Genre:
Rap/Hip-Hop,
Soul/R&B
Hometown: Prattville, AL
Michael Anthony Warren II (aka Testify-Music), was born in Montgomery and raised in the city of Prattville, Alabama. He started getting into music at a young age, and listened to various musicians growing up. He didn't have a rough childhood and was blessed enough to be raised by both his parents, but sympathized with the many people who came from broken homes. But as he got older he developed an anger problem which followed him all the way to middle school. He would get into fights and make trouble wherever he happened to be.
One day his mother was rushed to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with diabetes which put her in a critical state for almost two weeks. This only progressed his anger addiction, and caused him to doubt the existence of Jesus and even made him despise the church for a while. The only thing that seemed to keep him from turning to a life of violence was his passion for music, and the thought of losing himself to anger. Through his music he was able to express himself and channel his anger into lyrics. Eventually his love for music led him to join the Prattville High School Marching Band, where he learned to play the clarinet, the drums, and other various instruments. After a few years of band and making various connections to others, he learned to control his anger and stopped getting angry every time something went wrong in his life.
During his time in High School a couple of his friends invited him to a youth service at Destiny Christian Center. At first he was skeptical about going to church, because of what happen to his mom and what transpired afterwards, but he decided to give it a chance and went. That night something inside of him clicked, and Mike continued to attend youth service so he could get in touch with Christ more, and to figure out why God created him. After talking the with the youth pastor, the other leaders and attending more services, he eventually made a connection with Jesus and became more and more excited about spreading the word of Christ to others. On February 12, 2011, Mike decided to join the unashamed family and gave his life to the Lord, and was baptized in the everlasting water at his home church. From then on he became the man you see today. A dedicated soldier of God who truly loves Christ and would do ANYTHING to connect people to the man who set his sinful soul free!
He used his newly found passion for God and music, to spread the word of Christ in a way that children and teens can understand and apply it to their everyday lives. In June of 2011 his close friend DeAndre introduced him to a producer known as TheoryFormed. He was a full time producer and recording artist, who sought to inspire and teach people through music. The two began to formed a friendship, and began working on his debut single. Finally on July 22, 2011, Mike debuted his song "Fallen From Grace". It told the story of how he fell from God’s grace and how he struggled to change his sinful ways, and become complete. A few months later he released another song entitled "Give It My All" which served as the lead single for his upcoming album. Again the song was a huge success and was even featured in Extreme Rock Magazine. The single featured HookStarz' frontman Marka and Christian Hip-Hop artist Alex Gorey.
On January 12, 2012 he released his debut album Retribution, which gave us a look into his journey towards Christ and tells the stories of what most people face at some point in their life. After the release of his highly anticipated album, Mike faced a few hardships. He was rejected by a few recording labels, his friends stopped supporting him, and his drive to minster to kids faded into the background. This put a strain on his relationship with Christ and he began to doubt his purpose in life. Maybe he wasn't called to minster to people though music after all. He then decided to change his musical style and tried to become a Mainstream artist and pursued a life of fame and fortune; however, this "temporary fix" did nothing but cause his fans to split and his writing style to suffer.
After his failed attempt to make it as a superstar, Mike decided to take a step away from music in order to fix his relationship with Christ. He began praying and listening to the teachings of his pastor, hoping to find his true-self once again. After many months of service to the church and advice from his mentors he was able to fix his relationship with Christ. He realized that he shouldn't use his gift for music to glorify himself, but to glorify the almighty king of kings! So as he picked up the mic once again he decided that it was time for change.
He decided to change his name to “Testify” symbolizing a new artist with a better message, and started taking his role as a leader more seriously. Now, as he begins a new chapter in his life, he is sure to face hardships once again. But with the Lord by his side, and his newly recharged faith, he has nothing to fear! Mike was once a lost and misguided soul full of anger and bitterness, now he's an artist with a purpose and a plan to change lives, by connecting kids / teens to God through music / leadership! He may be young, but he will continue to flourish in the Lord's light, and will continue to minister to kids until the day he is called home...