Barry “Crown” Anderson on Gospel Morning Praise (Power 104.1 The Source)

Dr. Jason Clark

Thank you so much for keeping it locked right here to Gospel Morning Praise with your big bro, Dr. Jason Clark, right here on Power 104.1 The Source. Like I told you all, I was going to have a special guest on with me this morning. And when I tell you this brother has so much going on — he's a movie writer, he's doing a soundtrack, he's written a novel. We call him Crown. Let me introduce to you Barry “Crown” Anderson. Barry, what's going on, my brother?

Barry “Crown” Anderson

Nothing much, brother. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Jason Clark

Thank you so much for taking the time to be here. When I tell y'all, Crown has so many things happening right now. He's written a book, he's working on a movie, doing a movie soundtrack. We're going to talk about all aspects of what's going on with him. But one thing I say often is that Jesus is the most famous person on the planet — everybody just don't know Him. So in that respect, Barry, tell us exactly who is Barry “Crown” Anderson?

Barry “Crown” Anderson

Crown is a guy who was born and raised in South Memphis. I got the name Crown from doing music, DJing, things like that when I was 14, 15 years old. In junior high and high school I went to a vocational school, and I learned the business side of music. We learned how to record. We learned how to deal with music contracts and things like that as well. I liked the name Crown, it followed me around, so we're keeping that name. I learned how to write movies, write books, produce, engineer. And so now I just published my book, What If. And I wasn't done with the book — I wanted to do something different, so I wrote a film to the book. Then I said, you know what, I want to score the music to the movie. I was told that no one ever did a novel, a movie and a soundtrack by themselves, so I'd be one of the first to do that.

Barry “Crown” Anderson

I work with different artists — Riverside and LMG and more rap artists in the city. I also did some work for artists from the Mississippi Mass Choir. I wanted to do something different, so I reached out to Riverside Clique and asked them to be on a compilation song, and I told them who I wanted on the song with them. They said, hey, as long as you're doing the music and recording, we're on it. I reached out to LMG Mafia and asked them the same favor, and they said the same thing. We've been working almost a year now in the studio, and they will be on the first single to my movie, What If — and the title of the song is “What If” as well.

Dr. Jason Clark

Man, that is absolutely amazing. Let me ask you this — tell me what was the inspiration behind What If? For you to bring two pretty much rival neighborhoods together and do something positive, I applaud you, because we need it, especially in this climate. So what was the inspiration behind What If?

Barry “Crown” Anderson

I was taught that if you can make a change, start with yourself. So I was saying, man, what if I record this different? What if I do the vocals outside? What if I set a microphone on the porch and catch the rain, catch the garbage truck coming down the street, catch the dog barking, and bring a different element into it? I just kept going with the idea of What If, What If. A lot of people say things won't change, that it's going to remain the same. But what if you be that change? I felt that if I do this right here, it can be the start of a change. So I titled it What If and I ran with it.

Barry “Crown” Anderson

The book is about 24 years old, because I never did anything with it — I just sat on it and waited. In 2015 I pulled it back up and said, let me finish this. I did some tweaking and changed some things. And after I finished, I said, what if I make a movie to this book? Then I looked at old movies — movies in the '70s — how the music went along with the movie. There are 18 chapters in the book, so there are going to be 18 songs. Each song is titled after a chapter of the book, and each song tells the story of the book.

Dr. Jason Clark

That's absolutely phenomenal. And I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your son. I know you were telling me you published some things in August of last year in honor of his birthday. Losing a child is something that sticks with you forever — I lost my first grandchild. My thoughts and my prayers are with you, especially during those hard times. Tell us a little bit about that.

Barry “Crown” Anderson

Last year in August I said, you know what, I'm going to do this for my son. I didn't want to do it after I lost my son, but it was like, Dad, you're too close, this needs to be done. So everything I'm doing, I'm dedicating to him. He passed on his daughter's birthday, and I know how she felt, because my mother passed on my birthday and my father passed three days before my birthday. So I understand that. We just keep it up — I'm going to release the single this year on August 12th, on my son's birthday again. I want to do everything in honor of him, because he was my greatest fan. No matter what, he was there with his dad.

Barry “Crown” Anderson

And at the same time, there's a team I'm working with. Linda — I call her Elsie — she believed in me. Barbara Shaw believed in me. Philip King believed in me. H.C. Hollywood believed in me. Greta Thompson believed in me. Gail Tyree believed in me. These are my team, and they inspire me and they motivate me. They say I motivate them, but it's pretty much the other way around.

Dr. Jason Clark

Shout out to Linda. When I tell you, she taught me everything that I know about radio. Now, she didn't teach me everything she knows, but she taught me everything I know. That's my sister right there. I wouldn't even be in radio if it were not for Linda. It's a blessing to have a team of people who truly believe in what you're doing. Now, with this book being out, tell us exactly how we can go out and support you, and how we can get it.

Barry “Crown” Anderson

It's digital online — you can get the e-book, and you can get the hard copy from Amazon. I'm also on Facebook under Barry Anderson, and on Instagram under Barry Crown Anderson.