Today we’d like to introduce you to Mitchell West.
Hi Mitchell, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Street Hymns here. I grew up in a musical and artistic household. In fact, I cannot remember a time when there was not a studio somewhere in the house. My journey with creativity started early. At four years old, I woke my dad up in the middle of the night and told him, “Jesus gave me a song.” After hearing it, my father began intentionally nurturing the artistic path I am still walking today. He had me performing on stages as a child, rapping songs he wrote for me until I eventually started writing my own lyrics around the age of ten.
Growing up in Arlington, Texas, creativity became both my identity and my outlet. During elementary and junior high, I met my best friend, Jarami Thomas, who shared the same obsession with music, production, lyricism, and storytelling. We spent our mornings battling classmates over instrumentals downloaded from Limewire and our nights recording music at each other’s houses, chasing dreams of topping the SoundClick charts. Back then, I went by “Da Ace of Spades,” while Jarami went by “Prince J.” Our friendship was deeply competitive in the healthiest way possible. He constantly pushed me to become a sharper writer, storyteller, and artist.
Eventually, I adopted the name “Street Hymns,” inspired by the mission statement: “Doing hymns for the streets, because the streets need Him.” While attending Timberview High School, I continued feeding my love for creativity through choir, theatre, and serving on the praise team at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship.
On March 14, 2011, my life changed forever when Jarami was tragically shot and killed over a $40 Super Bowl bet outside a 7-Eleven near his neighborhood. For years, I convinced myself I had moved forward, but eventually I realized I had never truly grieved the loss of my best friend. I used music as a mental scapegoat to keep pushing. That trauma deeply changed my relationship with art, but it also amplified my passion for justice, healing, and serving my community. In many ways, that experience fully embodied the heart behind “Street Hymns.”
Over the years, that passion led me into mentorship and community work alongside music. I have mentored youth in juvenile detention centers, lived in Village Oaks for two years helping build gardens and pour into underserved communities, and spent eight summers serving through urban sports camps focused on youth development and discipleship.
While studying Theology at Dallas Baptist University, I entered the world of battle rap through DFW Battle League. As a Christian battle rapper stepping into an intensely competitive and often vulgar environment, I challenged myself to maintain high-level lyricism and authenticity without compromising my faith. That contrast created a unique lane for me and eventually led to viral moments, a growing audience, and opportunities to team up with some of the most respected names in battle rap, including Loso, A. Ward, and Th3 Saga as part of IV Horsemen.
Battle rap unexpectedly opened the door for me to enter the world of spoken word poetry. After joining the internationally known movement Poets in Autumn on a 26-city tour, I realized spoken word required an entirely different level of vulnerability, storytelling, and craftsmanship. Through numerous national and international tours, I continued expanding my voice as a storyteller. One of the highlights of that journey was performing spoken word poetry at Royal Albert Hall accompanied by a full orchestra.
As my love for storytelling evolved, I eventually stepped into authorship and long-form narrative writing. That process humbled me quickly. I had to learn how to navigate deadlines, plot holes, character development, world-building, and story structure in ways music never required. After years of growth, I am now preparing to release my manga series, *The Fallen*, through David C. Cook.
At the core of everything I do is storytelling. Whether through music, battle rap, spoken word, mentorship, or manga, art has always been my way of processing life, grief, faith, hope, and healing. Storytelling has been both the joy and pain of my life, and I am grateful I still get to share that journey through every medium I touch.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road definitely has not been smooth. One of the earliest and deepest struggles I faced was the passing of my best friend, Jarami. Losing him changed the trajectory of my life and my relationship with art in ways I did not fully understand until years later. I buried a lot of my grief inside of music and creativity because I did not really know how to process loss.
More recently, I experienced another heartbreaking loss through the passing of a mentee of mine, Cardarreus Wilson, also known as “Duke.” I met Duke through the juvenile detention center system. He was an incredibly talented young man with a genuine passion for music and a desire for something better in life. Over time, his guardians signed parental rights over to me, and I did my best to care for him, guide him, and help him navigate life as a young man.
Unfortunately, at just 19 years old, Duke was murdered by a 14-year-old in Dallas.
That loss forced me to confront grief in a completely different way. For so much of my life, I have been driven by mentoring, discipling, and caring for other people, especially young men who needed guidance. After Duke passed, I realized I was emotionally exhausted and carrying more weight than I had allowed myself to acknowledge. For the first time in my life, I had to step away from constantly helping others and learn how to care for myself.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a storyteller at heart, and I have spent most of my life exploring storytelling through different forms of art. Whether it is music, battle rap, spoken word poetry, mentorship, or manga writing, everything I create is rooted in communicating honest human experiences through creativity.
Most people know me through music and battle rap, where I built a reputation for lyricism, layered wordplay, storytelling, and conceptual writing. I have always loved pushing language creatively through double entendres, vivid imagery, and emotionally driven narratives. As a Christian entering the world of battle rap, I challenged myself to compete at a high level while still remaining authentic to my faith, which helped carve out a unique lane for me within the culture.
Over time, my work expanded into spoken word poetry, touring nationally and internationally with movements like Poets in Autumn. Spoken word taught me how to communicate vulnerability and emotion in a much more intimate way, and that eventually opened the door for me to pursue long-form storytelling through manga and authorship. I am currently preparing to release my manga series, The Fallen, through David C. Cook.
What I am most proud of is the impact my work has had on people beyond entertainment. Mentoring youth, serving underserved communities, and creating art that helps people feel understood or challenged has always meant more to me than recognition itself.
I think what sets me apart is that I have never viewed creativity as something confined to one medium. I love exploring storytelling through multiple forms while still remaining rooted in authenticity, faith, emotional honesty, and human connection. Whether I am writing music, performing poetry, mentoring young men, or building fictional worlds, the goal is always the same: to tell stories that resonate deeply and leave people with something meaningful.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My father for sure! As a creator of multiple mediums I was shown at a young age the immeasurable value of risk-taking.
My friend Chris Burris. he saw my potential as a rapper and decided to invest in that potential by teaching how to be a better and more abstract storyteller and producing beats and making graphics for me when he knew I wasn’t financially able to compensate him for most of them.
My spiritual mentors and role models Von Minor, Darryl Jones, Carrolton Oby, Tony Evans, Keith Williams, Michelle Williams, Ambassador, R-Swift, Chad Jones, Th3 Saga, Da Truth, Lecrae— the list really goes on forever.
And musically and lyrically Lupe Fiasco, Gnarls Barkley, Kendrick Lamar, N.E.R.D., Daylyt, Rum Nitty, Twork, and IV Horsemen.
Pricing:
- booking inquiries [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://StreetHymns.Net
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/streethymns/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/streetshymns/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/streethymns
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@street-hymns
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/streethymns
