Michael Chavez knew what the audience was thinking when he was announced at the talent show as a rapper. He was aware that it’s almost impossible to find a popular rap song that’s appropriate for a high school performance. As he walked on stage, he hoped that the audience would give his original, clean rap a chance. Chavez feels that people are tired of the repetition of today’s hip-hop music and he wants to introduce a new kind of rap.

“If you listen to music today, it’s just about women, it’s just about drugs, it’s just about marijuana,” Chavez said. “People need to change that. That’s what I want to be a part of. I do a little bit of Christian hip-hop, but overall I just want to be a rapper who doesn’t swear.”

Chavez doesn’t only like to keep his songs respectable; he also tries to make his lyrics deep and emotional. He feels that listeners are no longer interested in the impersonal lyrics of today’s rap music.

“I’m not afraid to express myself,” Chavez said. “When it comes to music the best part is the lyrics, and the best lyrics are the deepest, darkest ones. That’s what really gets people’s attention.”

The song Chavez performed at the talent show was called “Forever Changed.” The song’s message was one he came up with during a bleak time in his life: when life gets difficult, turn to God. “Forever Changed,” one of Chavez’ darker songs, proves his point about the appeal of emotional lyrics, as it is his most popular song on SoundCloud (find him on the site under his stage name, “MC Tha Realist”).

“I just don’t want to be negative,” Chavez said. “The most important thing for me is to spread positivity through my music.”