Where Faith, Code, and Soul Converge

Dearick, your journey spans ministry, cybersecurity, and now R&B—when you look at this intersection, what feels most aligned with who you are in this season of life?
Honestly, what feels most aligned with who I am in this season is the intersection itself—the balance of all these facets of my life.

For a long time, society has tried to make us choose between the sacred and the secular, between the altar and the boardroom, or between the prayerroom and the bedroom. But I’ve learned that I don’t have to compartmentalize my identity to be authentic. My faith doesn’t separate me from the corporate world or from R&B; rather, it informs how I approach both of them.

In my career in cybersecurity, where I recently stepped into a new Program Manager role, my success is actually fueled by the transferable skills I honed in ministry. I lead with sincerity, clarity, empathy, and integrity, and I view every professional interaction as an opportunity to create a ‘God experience’. I want people to experience God through my actions, even if I never explicitly mention His Name.

Musically, pivoting to R&B with Compositions of Love represents a deep alignment with my maturity and my humanity. I wanted to define a narrative of balance, proving that you can absolutely love God while still being human and experiencing the fullness of life. To me, love is sacred, connection is sacred, and vulnerability is sacred.

So, in this season, what aligns most with me is being an overcomer who is completely free from ‘restrictive worship’ and restrictive boundaries. Whether I am securing digital infrastructures, ministering, or writing grown, soulful love songs, I am operating from a place of lived experience, compassion, and true authenticity.

You’ve built a respected legacy in Gospel music while also rising into leadership in the tech world—how have the values and skills from ministry shaped the way you lead in corporate cybersecurity spaces?
People often see ministry and the corporate tech space as two completely different worlds, but for me, they are deeply connected.

In my career—where I recently advanced to Technical Services Program Manager for a global cybersecurity company—I am known for being innovative and developing solutions that minimize effort while maximizing results. But the true foundation of my leadership actually comes from the transferable skills I honed over my many years serving in ministry.

I firmly believe that what really sets me apart in the marketplace is my ability to communicate thoroughly, leading with sincerity, clarity, empathy, and integrity. I was born with a grateful heart that genuinely cares about people. When I interact with others in corporate spaces, my guiding thoughts are always: ‘How would Jesus handle this? How much grace would He extend? Will people see Jesus or me when I present or respond?’.

My ultimate goal as a leader is for people to see and experience God through my actions, even if I never say His Name. In the corporate world, people often come up to me and say, ‘You’re different’. I typically just smile and reply, ‘Thank you,’ but in my mind, my response is always, ‘I know. I’ve heard it all my life’. That ‘difference’ they feel is simply the values of the sanctuary actively at work in the boardroom.

Compositions of Love represents a bold and vulnerable creative pivot—what internal conversations did you have to navigate before deciding this project needed to exist?
The biggest internal conversation I had to navigate was about authenticity and whether I was willing to step outside of the boxes people tend to put you in. For years, my foundation has been rooted in Gospel music, and taking that first step into R&B was certainly a bold shift. But I had to deeply reflect and realize that my faith doesn’t separate me from R&B. When I consider my faith first, it actually coerces my responses, my movements, my decisions, and informs how I approach it. I hold fast to the fact that my faith teaches me to be honest – to be truthful.  That honesty and truthfulness does not just apply to what I share with others, but it gives me the permission to be honest and truthful with my authentic self.

I had to give myself permission to embrace the fact that love is sacred, connection is sacred, and vulnerability is sacred. I knew this project needed to exist because I wanted to define a narrative of balance; I wanted to show the world that you can absolutely love God while still being human. Every single track on Compositions of Love is inspired by lived experiences—from romantic love and family bonds to personal growth and faith-informed compassion.

This album is a refusal to chase trends. I chose a hybrid of R&B, Soul, and Jazz because it provides the only language intimate enough to mirror life through art: R&B for the heart, and faith for the foundation.  I created this project for those who still choose sincerity in a cynical world—for people who have loved, learned, and refused to go numb. It is ‘grown music’ designed to challenge the silence we often mistake for discretion. This is my way of honoring the lived experiences we usually hide in the shadows of shame, or deny ourselves the grace to feel at all. It’s an invitation to stop hiding and start embracing the weight of real emotion.

The album explores human love as a reflection of divine love—how do you personally define balance between faith, authenticity, and full human expression?
To me, the balance between faith, authenticity, and full human expression doesn’t mean keeping them in separate boxes—it means understanding that they are beautifully intertwined. I’ve always said that my faith doesn’t separate me from R&B; rather, it informs my approach to it. I truly believe that love, connection, and vulnerability are sacred.

For so long, there has been this idea of ‘restrictive worship’ or the expectation that as a minister, I have to fit into a specific mold. But one of my favorite quotes is, ‘If we are so heavenly bound that we are no earthly good, then who have we helped?’. Compositions of Love is my declaration that you can absolutely love God while still being fully human.

When I look at human love—whether it’s romantic love, family bonds, or just faith-informed compassion—I see it as a reflection of divine love, rooted in my own lived experiences. R&B gives me the language of intimacy and soul, while my faith gives me grounding and purpose. When you bring those together, you get music that isn’t about chasing trends, but about expressing real emotion and creating a space for people to feel seen and understood. Balance, to me, is simply walking in the freedom to be exactly who God created me to be—unapologetically authentic, deeply connected, and free from restrictive boundaries.

As you continue releasing music across spiritual and secular spaces, what legacy do you hope people take away from the way you’ve embraced every facet of your identity?
When I think about legacy, I always return to one of my favorite guiding principles: ‘If I can help somebody as I pass along, then my living shall not be in vain’.

Ultimately, the legacy I want to leave is that of one who made it appealing to love and worship God in spirit and in TRUTH. My journey wasn’t smooth. I spent a lot of my childhood surviving severe trauma, feeling like a complete outcast, and wondering why I never ‘fit in’. But I eventually learned that God kept me from fitting in because the people I was trying to fit in with wouldn’t have been able to receive the message I was meant to bring back to them years later in life. Every single one of my experiences—even the most tumultuous and embarrassing ones—worked together to protect and preserve me for His glory.

By embracing every facet of my identity—as a father, a minister, a cybersecurity executive, and now an R&B artist—I hope to show people that our existence is not an accident, and our experiences are never a waste of time. God wants us to use every part of our stories to elevate us as we operate in our various purposes.

My faith doesn’t separate me from R&B; it informs it. You can absolutely define a narrative of balance and love God while still being fully human. My hope is that when people look at my life, they realize that the King’s Kids were never housed in a box. Jesus went; He became; and He was. He became all things to all people, but He didn’t do it while being confined to a box. He didn’t come to condemn; His grace fixed that. To that end, we don’t have to be boxed in by ‘restrictive worship’ or societal expectations to be effective.

Whether I am securing digital platforms in the corporate world or releasing grown, soulful music like Compositions of Love, my goal is simply to create ‘God experiences’ for others. If my authenticity helps someone else realize they are fearfully and wonderfully made, and empowers them to use their own truth to step fully into their purpose, then my legacy is complete.