Talking TRUMP WON & Career Moves With Singer Natasha Owens!

This is the Andres Segovia Show. Hey everyone it's Andres and welcome to another episode of the program, because today I am joined by singer and songwriter Natasha Owens. Natasha Owens, who is best known for her work in the Christian space, recently made a big ol' splash with her politically themed hit single, Trump 1. And believe me, the reaction has been exactly what you expected it would be, but she topped the iTunes charts last week before Someone That Shall Not Be Named dropped four never released before songs, not that I care, but I got a chance to talk to Natasha about the release of her song, the shifts in her career recently from Christian to the political spectrum, and most importantly, to talk about her musical journey, what inspired her, and what keeps her going. Here's my conversation with Natasha Owens. Natasha Owens, welcome to the Andres Segovia Show. Good to have you on. Thank you for having me. Well before we get into everything else, I just want to say congratulations on the release of your song. Last I checked this morning on YouTube, it was about 700,000 views, over one million on Rumble, and last week it was number one on the iTunes. Yes. How does that feel? It was amazing. For a Christian, contemporary Christian singer, we don't make it to the top iTunes charts very often, just in our genre, so it was very surreal and exciting, and I'm just glad that people are responding in a great way. Yeah, and I'm sure the highlight was Donald Trump himself posted about it on social. What was that like when you saw that? I about passed out. I was like, oh my God, he just endorsed it. I saw that because it was the J6 song that was attributed to him was, I guess, was nuked from iTunes, and then yours dropped, and that replaced it in the first place, so that was pretty cool. I know. I so hated to do that. We were trying to get on that. We held our press release trying to get more on the tail end of that. I did not want to bump them from the top, so I'm glad that they've risen back in the charts over the weekend, if you may. Based on a lot of internal stuff, and this kind of applies to your song, too, it looks like it was purposely removed from iTunes for his J6, and with yours, I believe there's a lot of shadow banning going on with your song, too. Shadow banning, they have tried from pillar to post to block this. It took two extra weeks just to get the song on iTunes and it live. When you look at YouTube, you can physically see likes and comments disappearing in real time. I saw that. They wouldn't like it on their side if that was done to them, but it's okay. We're going to get it out there around them regardless. They can't stop it. No, they can't. I honestly doubt the numbers of views that YouTube is showing, because no, I think there's some funny business going on around here. They're definitely going to go away, because I've been monitoring it and I would go on and the numbers would be a lot higher than they were two hours after that. People don't un-view it, so you know that fraudulent happenings are happening there, but there's nothing you can do about it. You can gripe about it. You can file a report, but in the end, they control it. They have the say-so and it's hard to get around big tech. Absolutely, but at the same time, it's like the reaction, besides the reception that you received for it, the censorship was kind of expected, I'm assuming. Oh, yes. I actually didn't expect them to load it at all. I thought it would be taken down. It's surprising to me that Facebook is the only one that's messing with us, really. They're banning it. They are putting sensitive content, like it's really a sensitivity video. I guess it is for anybody on the other side, snowflakes or whatever that's a little sensitive. I guess they can melt, and they're putting misinformation on it. They're flagging it left and right, but what are you going to do? That was expected. That was expected, but then there comes a question, because just the nature of the song alone, Trump One, and that's the song we're talking about, for those of you watching and listening, Trump One, which has all those views. It was always going to be met with that kind of take from big tech. In knowing that, because I'm assuming, well, you want to get as much publicity to grow your career and stuff. Why put that out there when you knew that more than likely they're going to try to nuke your song? I have been traveling. We did an American Patriot album, and I have been traveling around the country for the past year and a half. You talk to people, and this is the topic that comes up, Trump One, you know it. We just can't really say it. Once you mention the name Trump, either people love you or hate you. There's no really middle ground. People are afraid to talk about it, but they want it addressed. They want it acknowledged. They want it fixed. I just said, you know what? Let's just write this song. We've been saying it for a year. We've been singing some of these jingles in my own house for a year. Let's give a voice and maybe some confidence and strength to the people who feel like they can't say it. Let's get it out there and say it for them. I'm a contemporary Christian singer, but I'm fighting for truth, and I believe that that is the truth, and so I wanted to get it out there. That makes sense. I think those that are discovering you, because this is, like I said, it's been a massive hit. It's a single. It's not part of the Patriotic album, but that Patriotic album came out last year, if I'm not mistaken. People that are discovering you now are going to be surprised when they realize that's your first Patriotic album, and you've been in this for about 10 years or so, right? That's correct. I'm an artist that has a little bit of substance to me, because I have a story that comes with me. I've been in it for 10 years. We did four contemporary Christian albums, a Christmas album, deluxe version of that, and then decided to do the Patriotic album last year. Something I haven't been doing. I'm veering off in a different lane, but I'm loving it. Before we get to your story, because that's why I reached out, I was actually really taken by that. There's a lot of story there that needs to be highlighted, not glossed over. Before we get to that, because yes, I did listen to a lot of your albums after you and I connected. Thank you. I'll listen to it in the car with my children. They're nine, seven, and five, and I asked, what do you guys think of this? Like, hey, we're really liking this. This morning, this weekend made for the most fun research on a guest that I've had in a while. Thank you. All I had to do was just play your tunes. For someone that's... I listen to orchestral, symphonic, film score. That's my jam. This was a little out for me, but I was enjoying it. I will come back to that. Before moving on to that, because you said it was a shift, a shift from the Christian inspirational and things, and then entering the political sphere, if you will. Has there been any fallout in your circles? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So Nashville, I don't know if many people know this, but Nashville is very progressive. It's very liberal. It's touching a little bit into the country genre. It's hitting a lot in the contemporary Christian genre. It's something that I have been pretty upset about for the past few years, even before I veered into this different lane. They don't stand for things that normal Christians would stand for, like life, being pro-life. I'm too pro-life there. And once we veered into the politics, knowing that I'm on the conservative side, we've had some artists say that they wouldn't travel with me anymore. And I said, you know what? That's fine. We're spreading the message of Christ. But if these core principles are bothering you, then I don't know if I want to be on the road with you either. So I don't know at this point, especially with this song, if I'm going to actually have a home to come back to in contemporary Christian. But maybe we just blaze another path that's never been blazed before. Maybe we just start something different. I'm not quite sure yet, but we'll figure it out. Yeah. And it's interesting that contemporary Christian somehow applies progressiveness nowadays, where it's like, well, you know, the Ten Commandments are multiple choice. And like, no, that's either you take it or leave it. You don't just pick and choose what you like from the Bible. If you don't, you start changing it and create your own religion out of it. That's not how it works. Well, it started to be more accepting. They're also worried so much about the cancel culture. They don't want to be called racist or whatever. But at some point, I mean, when you look at the life of Christ, Jesus was very controversial. He called out the sin, but yet he showed them grace, love, mercy, and restoration. And so at the end of the day, we have to be like him and we have to stand up for what we believe in. Absolutely. You did post something on Truth Social as a response to a reply to your post. You said you needed to hear that tonight. The fight gets heavy sometimes. So glad you love my music. That gives me some strength to keep going. And is that was a response because of this reaction to your song? Yeah. So they just I didn't know till today that you can see my response, but you can't see what I'm responding to. That's a little different. I did see what you're responding to, where someone was appreciating your music. Yeah. Okay, good. Good. Well, then that wasn't accurate information. Yeah. They just I guess it was just the moment that they hit me. You know, I have I have had some scares this weekend. I have had a lot of hate, but the majority has been just overwhelmingly positive about it more so than I ever thought it would be. And so when I get a sweet from the heart message that just says, hey, your music has touched me. I really appreciate you having enough strength to do this. I want to let my fans know if they're going to reach out to me and tell me that at the moment what I'm going through. And thank you that that strengthened me and that kept me refocused to keep fighting because sometimes you think the weight is a little too heavy and you just a little bit of encouragement and keeps you going. So I appreciated that. Yeah, absolutely. And just on its face, anyone just reading the lyrics of Trump one, that's like she's putting out a song that says that it's like it writes itself for the most part. But when I first was like that in this day and age is bold and brave. You wrote that five years ago. I've been whatever. But in this day and age, like, wow. And yes, you are bold and brave for having done so. Yes. I just pray a little bit of protection, you know, that that God protect us. And, you know, getting out the truth, it has headwinds and it has consequences. And I just hope, you know, you hit it, you hit a bee's nest. You hope not to get stung, but if we do, we do. It was the right thing to do, I think. Yeah. And I want to respect your time. So if we're coming up, you tell me, but I'm as you need. I appreciate that, because this is the crux of why I wanted to reach out and you talked about your story and you touched upon it when I saw the piece on War Room with Steve Bannon and you talked about your father's tragic passing. Is that before or after you got started in your music career? Before, way before I was kind of set in, you know, my career path, my kids raising my family. And 12 years ago, my dad, almost 13 now, my dad was cleaning his guns, dealing with a dangerous gun. There was a bullet in the chamber. With a Glock, you have to punch the trigger to take the slide off and you really have to have it facing towards you. So he was sitting down, unfortunately. It hit him in the heart and life as I knew it was gone within about 60 seconds. And I was a daddy's girl and I tried to be strong for my entire family. I'm the oldest, was the only one that had grandkids at the time. And so I tried to be strong. I delayed my grief too long. And I questioned why, which is such a dangerous question, because most of the time you won't get an answer. And I became very angry at God. And so the things that I spoke, I down spiraled into a deep depression. And six months into my depression, my pastor called and said, I need you to snap out of it and be our music minister. And I said, I don't. I struggle from severe anxiety, severe stage anxiety. I did. And I can't be what you want me to be because I'm depressed. And so he kept calling and he kept calling and he called on a day that I can honestly say that I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for God crossing my path when he did. And that was the beginning of my recovery road. And I said yes to a position that I wasn't qualified for. But God made that a training ground for what I'm doing now. And I had to get out of anxiety. I had to overcome depression. And looking back on it, it wasn't. I've got a lot to my story, too much to say today, but some really cool, cool moments that have happened that I'll never forget. But looking back on it, every CD is another chapter of my recovery, and it wasn't meant to be that way. God's just in the details for making it through a trial to rising above, to being a true warrior for Christ and standing on a firm foundation. And that means leading others into battle that not physical battle, but teaching how to get spiritual battle and emotional trying to get out of, you know, when you're going through something faith shaking, you turn to alcohol, drugs, anything to numb it. And when you can't numb it, you turn to suicide. And so I'm just on the on the path, trying in the trenches, trying to help with that. So my career started 10 years ago, and it in the whole story was kind of backwards how it happened. I wasn't had to work my way up. It started on a massive stage with a with a legend and contemporary Christian. And it's just been a wild ride since then. And I don't quite know what God's doing right now. But I did last year, we changed gears and I was a part of Trump's faith initiative team at the White House. But after he left the White House, politics didn't cross our path for about a year. And then it started crossing our path. And my husband said, Tosh, you need music, you need to do some patriotic music. And I said, you know what, I love this country so much. And even with all of its faults, it's still the beacon of hope and the greatest country on earth. And that needs to be highlighted. And we also need to highlight the sacrifice that our soldiers paid in order for us to have freedom. And when all of us went through COVID, we saw how easy it was because of fear. People were begging for their freedom to be taken away because of fear. And it's the one that we should never give up. And so I just wanted to put a spotlight on those two topics and actually help with the profits of it, some veteran organizations. And so we've been able to do quite a bit of good in the past year. That's that's that's great to hear. I actually have something about that, about the last thing you hit about veteran support. But in touching upon what you said, that that you turned to suicide. And I was trying to read between the lines when I was reading about your bio and things like that, because we actually have a similar story to yours. And you not too long ago posted on Truth Social that I'm assuming this was the moment where God spoke to your spirit. You can't die looking back at what you lost. You have to live for what you have left. Was that the moment you reached out to the dark abyss and pulled you out? That was the moment we had. We had started turning to do this this musical career. We had created an album called I Made It Through. It helps someone through the trial from the beginning to the end. And that was the moment that I felt like I had truly made it through. I was looking at my boys playing out in the back one day, and it was hot here in Texas. And God just spoke to me. It just seemed like the sassiest voice because it was it was my voice in my head. And he said, you can't die looking back at what you have lost. You have to live for what you have left in those boys or what you have left. And I remember smiling and laughing for the first time in years and actually feeling joy. I always said I put a fake smile. And if you really looked in my eyes, you saw that I was I was completely dead inside. And that was the first day that my smile actually reached my eyes. I think joy radiates from my eyes now because I'm alive again. And so I it was a moment that I would never forget. And I I got on my knees and I thanked God for helping me make it through because it was at that moment I knew I had made it. That's awesome. And if you don't mind, I'm going to share a little bit of my story with you. Yeah, I was born and raised in a Christian family, born into poverty, but that never had any influence over anything of mine. It was just that life as I knew it. I come from Compton and Watts, believe it or not. Many people don't when they get to know me, like you're from where? Like, well, I don't have the hood in me anymore, but whatever. That's the way that's where I come from. So my heart's always in Los Angeles. But I didn't come to Christ until I was 12 and a half, give or take, and got baptized at 16. Up until that point, I had many near death experiences that God delivered me from. But it was after spiritual battles and things and me just struggling with what is the point of living and the purpose of life? Because I didn't ask to be born. So I had no reason to live. And that's just how I saw it. So I attempted suicide five times. I'm still here. But in my last attempt, just a year moment, I had a moment where a voice in the darkness and I couldn't see anybody standing there yelling at me to put down the weapon was a knife that put it down. Because if I didn't have a purpose for you, I wouldn't have saved you from those near death experiences. And it was the most powerful moment. It was a voice of authority. And it came. And there was no direction to that. So I just knew it speaking at me. There was nobody else present. And I never I never tried again. I did struggle with depression just because I'm a failure. I'm never going to add up or amount to anything. But you speaking about your anxiety, I was the shy guy at the corner growing up as a kid. So when I eventually became the one at the forefront speaking for those that didn't have a voice to talk, opening up about struggles and people that, oh, I thought I was the only one. And it's like, wait, so I'm not alone in this fight. And suddenly my friends who seemed like the most sociable or whatever, they start asking, why is the guy that wouldn't speak? And we had to drag everywhere preaching. He's up there speaking in front of hundreds or even thousands of times. Like they were like, it's all God. That's all I said. It's not me. We shall overcome by the word of our testimony. And you right there, just you've turned into a warrior looking back, helping others through making it through something. And that's so admirable. I hate it that you had to go through that path. But it's made you who you are today. It's made you strong. Thank you. And it really is to each their own. And you're quoted as saying that society and the church has failed in the mental health arena. Society is pretty much a given. But in the case of the church, and I happen to agree with you on many aspects of this, perhaps, how do you feel that the church can do better in approaching the health arena? You know, just I mean that in this alone, the church is so faith based and that's a good thing. But when it comes to mental health, you know, society, it's something that has shied away from it. And so is the church. It's a little bit ashamed of it. It doesn't know how to handle it. So it just doesn't want to touch it. They say things like or at least the churches that I have been a part of, you know, you're just not praying enough. You just don't have enough faith. And that's what I mean by faith based. And when you know as well as I do, when you're going through something faith shaking, you're in survival mode, just trying to breathe from moment to moment. It has nothing to do with your faith. It has nothing to do with you not praying. It has to do with the fact that it's beyond you. It is too much for you. You're too overwhelmed and you have to learn how to give it to God. And so saying things like that from, you know, to me only made my situation worse because I felt like nobody cared. Right. So now I've helped be a voice to churches to get recovery projects, recovery type groups in the church because people need that. We're dealing with life. You know, sometimes it can, you know, a pastor can get up and do a rah rah sermon and it's great and it motivates people. But at the end of the day, when you leave that church, what principles are you applying to it? What did you learn other than being hyped up in the moment? You have these are real life problems that have to be addressed by the church. If the church is going to be the beacon on a lighthouse on the hill. And I think they've got a long way to go to come or a long way to go in order to achieve that. And I absolutely agree, because, well, depending what I grew up in an Orthodox background. So that was like some sects of this of this Orthodox orthodoxy would say, like, oh, if you're sick, that means you're sinning. Like what? It's like, no, you have to get to be perfect. It's like, well, if I'm if I'm meant to be perfect, then why do I need God? I thought he was supposed to be there for me. And people don't understand because my parents, when I opened up about my struggles some years later, they they were crushed. They felt like failures. And I never blamed any of you. I never blamed anyone. If anybody, I was angry at God because he let me live like, OK, you won't let me die and Satan won't let me live. So what am I supposed to do in my life? That's how I felt. And it was it didn't matter how many people you had around you that loved you and cared for you, because I had a very I still do. I have a lovely family, have four kids of my own now, a wonderful wife. And I couldn't ask for more. I feel I'm overblessed in a way. And it's like, how do you end up struggling and feeling so alone? It's it's what a lot of people do. A lot of comedians that are celebrities that are famous, you know, they they deal with depression and suicide. That's the number one thing they deal with. We live in a society today, especially especially since covid, you know, everybody's behind a keyboard in technology. Every face is in a phone. And when covid hit, it taught us to hide our face, hide our emotions, hide our love. We couldn't touch. We couldn't hug. And it made it worse to covid. Ninety three percent increase in suicides. We lost more suicide than we did covid. And so we live in a world today that is screwing up our identity. It's it's it's one that is lacking love. And the church needs to be the loudest voice out there. But they've been silenced. And I just I just pray. I pray all the time that leaders of churches and pastors and people sitting on the pew just have the courage to stand up for what's right, no matter what the consequences that that's our job. We have to try to help fix what is happening in society. And I think they're attacking our identity because our identity should be in Christ. Right. That's what the Bible would mean in this image. Right. So they have to understand this is a satanic attack upon our identity and upon Christians. This is not something that we should stand on the sidelines and be quiet about. Absolutely. And I think that's what in exploring your music and reading more about you and not hearing it from yourself, you are an inspiration. Thank you. It really speaks to how I heard some of your music, because I'm like just coming from a place of pain. And if any anybody understands, like, hey, I know you're hurting and you're probably blaming the God that created you for what that happened. But we need you to stand in front of a bunch of people and tell them how much you love and bring the presence of God to you. It's like, well, you're asking me to do what I can imagine that scenario. I'm not saying that's how I played out for you, but it probably did. But what I'm saying is, like, what the church would be asking of someone without, if you would say, being sensitive about it. It's like you have to understand approaching people. And that's what separated Christ from a lot of others. Yes, there's a John the Baptist approach, as some people say, you just call it out, hit him over the head with the truth. But then there was the compassionate approach of Christ where, yes, he healed multiple people from their blindness, but in different ways. Because he had to approach them differently. And that's what I feel the spirit of the sermon is needed on our leaders at time in the church to know how to approach instead of, oh, you're struggling with that. I'm going to make a sermon out of that. I just tell everybody about it. So that's not what happened to attorney client privilege. But it just seemed that way. And they have to have compassion, wisdom and love. And if you can't if they can't approach the situation, then it's better than they don't touch it. Because in those moments of brokenness, what they say could call someone to go in either direction. And you want to make sure that you are speaking life into them and teaching them to speak life into their situation rather than causing them to go the other way or get worse. And while those are the ones that I heard a lot, there were some that were really standing out to me. It's like that resonates with me, especially learning a lot more about your story, like where that comes from. Like we will rise, we will stand, we will overcome and you got me through it. I feel safe and things like that. It's and you're not exactly mincing words, per se, like in the Christian space, there's always like, oh, you're going to struggle. Just call it a storm. Let's not really go into the details of it. It's like, no, that's part of the story. Otherwise, it's all generic. So if I can describe your music that I've been able to hear, which is about three albums that I heard so far, that I would say it's sincere. It's sincere. And I felt it. So that's why I say that your music. Yes, it's inspirational. And what you're doing now is inspirational. It's brave. It's bold, too. It's it's the real less traveled also. But yeah, it is, you know, really the tall tree I've lived by the by the anthem of the tall trees get all the wind when an eagle soars, you know, other crows don't don't sword. They don't fly with the eagle. The eagle flies a lot, a lot of times alone. And it's the it's the hardest path to walk. But we have to be brave, especially in the times that we live in. Yes, absolutely. And we're going to be signing off here for for the listeners and viewers. But don't hang up yet. Your song Trump One is, as of right now, still available on iTunes. People can check it out on YouTube and Rumble as well. But I encourage them to go support your work. And it's not just iTunes. I'm sure there's other places they can get it from. Right. Yeah. Well, you know, anywhere you listen to music, Amazon, Spotify, whether it's streaming or download, you can get this as of now. The single available. Our plan is because we've had such a demand for our request for it to have a hard copy of an actual physical CD of Trump one. We it is going to be a week or two before we can get them out to you guys. But we have we're going to have Trump one and the actual video on a DVD that that will play in your car, your TV and that you if you want physical products. So check back with my website, which is Natasha Owens, music dot com. And you can find that we've got shirts, we've got hats coming out, bumper stickers, all kinds of stuff. But, you know, it helps to buy it on iTunes at this point because that's where the charting goes. That's where, you know, definitely not getting a Grammy for this one. Right. Even though it would show it. But it helps the album to go gold. It helps get it out there to bigger platforms, the bigger it gets. So that would help me the most. But what we're planning on doing, our American Patriot album towards the end of the year, I've got Trump one. I've got a Second Amendment song coming out in a couple of months called The Second Protects the First. And we're going to put another version of the Star Spangled Banner and one or two more songs on it. And we're going to we're going to create a deluxe version that's going to come out December, January of, you know, December of twenty twenty three, January of twenty twenty four. And just in time for the campaign year. So be looking out for that. But we're providing hard copies before before that so that you can have Trump one. Excellent. Yeah, absolutely. Because physical media nowadays, with all the digital erasing going on, you're going to want it in physical. So you don't want to be digitally erased. But also to a point to highlight that you said earlier, is it just the American Patriot album where you mentioned that proceeds go to support veterans? Yeah, we're going to do that also with the Trump one and with the deluxe version, because that's where my heart is. I sang to fifty three thousand vets on a Daytona stage back in May, and I was changed that day. And I told my husband, if I can help vets, if I can sing to them, whether they're soldiers or retired for the rest of my life, I could find purpose. And so my goal in the trenches is I connect with these veterans because they have the battlefield of the mind when they come back from war and the PTSD and they try to be strong. And I relate to them so much because even though our situations are totally different, there's a lot of similarities. And so I'm just my my heart is with them right now because I just really appreciate what they've done for us. Absolutely. And that's well put. And thank you so much for doing that also. And for those watching and listening, you know the drill. Every link that she's mentioned, including her social media that I'll let you plug in here in a moment, will be available on the show. This company's episode at the WWF used to go over dot com. Natasha Owens, where can people follow you to stay up to date with what you're doing? Well, you can still get me on Facebook, Natasha Owens Music, True Social is the same. Twitter and Instagram are a little different because it was already taken. So it's Tasha Owens Music on those two. But you can go to my website, Natasha Owens Music dot com, and it will put you you just click a button on whichever symbol of social media and it will bring you right there. So like me, connect with me. I'm always on these programs or the social media answering questions. And you can get to me whenever it may take me a second with the amount coming through. But I'll get to you. And I appreciate your support. Everyone, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. The end of the show, Natasha Owens. This was wonderful having you on and sharing your story. I hope we can do this again sometime. Absolutely.