Bryan Popin – Stepping Out

CCM: Was there one specific turning point where you felt your perspective shift in the midst of all of that?
BP: Yes, it was actually at a church service—a very modern service with fog, lights and incredibly cool-looking people on stage. I was not worshipping. In fact, I was caught up in the looks of everything, even admiring it. Then I started questioning how I could fit in it all. I was wondering how people in this area would know my own name. After a while, I realized how selfish I was being. I just heard this little voice that said, “With all of the beautiful music, the fog and the lights to help you worship, you still can’t worship Me.” When that clicked with me, I lost it. I started weeping and crying and I got down on my knees and asked God to forgive me. It really shifted my focus. I had to let go of thinking of only me—my career, my ministry—and focus on the inside, just worshipping and helping others. That’s when I found much more peace and could sleep at night, and yet it’s also when God started to connect the dots. This season of nothing happening shifted to, “now is the time.”

CCM: Were you writing songs all through this time?
BP: The songs that God has brought to me have always been more positive, even prophetic words. They’re encouraging me at times when I just really need the encouragement. I think with me being in the urban gospel world and having the profile that I have, there’s no way I can connect without having that transparent, honest vibe in my music. That’s true of all of these songs. “I Can Make It” was written in the darkest time in my life, and it’s become a theme for a lot of people who follow my music. That’s true of “I Got Out,” as well.

CCM: Is the hope for I Got Out that people will be encouraged as you were?
BP: I wanted to be transparent so I could connect with people, to encourage them as I was in the process of writing these songs. I grew up in church and my mom was a choir director. I’ve been around a lot of pastors and a lot of people who are in full-time ministry. The one thing I’ve seen in their lives is that you often cover stuff up and never share the struggle of the journey. I tried to be a little more open on the journey, and these songs are door openers to those stories behind them. There’s a lot of people out there hurting or frustrated or confused. They’ve given up on hope and if we, as songwriters, share our stories with them, then we can help others know how to move through their own stories.

CCM: You have a great story where you actually met Stevie Wonder, right?
BP: To take a train from New Jersey to New York was a big deal. It was almost an hour-and-a-half journey. You had to deal with a lot of stuff to get to the city and then you had to come back. I was being lazy one day and didn’t want to go in and a friend of mine who was this producer, called me and said, “You know it’s my birthday, right?” I said, “I know, but we worked so late last night, and I’m tired.” He said, “Please come into the city today because I’ve got someone I want to introduce you to.”

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