bullshit that they call rap.
What more can I say, I wouldn’t be here today if the old school didn’t pave tha way.
What more can I say, I wouldn’t be here today if tha old didn’t pave tha way.
Wow so much hatred happening here. I love Copy’s work and I can’t wait for God Save The King album. Hip Hop fans are poor sad hoodlums not knowing what they’re rooting for. So many independent artists are getting discredit by not talking about money and b*tches. Hip Hop as a progressive culture is dead because music fans don’t want to support indie artist trying to push the genre forward. What a disappointing responses.
I feel you but you are giving indie artist to much credit. Most of the main indie artist out now talk about the same stuff the commercial artist rap about. Name one indie artist that didn’t talk about sex, smoking, and drinking on they album. Most of them are not doing anything spiritually on intelligently with they raps. None really motivate you to do anything positive for the community either. When was the last time any of yall went and did any community service because the artist suggested it in they raps? None in the last few years.
yeah I agree with you, a lot of the indie artists are trying to be pop stars too. There is some good hip-hop still, but it’s not that great. Hip-hop is on the decline fo real
Damn, this is a surprise coming from the “Proud of my dick and mad chicks swallow my pride” guy, the fuck is he going to rap about now? True he’s kind of corny, but this dude used to have a nice flow and some pretty ill lines. I can’t hate if he decided he wants to stop spitting foul shit and praise God…just don’t expect to keep whatever fans you still had.
i remember seeing copyrite at SOB’s in manhatten back in like 2001. It was an eastern conference show with yak, cage skillz and so forth. He had a couple joints that i liked, but like him or not he’s at a point where he realized that you cant fight growth and maturity. We all reach that stage in life, but alot of people fight it for as long as they can. You got 40 year old men wearing thier pants low and hat turned sideways because they still have a young hiphop mentality. Sounds like copy realized that its easier to be yourself and not what you think society wants to see or accepts.
Saved, hahaha
Sorry to be an asshole but….adults playing make believe
There is way too much hate going on here man, I’m from the UK… Copywrite, keep on rocking for God theres nothing wrong with that!.. I’m tired of hearing negativity on tracks, THERES nothing wrong with someone finding purpose in life and going a new direction from where they were going, in da process becoming a bigger and more improved man, esp when there so much crazy stuff happening in our world! men doing evilness killing ppl and ish!… and its never too late. STOP HATING HATERS! plus!, God is real! no matter what ppl say! truths truth.
I approve what your saying. Whether anyone believes god or not, glorifying hatred and violence is never the answer.
Truth – God DOES exist. I pray one day u guys who don’t believe ending up meeting the Messiah. It’s a life changing experience that u can’t resist. Case in point copywrite. He may loose some fans, but he’s already popped up on our scene. We r waiting for his first new release once it’s ready. So, he should be fine. Plus God doesn’t forsake His people. Copy will be fine. Anyway, I’ll leave yall with this “ask and it will be given to u: seek and u will find: knock and the door will be opened to u” – Matthew 7:7. Peace and Blessings.
Yikes.
Speak on, yungn!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man tell him to shut his bitch ass up last year he was alllll about the tough talk fuck outa here he was always corny. He tried wayy too hard to sound tough on songs and he just sounded like a nerdy angry white boy.
Religion always attracts weak minded, sheepish followers too afraid to think for themselves, believing in fairy tales that no one can prove and getting mad at anybody who doest agree with them
*Yawn*
*Yawn*
man, the high exhaulted was one hell of an album…*crickets chirpping* ahem…
LOL… u and the other 300 people that bought it agree! But the rest of the world.. not so much!!!
I salute you, Copywrite. I’m far from the kind of person to say this, but continue to follow God. You probably won’t see this, but still.
We already have Phanatik for this, whose 20 times the rapper Copywrite is. Why do dudes like him even bother?
i wanna hear more raps about jesus turning water to wine.
fuck catholic rappers.
PEACE TO THE NATION OF ISLAME
copywrite is so mature now. he went crying to dx about certain comments and got them deleted.
the rapper most known for getting knocked out on camera will never mature. peter nelson, loser wannabe.
also look at his twitter feed now.
like the christian channel.
i remember this guy talking about stealing redmans last CD from the store, ragging on how it “sucked”. now the shoplifter is a devout christian. working the angle. guy isn’t very smart.
yo copy don’t do this! i am a huge fan! give us high exhaulted 2!!
I remember like 2 or 3 years ago when he attacked Cage and ran off.
I also remember he had pictures of his dick leaked, then Cage tweeted them to Eminem because Copywrite was always on Eminem’s dick.
If only Eminem actually used his Twitter frequently and it wasn’t just his PR every 5 months.
That being said, The High Exhaulted and his features on Cage’s first album are amazing, he was truly a lyrical genius back then.
You would think that his beating up of a woman recently would constitute a “beef.”