Craig Smith

The youngest in a very close, tight knit, Christian family, Craig Smith was raised in a small town in the Southern part of Illinois. Accepting Christ at the age of 13 turned out to be the easy part of Craig’s Christian walk. Knowing that placing his faith in Jesus Christ saved him rather than his works (Ephesians 2:8), Craig chose a path that reflected the world instead of living his life to reflect Christ. He slowly found himself falling farther and farther away from everything that was once most important to him.

After being introduced to artists like 2pac, Notorious B.I.G., etc., Craig’s life was quickly impacted as his decision making began to reflect that of the messages in the music he was growing to love. Hip hop music was the bait Satan used to distract Craig from growing closer to God and became the love of his life. The Craig that used to take pride in the fact that he didn't participate in things like drugs, alcohol, sex, and even cursing was now allowing himself to take part in the very behavior he had despised. As his grades began to fall and his self esteem melted, Craig’s life had taken a turn in the wrong direction. Looking back now he believes that the music that he was listening to and meditating on was part to blame for his behavior and poor work ethic.

Desiring to turn his passion for music into something more, he bought recording equipment and built his own little studio and began to write songs about himself, girls, and the material things. His mother, concerned with her son’s intentions, began to question his motives. One day she asked Craig why he doesn’t try making Christian music. Craig’s response to his mother’s question was:

"I will never make Christian music mom, because no one will buy it."

With the desire to learn more about creating music in order to pursue his dream to become a Recording Artist, in the fall of 2004, Craig moved to Orlando, FL where he was enrolled at Full Sail University to pursue a degree in Recording Arts.

Shortly after moving hundreds of miles away from home and starting school, he knew he had one of two choices to make: 1. Keep acting fake and being ashamed of who he is or 2. Trust, follow, and truly live for The One who had saved him. After a lot of prayer and soul searching, he decided that it was time to allow God to use him and his passion for music and he knew what that meant. He had to finally dispose of the very thing that Satan had used to keep him from seeing the plan God had for his life. After throwing away an entire booklet of Hip Hop CDs worth hundreds of dollars, Craig was focused and determined to use the time he would be at Full Sail to seek God and become the man God had created him to be.

In October of 2005 Craig finished his studies and graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Recording Arts from Full Sail University.

After a long road of ups and downs including lots of praying, seeking, writing, recording, hard drives crashing, losing material, and having to begin the whole process over again, all the while, working long hours in a factory to support his growing family. By the Grace of God, Craig Smith released his debut album “Let Your Light Shine” in August 2010.

Craig’s music has something for everyone. Through his music he desires to explain to non-believers that filling your life with junk will never satisfy you the way a relationship with Jesus Christ will. He also hopes to encourage young believers to be themselves while encouraging all believers, young and mature, to not be scared to share their faith. His music is smooth and easy to understand for those that may not normally listen to typical “Hip-Hop” music. It is Craig’s dream to speak to the young generations through creating music that gives them hope and encouragement while being “good” enough that they would RATHER listen to it than secular garbage filled with hopeless discouraging messages.

Craig is currently working on his LP to be released s