James Curran, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, released an extended play, “I’m Not a Rapper,” on April 17 using his artist name, “James the Mormon.” On Thursday, his six-track EP reached the No. 1 spot on the iTunes hip-hop/rap top albums chart and the No. 7 spot on the chart for top albums overall.
Even cooler still, according to a video on Curran, he is donating half the proceeds from the sales to the Church’s missionary fund.
James Curran, a 29-year-old Utahn who grew up internationally, spending time in Russia, China and Uzbekistan, said he had a “crazy feeling” Tuesday night when he looked at iTunes and saw that his album had moved into the top 30 out of all hip-hop albums.
“I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Curran said. “So I’m here, and I’m in front of Drake, so that means I’m number 30 in the world. I called my friends for them to, like, verify that I’m not insane and they’re like, yeah, this is happening. They were all freaking out.”
“I want you to know that I know none of this would have been possible, one, without Heavenly Father, and, two, without your support. … I’m just really grateful for everything that’s happening and for all the support you have given me,” Curran said in the video.
“I want the same vibe that people go to get a Drake album or Lil’ Wayne,” Curran said. “I want them to walk away uplifted without even realizing it.”
In the video for the track “Motivation”, BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake and LDS blogger and speaker Al Fox Carraway make cameo appearances.
“Billboard called. They said we’re close, and if we keep the momentum, we’ll be charting on Tuesday”.
You can buy the album here on ITunes for only $4.99 and 50% of the profits goes the missionary fund.
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