Pastor Mike Jr. on the ‘Thin Line Between Relevancy and Irrelevancy’

Pastor Mike Jr. has an influential ministry, a thriving music career, and 19 Stellar Awards.

The gospel artist, known in music circles as “The New King of Urban Inspiration,” recently spoke with Urban Hollywood 411 about his career, the pressures that come with success, and the Stellar Gospel Music Awards.

Pastor Mike Jr., born Michael McClure Jr., goes into this weekend’s Stellars with a leading nine nominations in a tie with Jason Nelson.

Related: Paramount’s New Leaders Call BET ‘Important’ to Their Strategy

Commonly referred to by his fans as “PMJ,” Mike Jr. is one of the few performers to be named Artist of the Year three times at the Stellar Awards. He’s nominated in the category again this year.

The gospel star has achieved incredible success. Yet he knows the entertainment industry can be fickle and popularity can be fleeting.

“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. There’s a thin line between relevancy and irrelevancy,” he said in our interview.

Breakout Success
The Birmingham, Alabama native founded Rock City Church in his hometown. A chance performance brought national attention.

“I randomly just sang… and it went viral,” he recalled. “We turned that into a song, and the rest is history. But I don’t think anybody ever envisions all of this.”

His breakout album Live Free was released in 2019 and reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Album Chart. His 2024 release I Got Away – EP is nominated at the Stellar Awards for Album of the Year.

The six-track EP includes the ballad “I’m The Problem” about striving to be a better person; the danceable “He Got Me” with Outkast’s Big Boi about God’s goodness; and multiple hip hop-infused singles.

Criticism
Mike Jr. admits some of his music has rubbed gospel purists the wrong way.

“Whenever people can’t categorize you, they criticize you. And so, for me, whenever you attempt to step out the box, you run the risk of being attacked, and you have to be prepared for that,” he explained.

But he said he’s always enjoyed hip-hop beats and is expressing that through his music.

“I’m gonna continue to push the genre forward. I’m gonna continue to try my best to just be authentically who I am,” he said. [You can watch that portion of the interview on YouTube].

There’s a growing audience for urban gospel music.

Mike Jr. recently completed a sold-out national tour with stops in 30 cities, Alabama’s Al.com reported.

But his seemingly overnight success has brought envy from places he least expected.

“I’ll never forget. I won Artist of the Year in Atlanta, Georgia. And I sat on the edge of the bed all night. Almost had a nervous breakdown because I was overthinking it, like ‘what’s next?’ I had a couple of people tell me they felt like I didn’t deserve it, people who were my heroes,” he recalled.

Sharing the Success
Mike Jr. said he has a good team around him and one of the things that keeps him going is knowing his own success benefits others.

“So many people’s livelihoods are based off of how much I accomplish. The guy who shot my music video, he’s now being booked and being able to charge a certain thing because he has a Stellar Award-winning music video,” he explained. [The producers] are able to bless their families in a certain way… I asked God for something when I was 22. I said, ‘Lord, if you bless me, I’ll forever be the platform.'”

Yet with the success has come added stress. Earlier this year, he had a health scare just as he was preparing to release the new single “Amen.”

“Imagine your song is already trending and it ain’t even out yet,” he said jokingly. “I dropped it on Friday, it comes out. Boom. Saturday, I do all my TikToks. Boom. But that Sunday, I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna go crazy… I was gonna play the song, tell the whole church to Shazam it. I woke up that morning and couldn’t walk.”

He went to the hospital and the doctors ran a battery of tests.

“It was mimicking a heart attack. Then they checked my back, then they checked my nerves, then they were checking my oxygen,” he recalled. “To this day, they don’t know what happened. I do, it was God.”

He said “Amen” became the biggest single of his career.

“I believe God was trying to show me, ‘Mike, I don’t need you. You can have all these plans and all these ideas. I just don’t need you.’ The entire release week of my single, I was at home and couldn’t do anything,” he said.

While he rested, interest in the single soared. His label called him days later with the news.

“They said you almost hit a million [streams]. And I was like, ‘You are kidding me!” he shared.

Asked if he is now placing more emphasis on his health, he nodded yes.

“I’ve just been learning to pace myself and take it light and do what I need to do and just know that God has a plan,” he said. “So, yep, to answer your question, I’ve been taking care of myself the best I can.”

Central City Productions is producing the 40th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards. The ceremony tapes live at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. The awards will air on the Stellar Network Saturday, Aug. 30 at 8/7c, with an encore presentation at 11/10c. You can also watch the awards on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 8/7c on BET. More details can be found on the official website.