Psalm 46:10
”Be STILL, and know that I am God”

Hebrews 11:6
“But without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that DILIGENTLY seek him”.

Like many other converts, 26 year old Miami native David Jimenez learnt to put his ultimate hope in Jesus and diligently seek His kingdom, hence the name “Still Diligent”. The “Difficult Truth” rapper recalls years rapping under the moniker “Heat” and “D-Blaze”.

“I was trying to get my hands on the whole music thing rapping with one of my homies (name disclosed). We formed a group. In the beginning we started doing the entire Christian hip hop thing but then we took a turn and started making secular music. At this time I was in and out of the church too. That was until I eventually stopped going to church completely for about 2 years.”

After living in Miami for 15 years, Still Diligent moved to Lakeland, Florida with his mother, two sisters and step father, only to pack his bags and return to his home city four years later.

“I never really wanted to leave my home city. I always told myself I would go back. So when I was 19, I told my mom I meant no disrespect but I just had to go back. I wanted to really pursue music plus all my friends were there. But things just weren’t going as planned (well… not by my plans; God knew what he was doing). I got invited to Trinity church in Miami by an old friend. The services were amazing and the gospel slowly started working in my heart while I was in my confused way of living.”

Still Diligent moved back to Winter Haven at the age of 23 and began attending his mother’s church “El buen Samaritano” (The Good Samaritan Church). He was confronted by the Word of God with his life of unbelief and Luke-warmness and was convicted to truly pursue Christ and his righteousness first. It was around then Still Diligent also met his beautiful wife. However, after parting ways with his former group member due to the great change in his life, the music scene wasn’t looking as promising. Then he met Darwin Garcia.

“This dude was a good brother. He met me and said ‘I heard you rap. Well I got a brother who produces; I could get you on something. I didn’t really take it serious, because at that point I was a bit discouraged and had pretty much given up on making music. I worked a minimum wage job then and I didn’t have any money or time to really invest in music. Plus I had just gotten married and was still learning, trying to adapt and transition into becoming a husband. I had a lot more responsibilities on my shoulders and the lack of finances and time started to become very frustrating. Musically, there were people I wanted to work with that basically said ‘Love your heart bro, but not so much your talent’. But then there were dudes like Witness, Aktiv Beats, Loso… Datin, Dillon Chase and B-Les who showed nothing but brotherly love man. And it’s not even just because they agreed to work with me, but they really showed me what it looked like (being a brother in the faith).”

After debuting “officially” as a Christian Artist on the “Failure remix” with Kareem Manuel on Witness’ release, Darwin Garcia, owner of HPTP Records (He Paid The Price Records) gained interest in Still Diligent and later signed him as the first artist on the label. Since then, Still Diligent has released the singles “F.I.A (Faith in Action)” featuring Loso and Witness (March 2014), “Difficult Truth”, and “Kingdom Biz” featuring B-Les and Dillon Chase (July 2014). He’s also featured on the “Can’t Do” release by Chicago native Witness in September 2014 as well.

Now, with less than a year under his belt, Still Diligent has released his first mixtape entitled “Underdog” which was released on October 28th. This is his his first compilation not only as a Christian but as a solo artist.

“I feel like Jesus was the biggest underdog. People miscalculated his power. People didn’t even know or believe in who he was and what he came to do! And not that I’m CHH’s savior or anything like that, but I can relate in so many ways with this personal savior of mine in the sense he was looked down on, ridiculed, and even rejected. I’ve been rejected, and doubted many times in my life. But thanks be to God for His strength and for the amazing support I have. I’ve been encouraged to keep going. My hope is in the greatest underdog of all who proved to be bigger than anything. So the focus of the mixtape, Underdog, is not so much about me and what I have accomplished, but rather about what He has done and has helped me accomplish. I’ve learnt to be dependent on him instead of myself or in the opinions of others (about me). At the end of the day it’s the Lord who sees what no one else sees, and He looks at the final product. The world may see an underdog, but he sees a masterpiece.”

The mixtape features work with other notable names within CHH such as Datin, Loso, Dillon Chase, Witness, Aktiv Beats and more.

“It’s been a huge blessing to work with these guys. The relationships I’ve built and encouragement I’ve gotten is surreal. I’m just looking to God to continue to give me the grace and the words to say to those underdogs who need to hear that encouragement and the focus needed to remain still and diligent.”
Still Diligent

Still Diligent hopes to make more music and is excited to see what the Lord will do with this project.