By Morgan Mizell

NATCHEZ — For Emerson Hill, singing is a God-given gift he enjoys sharing with those around him, and he hopes to use his talent as a way to inspire younger generations.

“Music always kept me from going all the way wrong,” Hill said. “It saved me from the streets, because nothing was more important to me than music.”

A Natchez native, Hill spent most of his formative years in Chicago. He said he watched kids grow up in the violent lifestyles of gangs and drug abuse, because they had no choice. Hill said he does outreach through churches in the area because he sees the decline in some of the neighborhoods here, and young kids thinking that kind of lifestyle is cool.

“I want to be a positive force for kids in the area,” Hill said. “I think my music gives them something to aspire to.”

Hill never had any professional training. He said he spent a great deal of time listening to his mother and sister, who were both trained sopranos. Hill is the only boy of five kids, all of who sing. For him, music was a way to have an identity.

Hill’s music is similar in style to performers of yesteryear. He said he has been influenced by vocalists such as Michael Jackson, Al Green, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye.

“These artists had limited editing to their sound,” Hill said. “They had a richness and soul in their music.”

Hill’s sound is one, he says, that speaks to a varied audience – both young and old.

His first album was R&B and he recorded it when he was 13 years old. He became known for his Gospel after he moved back to Natchez.

“I had stopped focusing on my music by the time I was about 20 or 21,” Hill said. “My mom asked me to come to church with her and I saw a guy I had known who was once really bad on drugs, and he was setting up music equipment. This group was playing called ‘The Undertakers,’ because they all worked at funeral homes. Mom asked if I would sing with them, and I was back.”

Hill thinks doing one thing well, in a positive way, and having a positive attitude is a way to change things in the community and possibly the world.

So far, Hill has recorded three albums and is currently working on a forth. His latest work is entitled, “Emerson Hill Presents, and features a song very dear to him, ‘Let My Light Shine.’”

“It is about hard times, and finding your way through them by keeping faith and trusting in God,” Hill said. “No matter what, I will let my light shine. No one else can give what we, as individuals, can give so we need to stop trying to be like everyone else. We need to find ourselves, our place, and our way and go that way.”

Hill writes most of his own songs.

“I have written all of the songs I have recorded except for two,” Hill said. “I wake up with them. Usually, I am in the state between asleep and awake when inspiration comes to me and I try to get it down quick so I won’t lose it. I can not take credit for it – I don’t create it.”

Hill says one motivation for his music is his desire to help the community.

“I want to make the parts of city, the predominantly black neighborhoods, cool again,” Hill said. “We all have differences, and I want to see respect come back between families, friends and neighbors. We have needs right here that need help – one kid and one word at a time.”

Hill says performing is a great feeling and something he wants to always do. Fame; however, is not the things that motivates him, but he enjoys the fact people like his music and are happy to see him.

His music has taken him all over the country for performances, including: California, Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans to name a few.

He rehearses at least twice a week and is involved in two different groups, “The Changed Singers” and “The Miss-Lou Connection.”

Hill is managed by his mother, Emily Sanders, who has always been supportive of his music.

“Music saved me,” Hill said. “I lived the life I did not have to when I was in Chicago because I was trying to be tough and cool. I am glad God saw fit to save me and let me do something constructive with my strong suit – music.”

Anyone looking to contact Hill about performances can call 601-392-7602 or email enmproductions220@yahoo.com.