Rapping on the Road to Redemption

Ishmael Sasser eats, sleeps and raps.

He composes lyrics in his mind while he’s at breakfast. He ponders them while he’s on his way to work.

Sasser’s dream of becoming a rap star was put on hold while he sat in jail cells in Los Angeles for theft of property and in Clearwater for petty theft. Now, he is free to nurture his dream while he participates in an experimental workers program at the Salvation Army on Fourth Street South.

The 20-year-old Los Angeles native is one of two participants in the program. It started in late April and is one of three offered through the Salvation Army, including the job merit and the faith-based transitional housing programs.

According to Deborah Johnson, a social services counselor at the St. Petersburg Salvation Army, the workers program is a temporary version of the job merit program, which provides job counseling and referrals for clients and lasts 90 days.

“This workers program serves the working poor -- those who have jobs, but not a place to stay,” said Johnson.

Residents are required to prove their full-time working status and are allowed to stay at the emergency shelter until they save enough money to leave.

“The ultimate goal is self-sufficiency; to move out, become stable and maintain life skills,” said Johnson.

Becoming independent and responsible is definitely one of Sasser’s goals.

He said he grew up without a sense of direction in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles.

“I grew up in poverty,” said Sasser. “I grew up with no money in my pocket, nothing but lint. I grew up around people who were drinking and smoking. I never was around nothing positive,” he said.

“Growing up in Los Angeles was like a battle zone -- kids getting shot, drive-by shootings, crack cocaine, prostitution, the police,” Sasser said, adding that he got involved with gang activity starting at age 13.

He said he later experienced a change after attending several Christian meetings while in jail.

“It just hit me,” he said. “You can’t do nothing without God.”

Sasser joined the workers program in May as a means of starting over. So far, it appears to be working.

Rod Basehore, senior shelter operations manager, said Sasser has matured since coming to St. Petersburg. “He has a very good sense of humor and he’s well behaved. He doesn’t cause anybody any problems.”

Sasser is setting goals. He plans to save money so that he can join the Job Corps or move to Atlanta, where he plans to earn his G.E.D. and go to a community college.

Sasser does temporary work for Magic Tilt Boat Trailer Manufacturing Company, Inc. in Clearwater. He is excited about a job he started last week, making pizzas at a Little Caesars on Fourth Street North.

“I don’t think I had a job ever until I moved to Florida,” Sasser said. “I’m blessed to have a job, especially with a felony coming out of prison.”

Even with his short-term goals, Sasser’s true passion is rap music.

“I’m so dangerous right now when it comes to my music,” he brags. “It’s like, outstanding.”

Rapping buddy Roderick Lovett said Sasser has enough talent to sell his music.

“This guy can do it, lyrically and poetically too.”

Sasser hopes to become a musical legend.

“I want to fall down as someone who was a mentor to someone else, the whole nation, really,” said Sasser. “To put me on the same throne with Tupac and Biggie -- I’ll accept that.”

The late rapper Tupac Shakur, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996, has definitely been an inspiration for Sasser.

His style of rap closely identifies with that of Shakur, criticizing the police and denouncing racism.

His lyrics are rough on the surface, coated thick with urban slang, but filled with a potent surge of street redemption. He specifically targets people his age who are caught up in a life of crime, and he speaks out against people who judge him or believe he’ll never make anything of himself.

Sasser doesn’t call himself a Christian, but he tries to incorporate Christian principles into his music.

“My message is more of, it’s time to put God first instead of putting everything else before him,” said Sasser. “It is for people to get right, get their mind right, and if they want to succeed, they can. I have faith that my musical career will be successful.”

Sasser’s new beginning is humble, but it is far from the tough streets of South Central. Now he is free, cleaning windows at the Salvation Army, constructing boats at Magic Tilt and pursuing his dream of making music.