SECOND STORY: NO MALICE

A CAREER-SPANNING SEARCH FOR PURPOSE TOLD WITHIN A DAY-LONG DOCUMENTARY BY THE FATHER OF “COKE RAP.”  

You can partner with I am Second, iRISE and Two-Wins Foundation to tell the story of the spiritual journey of the rapper  “Malice” to the artist “No Malice.”  Invest in this project designed to reach urban youth with a message of hope and freedom.

IF ALL I TALK ABOUT IS COKE,

LET THAT TELL YOU SOMETHING.

GENE “MALICE” THORNTON

“I clearly recall my buddy telling a story about how he accidentally shot a hole in the floor. He could see the lady who lived under him downstairs holding her baby in her arms and she called the police.  And he had to hurry and scurry and get all of the drugs out of his house. And we laughed.”

While swapping war stories, a neighbor--Miss Alberta--approached. She asked if they knew God has a purpose for their life.

“I told this lady, you know, ‘right now is not the time. I'm buzzin’. And we don't want to hear about this right now.’ This lady exclaimed and said, ‘You don't have some other time. You could die tonight.’ Something about the way she said it sobered me up.”

She grabbed the boys hands and lead them in a sinner's prayer. Gene was sincere but unfazed. Years later he signed his first record contract with his brother, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton, as the rap duo Clipse.

I WAS WRETCHED, PITIFUL, POOR, BLIND AND NAKED

SO MUCH SO I LEFT MY FAMILY FORSAKEN

A TROUBLED SOUL WHOSE HEART WAS OFTEN ACHIN’

DO MUCH DOUGH BUT MY SPIRIT EVER SO VACANT.

MALICE, LIFE CHANGE 2009

“Hip hop to me, at one point in time it was fun, I enjoyed it. And I loved it. It was a hobby.  Then I started to acquire so many things.  And I wanted more, and more, and more, and it never stopped. So now, instead of rapping for fun, or for the love that I had for it, now I have to rap to pay for all the stuff I got.”

Realizing he was trying to sear his conscience, Gene soon would encounter an event that he attributes to God.

Gene's accountant notified him that investigators were searching for two more members in the drug ring. While waiting for his brother to appear and board a flight, Gene faced the reality that he and his brother could be next. A lifestyle change had to be made.

Seconds before the door was shut, Terrence stumbled onto the plane.

“I stood up in the middle of the aisle, and told him-I said, ‘I am not doing this no more. I don't know if you thought I was joking when I told you I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not rapping anymore.’ And he smiled. And he said, okay, okay.’"

Looking back, Gene views the discomfort he faced differently.

“I am so certain that if Miss Alberta did not come and lead us to the Lord, the Spirit of God would not have been in me. And I would have been able to fit in just the way I was trying to. I mean, she literally saved me from myself.”

To say "Malice found God" is in his eyes incorrect.

“You don't find God. You find Sasquatch. That's who you find. You don't find God. And he's not making it hard.”

“I changed my name from ‘Malice’ to ‘No Malice’ simply because everything that I read in the Bible was to do away with all malice. I don't have malice in my heart. It was time for that change.”

“When I gave my life to Christ, because of that strange woman who pulled up, and found it necessary to talk to those three guys; when I gave my life to Christ, He was serious about it.  Doesn’t matter that I forgot.  He didn’t forget.”

A CHECKERED PAST, BUT LOOK WHAT HAS BECOME OF HIM

KING ME, AS I BOW DOWN TO THE KING’S FEET

LORD WILLING, WE GONNA COME TO THE LIGHT

NOW THAT’S PROPHECY.

NO MALICE, UNFORGETTABLE 2013