April 12, 2008.
To most, it was just another spring Saturday. But for me, it marked the beginning of something eternal—a ripple in the spacetime continuum of the Nureau Underground. It was the day I released The Anti-Virus, my debut studio album, to The Futureverse.
But to understand the impact, you have to know where it started: a small bedroom in San Diego, a crib beside the dresser, a mic rigged up on top, and a dream too loud to silence.
At the time, I was in survival mode—freelancing to feed my growing family, building part-time with Nureau and taking other gigs wherever I could. Odd jobs. Print design. Trying to stay faithful, focused, and fed. The world outside was noisy with uncertainty. But inside? I heard something sharper: a call. A message that had to be delivered.
So I did what any mad creative prophet would do. I locked myself in that room for seven days with nothing but Arizona Green Tea, Hot Pockets, and Spongebob Squarepants DVDs. That last part wasn’t for me. It was the only thing that kept my infant daughter quiet while I recorded. Spongebob’s voice hummed softly from the mounted TV while I spit verses inches away, a mic perched on the dresser. To this day, if you turn down the instrumentals on certain tracks, you’ll be sure to hear that high-pitched “I’m readyyy!” echoing in the background.
That space didn’t restrict me though. It refined me. What emerged from that week retreat was 20 tracks of raw, prophetic art. A sonic rebellion. My own Christ-coded sci-fi transmission.
The cover art said it all - me as a time traveler emerging through a tear in spacetime, mohawk ablaze, arriving in the present with urgency. Designed with intention, it represented not just my creative rebirth, but my arrival as DAVID 2.0, the "Red Lion".
I bartered graphic design services to get the project mastered by a contact at Syntax Records - no money, just hustle. That was the energy of the time. Trading art for art. I submitted everything to iTunes six weeks ahead of release, a process far from streamlined in 2008, when indie artists still had to push through gatekeepers just to go digital.
On April 11, the night before the official drop, we held the album release concert at the Joan Kroc Theatre in San Diego. That venue was secured through an old theater connect, a divine setup I couldn’t have orchestrated better if I tried. Everything lined up. At times, it truly felt like heaven had greenlit the mission. That night, I stood on stage with a fresh mohawk, stepping into the public eye as DAVID 2.0 for the first time. A digital prophet with analog roots. The Time Traveler bringing a Message for the present, alongside his family, friends, and new fans, in the city and streaming online.
There were countless names listed in the liner notes, but the deepest dedication was always to my legacy - my parents, brothers, spouse, and children. The ones who stood beside me as I crossed over into adulthood, from artist into messenger, from a dreamer into a minister of sound. They were there for the transition, not just the triumph.
The project was a warning wrapped in melody. A message in a bottle to the early 21st-century church and culture. I was sounding the alarm: if we didn’t evolve in the presentation of our theology, social justice, and witness, we’d be looking at the ruins of a once-vibrant Christian City. That was the metaphor painted on the back cover—a post-apocalyptic vision of Christendom crumbling under its own weight. But in the ashes of it all was found The Anti-Virus. Not a man or a movement per se, but a Message. The truth of the Gospel. Pure. Unfiltered. Future-facing.
Tracks like Time, Enlisted, and The Blunt Edge weren’t just songs—they were declarations. Then came the collabs: 2 The West with Omega Mythologist, Sonrise, Sunset with Mikael Anthony. Every verse was intentional. Every sonic decision had weight.
The reception was more than I imagined. A few hundred physicals moved in the streets of San Diego. MySpace Music boosted my digital presence before the algorithm wars had really begun. I did some events, from local churches to a youth conference out of state. Got spins on Christian radio. Even had international connections reach out from the Netherlands and Japan after finding me online.
I rode that high for nearly a year and a half before starting work on the follow-up project. The Anti-Virus would go on to become the first of a trilogy: Reboot (2009) and Artificial Intelligence (2012) followed. Four years of creative evolution stitched into the timeline of The Futureverse.
What most folks don’t know is that April 12 wasn’t just my birthday—it was the anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival. The sound of awakening meeting the sound of the future. A divine intersection.
The Anti-Virus was never about streams, sales, or stats. It was about surrender to the Message and the art. It was about telling the truth I was born to tell, even if it meant recording next to a crib, with Spongebob as my engineer. I didn’t have a major label, a big budget, or a professional studio. What I had was a call. And sometimes, that’s all you need.
2.0
The Anti Virus (2008)
Tracklisting
- The Upgrade
- Red Introlude
- Chronicles Of A Time Traveler
- 2024 AE: Ode 2 Nureau
- Time
- 2 The West Feat. Omega Mythologist
- The Freedom Fighter
- Tumblin' Down
- Observant
- Stormy Weather
- iPray
- Sonrise, Sunset Feat. Mikael Anthony
- I Am Legend
- Enlisted (Worship Is Warfare)
- The Blunt Edge
- Twisted
- See Saw XXX Feat. Law The Hybrid
- Stay 2ned Outrolude
- Tumblin' Down (Acapella)