Meet Carl Jamal Rumsey of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carl Jamal Rumsey.

Hi Carl Jamal, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I was born into a world defined by absence. My father was never a presence, and my earliest memories are shrouded in the chaos of my mother’s extreme addiction, trauma, and a life spent largely behind bars. She was a hurricane navigating her own childhood wounds, and the resulting environment was often toxic, often harmful. Yet, she loved me fiercely, doing the absolute best she could with the broken pieces she held.

I was one of five siblings, but I was the only one who stayed with her. Due to her life of incarceration, my brothers and sisters were raised by different family members. Then, when I was eight, the life I knew shattered completely. My mother recidivated, and I moved in with my grandparents. Losing my mother—my best friend—as a little boy was a wound so deep it pushed me onto a decade-long chase. From that moment until I turned eighteen, I used sex, drugs, and hip-hop to desperately try and fill the void in my heart.

The turning point came when I was eighteen, through an unexpected invitation: my oldest brother—a man I barely knew—asked me to his wedding in Atlanta. That trip, that single experience, was a special, pivotal moment that cracked through my numbness. I came back home, straight into my mess, but something was different. I found myself at the absolute end of my rope.
It was in that brokenness, in my own bedroom, that I had a supernatural encounter with Jesus. As a broken young man, I heard His call, and I finally said yes. I packed my bags and moved to Atlanta, ready to trade my broken past for a purposeful future.

I immediately dove into urban missionary work. I began going into the toughest parts of Atlanta, looking into the eyes of the forgotten, and reminding them of the truth I had just learned: they are loved, and they are not forgotten, just like I wasn’t. This new sense of purpose and community was the spark that ignited the work that has consumed my life ever since.

My journey took me across the nation—into prisons, schools, and homeless shelters—using hip-hop as a tool to empower, inspire, and uplift people who felt as hopeless as I once did. My mentor, Scott Free of City Takers, grounded me in the truth of urban missionary work: it’s not about platforms or titles; it’s about people and hearts.
Around this time, my family’s life was also changing through the power of music. My older brother, then in a band called Housefires, wrote a song called “Good Good Father.” Out of the success of that song, a movement called Maverick City Music was birthed. As fate and grace would have it, my mother was returning home from prison, and I moved her to Atlanta to be with us.

My brother and I co-founded the Maverick City Music Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to amplifying impact in marginalized communities. This work culminated in a historic event at Everglades Correctional Institution, where we spent a week co-writing songs with the residents, leading up to a live recording with the entire prison. That project went on to win four Grammys and fueled a 37-city tour that set the highest attendance and gate gross records for any Christian music/gospel tour to date.

But the real work was also happening on the ground. My wife and I moved into one of Atlanta’s most dangerous neighborhoods, Simpson Road, and became foster parents to five amazing teenage boys. We raised them from 14 to 18, nurturing them into young men of God who are now graduating trade school, joining the army, and building bright futures. Simultaneously, we facilitated studio music mentorship programs for high-risk teens, coexisting with an alternative faith-based school with a holistic approach and a massive heart for the kids in the neighborhood. I felt I was truly working in my purpose; I was living my dream.

Then came the second great wave of pain. In a low moment in 2024, my mother lost her life to a fentanyl overdose. Though she had lived long enough to see her sons living for God, hold my two beautiful daughters and be with us backstage at Maverick concerts, losing her was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. It was like that eight-year-old boy, lost and hopeless, all over again. But this time, I had Jesus, I had hope, and I know she is with me.

Today, I channel my pain into a deeper passion. I run studios and youth music programs in low-income neighborhoods, and I build studio programs within prisons and juvenile facilities all over the country. I also oversee a transformative coaching firm (Life Empowerment with Lee Robbins) that sends life coaches into prisons nationwide to support our brothers during their last 90 days. Upon release, we match them with re-integration coaches, providing housing, job placement, transportation, and full-time support to ensure a successful transition.

James 1:27
27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you

Matthew 25:35-37
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

You can learn more about my journey and work in my book, The Urban Missionary Survival Guide, available on Amazon.

carljamal.com

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I understand the profound pain of growing up in trauma and absence, which fuels my dedication to creating stable, loving environments for marginalized youth, incarcerated individuals and returning citizens.

My early, devastating loss of my mother to the system forged an enduring empathy, enabling me to see and connect with others who feel unseen and forgotten or abandoned .

I intimately know the desperation of chasing a void through drugs and sex and music; this experience now makes me a credible voice being able to relate & offer genuine hope/empathy.

My complete brokenness/breaking point became the pivotal moment of transformation

I carry the generational weight of the effects of incarceration/prison system on families

The pain of losing my mother did not defeat me but gave me the perspective to relate to other people affected by mass incarceration and drug addiction

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Visionary Music Executive & Community Architect Since moving to Atlanta in 2012, I have dedicated my career to leveraging the power of Hip Hop/ creative arts as a language for social change and community empowerment. My work has consistently focused on bridging divides within the music industry and using creative platforms to speak directly to and uplift underserved communities.

Industry & Creative Foundation
I have a decade-plus track record working with some of the most established labels and studios in Atlanta. My experience spans major commercial projects and influential genre-bending work, including:

Major Label Projects: Contributing to projects for Epic Records, Rick Ross’s MMG (Maybach Music Group), and collaborating on projects for 1865 Black Flagg and The Loopholes.

Music Group Leadership: Working closely with Twelve Music Group.

Christian Hip Hop (CHH): Years of collaboration with scene staples like Scott Free and City Takers, who have been foundational in CHH for over 25 years.
Working closely with Saint Claire from Gappstars and contributing to significant projects like Reach Records’ Let The Trap Say Amen.

Transformative Production: Partnering with key artists in the Christian Hip Hop space for the last decade to expand the genre’s reach and impact.

Launching Maverick City Music: Disrupting the Industry Status Quo
In collaboration with my brother, I was instrumental in the launch of Maverick City Music, an initiative that fundamentally disrupted the industry’s approach to songwriting and genre boundaries.

Innovative Model: The movement began as writing camps, where artists—regardless of background or genre—were grouped together for collaborative co-writing sessions. This model prioritized creativity over genre, leading to groundbreaking results like white artists winning Gospel awards and black artists winning CCM awards.

Breaking Barriers: We famously “took down the stages and gathered in circles,” shattering the walls of segregation and traditional structure within the music industry.

Orchestrating a Historic, GRAMMY-Winning Project
I conceptualized and orchestrated one of the largest and most impactful prison events in U.S. history at the Everglades Correctional Institution.

Everglades Album: We spent a week co-writing songs with the residents, culminating in a historic live recording with the entire prison population.

The Impact: The resulting album, Kingdom Book One (released June 17, 2022), went on to achieve massive success and social impact:

Awards: Winner of four GRAMMY Awards (including Best Gospel Album) and an NAACP Image Award.

Records Broken: Set new worldwide streaming records for a Christian and Gospel album on Apple Music and Spotify.

The Kingdom Tour (2022): Fueled a 37-city arena tour that set attendance and gate gross records for any Christian music/gospel tour to date, ranking in the Pollstar Top 10.

Current Mission: Building Futures Through Music and Mentorship
Today, I operationalize my vision for empowerment across multiple fronts:

Studio & Youth Programs: I run studios and youth music programs within low-income neighborhoods, providing accessible creative outlets and professional training.

Prison Studio Development: I build comprehensive studio programs within correctional facilities and juvenile institutions nationwide, giving residents vocational skills and a creative voice.

Transformative Coaching Firm: I oversee a transformative coaching firm that actively combats recidivism.

In-Facility Coaching: We send professional life coaches into prisons to provide intensive training and mentorship to individuals during their critical last 90 days of incarceration.

Re-Integration Support (The Bridge): Upon release, we match clients with dedicated re-integration coaches, offering full-time support that includes securing housing, facilitating job placement, providing transportation, and ensuring a successful, stable transition back into the community.

What are your plans for the future?
My vision is to see a profound, transformative impact in the fields of music and multimedia, shifting their common use from tools of distraction or negativity to powerful instruments for inspiration and empowerment. I aim to catalyze a movement where creative arts breathe life and hope into the most broken and marginalized places. This effort specifically focuses on correctional facilities and prisons, bringing rehabilitation and healing through music and art programs. It also targets homeless shelters, recovery/re-entry homes and marginalized communities utilizing creative expression as a common tool for emotional and spiritual recovery and reentry, and serving in the loneliest corners of society where people need genuine connection and a reason to come alive!

My plan is to actively equip and mobilize believers (“the saints”) for the work of the ministry, emphasizing a crucial call to action: moving beyond the traditional four walls of the church and entering the difficult, often perceived as “scary,” places where the need is greatest. This is about taking our faith and ministry into the heart of the community. To facilitate this crucial shift, I offer practical resources and training. This includes The Urban Missionary Survival Guide, a comprehensive book dedicated to preparing and guiding individuals and teams for effective ministry and outreach in urban environments. Additionally, I lead the 3-Day Urban Ministry Training, an immersive program designed to take interested churches and ministries through the practical steps of urban outreach. The core focus of this training is to ensure that we serve with wisdom and compassion, preventing unintentional harm and maximizing positive, sustainable impact for the people we are called to serve.

My immediate and ongoing commitment is to continue being a consistent, guiding light within the city of Atlanta and to expand this influence across the country. By embodying the principles of servant leadership and practical ministry, I strive to model what it means to live out one’s faith in the public square and to inspire others to join this critical mission.

Pricing:

• $9.99 – book (Amazon)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carljamal.com/
• Instagram: @carljamal
• Facebook: facebook.com/CarlJamalRumsey
• Twitter: @cjamalrumsey
• Youtube: @carljamalrumsey
• Other: Email – cj@carljamal.com