Kang JJ: Inner Peace Campaign

Kang John Jock is an African-pop artist professionally known as Kang JJ, has been singing messages of peace and love for a very long time. I first heard of his music in my relative's car in Minnesota in 2012, since then I've been a fan. His music is very soothing, relaxing and gets you in a state of love. You feel positive, happy, and joyful after listening to his meaningful songs. Songs encouraging healthy relationships to songs of advocating for political peace and democracy. His songs resonates with peace lovers internationally. One of the things he is focusing now is on advocating for peace in South Sudan. The young nation has been at war since December 2013.

Kang is launching a campaign called, '' Inner Peace, '' because he has seen how war turn friends into enemies and the silence of peace lovers within the community. He's advocating for us to take the time to evaluate how we have been living and thinking for the past five years. We have became toxic towards each other and he doesn't want that to be the reality as we go into the new year. He wants a new era of inner and outer peace to exist. But first we must go within.

The Inner Peace Campaign consists of:

Mediation: 

Is about quieting the mind and allowing yourself to rest. Our minds have been occupied with the negative and that results in harmful speech and action. We have to be mindful each day. Our thoughts are the root of our behavioral issues. We have allowed the war to define us. We are more than what the war has turn us into. 

Each day when you wake up take the time to just be still for a few moments before starting your day. Then again at night before going to bed, take a few moments to be still and say thank you for the day. We have to be mindful and thankful each day. To train our bodies to be still. For us to be productive and to bring external peace it must first come from within. 

Prayer: 

Prayer is affirmation to yourself and the divine that you are aware of yourself and your surroundings. Like mediation we can use prayer each day to affirm the reality that we want to into existence. We also affirm our prayers by living in accordance for what we have prayed for. We can't pray for peace and yet have ugly speech and bully others at the same time. We have to live what we ask for. 

Prayer is powerful if used in a meaningful and productive way. It is a great reminder to live in accordance with our ultimate desire, peace. We can do this. We can achieve peace from the inside out. Join Kang John Jock on the journey of realizing external peace through internal peace and wellness. 

I have asked Kang some questions, so you may understand a little about him. I hope you enjoy the interview. 

What year were you born?

I was born in 1980, Nasir S. Sudan, Africa

What village did you grow up in?

I was born in Adura and taken back to Nasir.

At the age of three, my new life started in Itang Refugee camp, at the border between South Sudan and Ethiopia/South West

How was your childhood like?

My childhood was the most beautiful life by the Nile River that I have ever experienced. But War robbed me off my early life as a child. My family fled war-torn Sudan when I was only 3 years old. I spent the rest of my childhood in a refugee camp. But it was good back then because the life there was almost similar to that in my village. My family owned livestock, a good number of them. and I was taking tending. I only learned about the way of life in the village when I was taken back from exile in 1990.

How was your adulthood?

I grew up in exile and there was nothing interesting about it. You always feel not at home. You face challenges with no one to run to. But it also gave me who I am today, a fighter who does not kneel to pressure. It also taught me a lot about humanity and why you should see everyone equal.

Who inspired you in music?  

I would say I was born with the gift of singing. I used to also compose romantic songs and couldn't pay much attention to them. I don't even remember joining the Sunday school. But Mom later told me that I was taken in by the choir at the age of 8 because of my vocals. I fled the war at an early age and grew up in exile knowing why and who did that.

When it was time and I was well informed; I started having a lot of questions and that gave me reasons to fight for freedom and I immediately started writing freedom songs. Growing up in a refugee camp, a settlement in South East of Ethiopia, I spent most of my time listening and getting inspired by two local freedom singers namely Gatdet Chotlit since childhood and Gordon Koang Duoth from 1995.

After learning English, my inspirational Freedom singers became Bob Marley, Lucky Dube, and Chaka Chaka. I, later on, got inspired by an Ethiopian Pop singer, Teddy Afro and American singers like Boys II Men, West life, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion, and Shania Twain.

Why do you sing in English and Nuer?

I sing in English and Nuer because those are the two languages I can express myself well.

What do you believe about preserving culture?

Well, I would say, culture is our identity and all cultures were given to people by the creator for them to enjoy humanity when sharing. However, the mistake came when others think their culture is superior to the rest and want other culture to extinct. One’s cultural worthiness is a gift that must be cherished, preserved and respected. It is also important to get rid of harmful traditions through education, globalization, and awareness.

What is to be expected of you in 2019?

My team and I will be launching my fourth Album in December 2018 and I believe 2019 will start with tours and new projects that would be introduced when the time is right.

What do you tell your fans who believed and love your music?

I am blessed with very supportive and loving fans both at home and in the diaspora. I am telling them each and every day that I am working harder to give you a better music and an inspiring and a life changing message. My family, friends, and fans are the wheel that keeps me going and they are the backbone of my career and I am always grateful.

Tell us what you think about upcoming South Sudanese artists and what can you tell them about your journey in the music industry?

Do music rightly. Deliver the right message and it will advertise itself by touching people’s lives. Never beef a fellow artist because the real competition is between you and your hard work. Never give up on what you believe in. Those are the words that kept me going.

Here are some of my favorites song below. I am sure you will enjoy them too: