A few months ago, Joshua Rogers, 18, became the youngest and first male winner of BET’s Sunday Best. This week, he released an EP, Well Done, a collection of his best performances from over the season.
In a matter of weeks, Rogers went from living a normal life in Greeleyville, South Carolina to becoming a household name in gospel and singing with likes of Kimberly Burrell on national television.
ESSENCE.com caught up with Rogers to get the details on his new EP, how life has changed and where he gets his inspiration from.
ESSENCE.com: You’re the first male and youngest winner of BET’s Sunday Best. What does that feel like?
JOSHUA ROGERS: It’s a pretty great feeling. It’s something you really don’t imagine or think can happen. I’m from a small town. When you come from a small town, you have the mentality that some things just don’t happen to you. But it happened! I thank God for it. It’s mind blowing at times.
ESSENCE.com: You went from being a normal high school teenager to a Gospel star over a matter of months. And, this week your EP, Well Done, hit stores. How have you been handling the attention since winning?
ROGERS: I think I’m handling it pretty well. At first, I was in shock—it still wasn’t registering. Now, it’s starting to hit. I’m accepting it. It’s great. At the end of the day, when you sit back and think about it, I’m 18 years old, fresh out of high school, and I’m already working the job I wanted.
ESSENCE.com: What is it like to know your passion and your gift at such a young age?
ROGERS: It’s a relief to not have to go through the years of struggling to find it. It saves you years of doing things that you hate. The only thing now for me is I don’t lose it.
ESSENCE.com: Tell us more about your EP, Well Done.
ROGERS: It’s seven songs from the show, pretty much my most highlighted performances. “Peace be Still,” “Well Done,” “I’m Still Standing,” “In the Middle” and “God in Me” are all on there. So far, all the people who gotten it are hitting me back saying ‘Oh my God! We love the album. It’s truly blessing me.’ That’s something to know, and they’re already looking forward to the second one. So you can imagine how much I’m looking forward to it.
ESSENCE.com: Are you in the planning stages of creating your first official debut album?
ROGERS: Yea, I have. When I first left the show a producer came to me and asked, ‘What is your basic style of music?’ I told her I can stretch. But, in stretching, I didn’t want to always have the part of the song when you can drive it and take it to church. Because my roots are traditional Gospel. Contemporary music is great but I just feel traditional Gospel is where it is.
ESSENCE.com: When you’re having a dark day, where do you go get your inspiration?
ROGERS: There is one scripture I quote often that reads, “When enemy comes in like flood. God will lift up a standard against them all.” It simply says that when you feel like the enemy has taken you down for the last time, God will step in and protect you against all of them. It’s a comfort in knowing I may feel like I’m at my lowest point, but at some point, God is going to rescue me.
Joshua Rogers’ EP Well Done is available on Amazon.