The Sheards’ docu-drama hit BET last night, and J. Drew, the son of Bishop Sheard and Karen Clark Sheard, recently opened up about his family’s decision to take on the endeavor.
J. Drew Sheard II, the son of Detroit mega church pastor Bishop J. Drew Sheard and 4-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Karen Clark Sheard, recently opened up about his struggles growing up in the well-known family while establishing his own music career on the show. The 23-year-old Sheard son talked about how his family began their reality television show career.
“The opportunity was presented to me by one of my good friends who worked in the TV entertainment business. It’s actually a guy that I’ve known for a long time,” Sheard said. “He (said) you know it would be dope if we could do a reality show on some Christians but yet they’re still normal people and they do normal things … I got my whole family together, my mom my dad and Kiki. I asked them ‘how would y’all feel about us doing a reality show?’ They were like ‘man it would be great.’”
While Sheard’s father and mother have established their careers in the Christian community, his 24-year-old sister Kierra Sheard is also a budding gospel singer.
However, Sheard said that he may be looking to take a different musical route.
“I come from the whole gospel legacy thing. I just wanted to do something different because believe it or not when I first started working on music gospel was never
really my first love,” Sheard said. “I thought that there’s more things to talk about in life besides the main thing that gospel songs talk about. I pretty much work to really be able to relate to people and become the best at it.”
Still, Sheard admitted that he encounters some pressure as the son of such a well known Christian family.
“My dad hates when I use this term but the ‘church people’ that’s probably where the most pressure comes from because I’m a pastor’s kid and my mom is who she is. I come from this gospel background (so) everybody expects me to pretty much live a perfect life or do things in the lane of my mom and dad,” Sheard said.
“But I choose to do things outside so it’s kind of a lot of pressure because sometimes I have to watch what I say because of who my family is. But it’s just all about coming out of that box and coming out of those four walls and just being you,” he added.
Although Sheard said he recalls truly developing his relationship with God, reading his Bible and tuning into church sermons more around the age of 18, a preview of “The Sheards” shows that the 23-year-old struggles with trying to balance his life in and out of the church community.
“I’m sick of the church,” the Sheard son tells his mother in a preview of the show. “The world is so much bigger than that!”
Karen got in her son’s face and didn’t accept his position on the matter.
“Now, you’re gonna take that back,” she told her son while inching closer to his face. “You ain’t gonna say that in front of me. That, I won’t allow! Take it back!”
J Drew II explained his position on the matter.
“I really believe that when it comes to the whole being a Christian or being a true man of God it’s all about the time that you spend with God outside of church. Don’t get me wrong, going to church is a great thing. It all ties into being a Christian as well,” Sheard said. “To kind of still be a believer and not really care too much about the stuff that goes on in church I just continue to pray to God outside of church and read my Bible and seek God. I believe that he’s with me … no matter what I do I just feel his presence with me.”
J. Drew II is set to release a CD in May 2013. In the meantime he will be co-staring in “The Sheards” on BET on Sunday at 8p.m. ET.
article courtesy of TheBelleReport.com
J. Drew Sheard II Opens Up About Pressure From ‘Church People’ was originally published on praisecleveland.com
