RJ Helton

By Christopher Heron

RJ Helton always had a dream to sing. And sing he did as a finalist on the first season of the breakout hit TV series, "American Idol.” Now RJ has released his debut CD, Real Life and shares who he is today with GC’s Christopher Heron.

In 2002, RJ sang his way into the hearts of America via American Idol. Raised in a strong church-going family, RJ shares in this interview that he prayed a great deal during the American Idol experience in order to get through those stressful times. An American Idol tour quickly followed and legions of fans anxiously awaited his next move.

The wait is over - RJ’s CD, Real Life, a wonderful meld of pop, R&B, funk and Latin influences, has arrived. B-Rite Music, the pop music imprint of music industry powerhouse Gospocentric Records, understood his need to share his faith as well as his real-life experiences.

With producers who have worked with Kelly Clarkson, CeCe Winans, Black Eyed Peas and Luther Vandross, Real Life gives us a slice of RJ’s talent as a singer as well as a songwriter. On his website, www.rjhelton.com, RJ states: B-Rite… understood that I wanted to sing about my faith, but also other things that were on my heart…love songs, and songs that deal with day-to-day issues as I see and live them."

Listen now as RJ Helton shares that he is determined to not be categorized in his music – he wants to do it all.

GospelCity.com: Let's start with your debut CD, Real Life. Of course, you blew up on the scene with the first season of American Idol. Tell us what inspired you to try out and take on that enormous challenge. You understood that you were going to be against, literally, thousands of other contestants and the opportunity to be seen nationally, if not internationally. How did that take place?

RJ Helton: I was actually living in Nashville for a couple of months before I decided to audition for American Idol. I was trying to fit somehow into the music scene there. And I was just trying to get some sort of a deal, sing background or even sell merchandise for people. I was willing to do anything to get into the industry. I’d come back home to Atlanta and was watching TV one day. There was a commercial that said, “If you want to be the next superstar, come and audition for American Idol.” It’s funny actually, Tamyra (she was also a contestant on my season) and I were talking about this last night; we had dinner together. We were both at home watching TV and saw the audition spot.

So I went to downtown Atlanta, early the night before auditions were actually supposed to take place, and waited in line. I was the first person in line. It was very, very cool. I loved it. The audition process was very stressful; we had a couple of preliminary auditions before we actually went in and met with the judges.

GC: How did going through that particular experience, the pressure placed on you, affect you? Especially as the contestants continued to be weeded out, you were still in the fold right through to the top five. How did that experience mold you to become a more complete artist?

RJH: I think what I had lacking in performance was confidence because I’ve been turned away so many times by different things. I was always involved with musical theatre and was a tap dancer for a couple of years. What I really wanted was to be a recording artist and it didn’t look like that was going to happen. The audition process definitely made me a stronger person. You have to have tough skin when you're in front of people who say you’re not good, you need to go home or you’re great, let’s see what we can do. Each level I got through, I was so, so grateful but just so shocked; I just couldn’t believe it. I said, “This is not happening to me right now,” but it was just so God the way everything happened and worked itself out. I did get very stressed and discouraged at times but I handled that through prayer - big time. That’s how I would get through my days - every single day.

GC: You described it, in many respects, as one of the most joyous times and some of the most heartbreaking experiences. How did the American Idol experience become such a mixed emotion?

RJH: I had just turned twenty-one. I was still learning about who I was and who I wanted to be. It was time for me to actually think about my future long-term instead of just short-term. The emotions came from me being away from everything familiar and normal: my family and friends to that bubble we call Hollywood. It was very, very stressful at times and I’m a southern boy. We don’t deal with things like that.

But the ten of us had such an amazing camaraderie. We were away from our family and friends; we became each other's family. Being together all the time and working together all the time was such a great experience for me – I made nine lifelong friends. Great friends and great relationships; once it all ended, it was very sad for me. Around November I was like, “Ah, I miss them oh so much.” It’s been a year and half and I still keep in touch with a few of them.

Everything happened so quickly. Going back and looking at the videos or the home videos I took, I can’t believe I went through all of that, you know? Traveling the way we were traveling was very stressful; most of us had never done that before. We had never toured arenas with 40,000 people every single night and had never lived those crazy lifestyles. We got to live, see the country, meet new people every day; it was fun for me but it was definitely hard as well. Like I said, having to leave all of that behind because once you’re done, you’re done. The staff and producers of the show, I mean literally, once you are done, they have nothing else to give you so that kind of hurts, that’s reality but it does hurt.

GC: It’s clear from that American Idol experience that lots of opportunities were made available, a lot of doors were opened. What made it a wise decision for you to team up with Gospocentric’s B-Rite Music to release your first production, Real Life?

RJH: It’s funny. I met with several labels, both mainstream and Christian; nobody understood my goals. I wanted to bring the mainstream and the Christian sides and put it into one. I wanted to be able to sing about my faith, but I also wanted to sing about relationships and about things that I have been through in my life. Gospocentric was all about it; they understood it. They said, “You can make a record, present it to us when your ready and we’ll say either yes or we’ll say no”. And they loved what I gave to them and said yes.

GC: That’s awesome!

RJH: Yeah!

GC: Being part of the B-Rite family, have you had an opportunity to meet some of the other artists? What has been your first impression of coming into that family?

RJH: Yes, the two people that have really had an impact on me are Byron Cage and Percy Bady. Percy has given me lots of great advice about being strong, not giving up and when it gets tough, about talking to the labels; that’s what they’re there for. With Bady, I can’t believe I’m as close with him as I am and I’m very fortunate. But the artists on the label are all so amazing. Hearing Dorinda Clark-Cole, the gifting around her… you can feel it… she has just such an anointing on her. You can just feel it the minute you’re around her, it’s so amazing.

GC: Yes. Because of that exposure and visibility through American Idol, you are instantly perceived to be a pop artist. Is that a fair tag? Or are you a Contemporary Christian artist? Or are you an artist who has the ability to speak on a variety of issues?

RJH: Exactly actually, that was good! I don’t necessarily label myself as a Christian artist rather an artist who is Christian. I sing about my life, real issues I’ve dealt with. I think music is R&B; it is pop; it is gospel; it is Christian; it is Latin, there are so many different elements. That’s why we’re going in so many different directions on Real Life, but I’ll just say that I’m an artist who is Christian, you know.

GC: What does the title Real Life symbolize to you?

RJH: A lot of people thought it had to do with the reality television show which was funny; I hadn’t thought about it. I wanted to write about my life, the real issues that I’d been through, the relationships I’d been in and things like that. I wanted to write about that, so that’s why I titled it Real Life.

GC: You speak about your testimony dealing with child abuse. Is that something that you’ve overcome and what has played a part in your ability to overcome that past experience?

RJH: I’ve definitely overcome that and I don’t think I would have written about it if I hadn’t put it on the CD anyway. There are so many people who deal with that issue every single day but don’t know who to talk to or how to deal with it. That was my main reason for writing that song to help other people, mainly men. There are so many men, the statistics are crazy. Men don’t want to talk about it. Men don’t want to deal with that; that’s just a part of our nature, for some of us anyway.

I've always been very emotionally open. It did take me ten years to talk to anyone about it. But I don’t think that anyone should have to wait ten years, a year or even a month to talk about it. It needs to be dealt with; you have to find a healthy way to deal with it and to heal. For me, writing was a great way of healing. I did go through some counseling, but I went through Christian counseling. Somebody was praying with me and praying for me. That was very important through the healing process.

GC: So what is in store for RJ Helton in the foreseeable future? What are you hoping to do now with the launch of Real Life and, subsequently, what are your plans with touring, acting and singing?

RJH: All of that actually; we’ll be touring, not sure where to just yet. There are a few people we have in mind; in fact, I just think we’re waiting to pick the right person. We’ll probably start the beginning of this summer. As far as acting, I’ve gotten a few offers from some different companies and networks. I want to concentrate on my music right now and get that done. But I definitely want to do some acting and even some musical theatre in the future, for sure.

For more information on RJ Helton go to: www.gospocentric.com.