There’s something to be said for standout artists who demonstrate integrity and distinction in their artistry.  Whether it’s falling outside the parameters of a music format or writing songs that are personal and relative to a changing world, Pee Wee Callins is doing it all in his debut offering – Street Soul. 

It’s a rarity for composers to speak a timeless message of hope, faith and love with such clarity and conviction that even mainstream music lovers can identify.  Pee Wee Callins has found it his life’s mission to articulate the Gospel in a way and sound that has the street dancin’ and souls rejoicin’.

Don’t let Pee Wee’s diminutive frame fool you.  Pastor Callins is larger than life on stage and has a heart that would swallow up a room.  His love for people, praise and positivity is just as evident in his music as it is in his presence.  BLACKGOSPEL.COM spoke with this emerging talent who’s been sharpening his skills and ministry for a lifetime, just so that souls on the street today might be saved or at least stirred by his soulful music.

Christopher Heron: You are far from a novice in this industry…not your typical new artist.  You’ve sung and performed from the time you were a child.  With the birth of this new album, I’m curious to know what kind of feelings and emotions come to the surface, after all these years or preparing for this season?

Pee Wee Callins: It is exciting, very exciting to finally be able to reach the people that God would have me reach.  Like you said, I have been singing, oh man, since I could remember, since the age of 4.  But to know that God has another level and a new atmosphere He wants me to experience is exciting, it is humbling!  I mean it's, like I’m a newcomer because all of it is very new to me still.  I know, it’s not about me…it’s about God.

CH: With the musical experiences and natural gifts sown into your ministry, most would assume that an artist with your abilities would have released a Gospel album many years ago.  So why did it take so many seasons before you had a musical message like Street Soul for the masses?

PWC: It’s funny you asked; it’s all about God’s timing.  If I were to have done this album a couple of years ago, yes I would have reached people but the timing for this album is for that X-Generation.  It is for the generation now that loves Hip-Hop, loves R&B music but are not getting the message that they need.  If I had done this earlier with an R&B feel, it probably would have been just another album.  The timing of the music, the Anthony Hamilton’s, and the old school feel is coming back to music.  So it is the right time because this generation is coming back to singers.  They want to hear a message and they don’t want to hear all the baby-mama-drama and stuff like that.  They want to hear a message and they want to hear from singers.

CH: You mentioned Hip-Hop, R&B and Pop influences.  You deliberately mixed in a fusion of those sounds.  That is what I felt throughout your album.  This is by no means your typical Gospel album.  So with that in mind, what audience is this album geared towards and why so?

PWC: The album is mostly geared towards the non-churchgoers - the ones who really like to hear music.  As the body of Christ, we commonly preach to the choir to frequently.  Every Sunday, we go and preach to the ones who have been preached to every week.  We want to reach, as a label and as a management team, the ones that don’t go to church each Sunday, don’t go to Bible class.  The non‑churchgoers love music, they love beats, they love good sounds.  This is for the ones that really don’t know who Christ is but still love music.

CH: There are truly some wonderful contemporary artists today, from Mary Mary to Out of Eden to Tye Tribbett and GA and on and on it goes.  How does Pee Wee Callins and his debut album Street Soul bring an original artistic expression and evangelism, as a Christian artist?

PWC: Street Soul brings hope because everyone you’ve mentioned, we’re all in it for ministry.  A lot of our ministries may be different, but Pee Wee Callins brings hope, joy and peace.  It will bring hope to those who are dying and down in the dumps that really don’t know how they are going to make it.  I hope this lets them know that Christ loves them the way they are.  They don’t even have to try to clean themselves up before they come to Him because He loves you where you are.  That’s why this album is so important.  That’s my mission as God has placed it on me - first find people where they are, love them where they are, help them and give them hope.

CH: Many will come to know Pee Wee Callins for the first time through Street Soul.  If they should never have the fortune of meeting you or witnessing Pee Wee as he ministers on the stage, what would you like folks to know about you both as a Christian artist and as a human being?

PWC: First of all, I love God, I am saved and I know Christ truly lives.  I also what people to know I am a father, a husband married to a wonderful lady Kendra Callins.  I have two beautiful children; Adrian is my daughter and Calvin Junior is my son.  They should know that I not only sing, not only love God, not only am a husband and a father, but I am also the pastor of Greater New Hope Anointed Ministries Prayer Retreat Center in Plant City, Florida.  So this is an everyday journey for me, it is about people.  At this point, God has allowed me to pastor great people and to understand people where they are.  It’s not about me, it’s about God.

CH: In our journey in life, as we rise to greatness, we often find inspiration through others we witness.  Sharing the stage with giants like Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond over the years can always be inspirational.  For you specifically, what artists in music, entertainment or even sports has played a source of inspiration for you?

PWC:  Like you said the Kirks, the Freds, the Jamie Foxxs.  Jamie was raised by a lady he called his grandmother.  My mother and father were in my life but my grandmother and grandfather raised me too.  When he said [on the Academy Awards], he talks to his grandmother every night in a dream, to hear him say that, to hear that old school raising, to know our grandparents raised us – it has paid off.  

Lots of times we forget about what the elders have done and what they went through.  My parents and grandparents raised me to be a great human being.  My grandparents and my parents are my role models; they are who I look at and say “Thank you.”

CH: Plant City has always remained your stomping ground from the time you were a child to this present day.  You never wandered far from home.  However, most evangelists, whether in word or in music eventually move on to new fields, new regions.  They bring their ministry to other places, to other parts of the country or other parts of the world.  Why has Plant City remained such an important part of your life?

PWC: Family, community and love.  Before I can go out and help someone else, God has allowed me to stay home and to help the people around me first.  It’s so important because we rise up and we forget about where we came from.  I was ministering recently about how God has allowed me to be a truck.  He placed to be a four-wheel drive SUV, put a rope around me and around people that I love.  As I climb up the mountain, He’s allowed me to pull them out of mud, to pull them out of the dumps of where they are.  He allowed me to pull the community, my family, to pull Plant City up on the level where He would have it.  And until He finishes the job with me, I can’t leave!

For more information, visit Pee Wee Callins official web site at www.peeweecallins.com. You can email Pee Wee Callins for questions, comments and bookings at point5iveent@gmail.com.