Growing up surrounded by gangs and violence, it’s not hard to get introduced to a bad crowd and start on the wrong path in life. But Mickale Jones chose a different path for himself: to make a difference through his words.

Jones, 19, is an SRJC student who grew up in Roseland, Calif. where he started doing remixes of popular songs at age 10. A strong believer in the Christian faith, Jones knew God had better plans for him than a life of gangs and violence. Finding excitement and success in music, Jones soon evolved into Tru Lyric, a Christian rapper whose name stems from his honest, relevant and relatable lyrics.

Jones has begun to make a name for himself as Tru Lyric with his self-edited and directed videos, which have thousands of views on YouTube. He has begun touring all over California and garnered radio attention from Vallejo/Oakland on Ozcat Radio and on Santa Rosa’s Broken FM.

Jones, aka Tru Lyric, said he is influenced by Christian rappers like Lecrae and Tedashii, as well as underground rappers like A-1, Hopson and other unfamiliar rappers.

“I found a different way to reach people through rap but with a non-traditional message,” says Jones, who takes pride in his Christian beliefs and rapping skills. “A lot of times I’ll refer to my music as ‘positive rap’ because even when I’m not talking about my beliefs, I’m talking about everyday things that the whole world can relate to.”

Jones omits cockiness and swearing from his rap flows and does not glorify drugs, sex or violence, differentiating himself from today’s chart-topping rappers.

Jones writes and produces all of his music and has made a few of his own beats but his recent collaboration with Brandon Lowe of Brandon Lowe Productions is where the majority of his new beats come from. Jones directed and edited most of his own music videos with FinalCut Pro. His latest video was directed and edited by Quinn Fu from UC Berkeley.

In the last two years, Jones as Tru Lyric has launched his career with 20 videos on his YouTube channel, his first cd titled “The Tru Direction,” a mix tape titled “The Day Shift” and parodies of others songs. He also has his own studio.

His latest music video “I Need a Dolla” (feat. Quinn Fu) dropped less than a month ago on YouTube and already has more than 1,500 views with its catchy lyrics, unique beat and an extremely entertaining video.

His first music video “Not Today,” made in 2010, has almost 3,000 views on YouTube and counting.

Jones’ goals are to own his own record label, tour the world and at least get his associates’ degree in business, all of which are in progress. Jones takes his education seriously at SRJC. “I want to set the bar higher for rappers,” he says.

He does not want to be another “drop out rapper” and has gained part of his success thanks to SRJC. Last semester Jones took Media 79A, where he used his intelligence and leadership to create songs as well as multiple music videos, parodies and gag commercials.

The media class introduced Jones to other successful students, like producer Lowe. Jones has collaborated with BLP who makes many beats and starred in music videos with Jones.

A very familiar face within the majority of Tru Lyrics’ videos is Kazuya Makishima, a.k.a. “Kaz” who has been by Jones’ side since they met senior year of high school. Jones said he is thankful for having Kaz in his crew. Kaz has never stopped believing in Jones; he’s been at almost every show and plays a big role in advertising for Tru Lyric Music.

From relatable music to humorous parodies and videos, Jones does it all.

To check out his music videos or songs, search “Tru Lyric” on YouTube or go to www.youtube.com/trulyricmusic.

You can “like” his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/trulyricmusic.

To download Tru Lyrics’ new, free mixtape search “The Day Shift” on www.datpiff.com.