From ‘Good Burger’ To The Good Word: Kel Mitchell’s 25+ Year Career Now Includes A Pulpit
If you grew up in the ‘90s, Kel Mitchell is very much a familiar face. He was one half of the popular Nickelodeon sitcom “Kenan & Kel” (with his “SNL” veteran buddy Kenan Thompson), a lead actor in the “Good Burger” movie, and a standout on the hit teen show “All That”.
These days, the two-time Emmy nominated actor and comedian is taking on a litany of projects. Mitchell recently appeared on Robin Thede’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show” and he co-hosts MTV’s “Deliciousness,” which gives viewers a front row seat to over-the-top food fails from all over the world.
What some might not know is that the married father of four is also a youth pastor at LA’s Spirit Food Christian Center, the author of a new devotional book called Blessed Mode: 90 Days to Level Up Your Faith, and just released a new gospel/hip hop single, “Blessed Mode” featuring nobigdyl and Scootie Wop.
BET.com caught up with Mitchell to talk about the book, some exclusive news about his growing music career, and how he's able to view life's ups and downs through a lens of faith.
BET.com: Why did you pick 90 days as the time-frame for the devotional book?
Kel Mitchell: It’s funny, I've actually done 100, so there's 10 more [days] out there that people haven't read. But yeah, we just felt like 90 sounded good and it just took off from there. It felt right. I'm excited people get to really dive into it. I really wanted the book to be very interactive and that's why I put a lot of hashtags in there. I wanted to do a devotional book, because you can really tap in each day. Here's a story from my life: pray with God, keep you and yourself covered, and take care of your family. It’s been great seeing people use the #BlessedMode hashtag online.
BET.com: Your book Blessed Mode has been out for a few months, but your song by the same name is new. Did you just think “Hmmmm, this book needs a bop?”
Kel Mitchell: Ha! It actually was a little bit of that. This book works on your spiritual, mental and physical health. I also mentioned different songs in the book. So I was like, “Yo, it needs a song.” And that's literally what we did.
I love to rap, I’ve been on the Billboard charts before with other artists way back in the day. This is like my comeback to music, which is super fun for me. It was great working with Scootie Wop and nobigdyl. And then I hooked up with video director Irving Lambert to make my ideas about anime, the lion’s den, and a fiery furnace all come to life. It was a lot of fun!
BET.com: Sounds like the music bug has bitten you again. Will we be seeing more singles? An album?
Kel Mitchell: We're actually gonna put out more songs that connect to Blessed Mode. We're gonna take different chapters of the book and turn them into songs and videos. You are one of the first people to break this! We haven’t really talked about this yet, so this is cool. Very excited about it!
BET.com: You are stretching and growing as an entertainer. What would you say are the biggest differences between Kel…the man/husband/father 20 years ago and Kel…the man/husband/father today?
Kel Mitchell: Oh, wow. We have to understand that every moment that we have, we must make the best out of every moment, and to be better than the day before. So, there are no mistakes, there are only lessons. I'm learning through this process, and I want to be the best dad and I want to be the best husband that I can be. I'm just always learning how to love better, how to have joy better and stepping up to be the best I can. I never act as if I know everything.
BET.com: You have a unique perspective as a comedic actor, husband, father, and pastor. What is your take on the incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars?
Kel Mitchell: Like everyone else, I was just shocked at first. I feel that everyone goes through emotional loss, and they have their own way of processing things. It's how people deal with it– the pressure of the world. And so for me, that's why I wrote Blessed Mode because within the book, it’s really just saying, ‘Hey, let me respond in love.’ I really feel like if everyone just responded in love in every situation, just take a second to think before you make the next decision, we’d all be better for it.
You want to make sure you respond in love when the pressure hits and you never know when that might be. That's why it's so important to spend time with God first and spend time with whatever you might be dealing with. I’m praying for everybody to start responding in love.
BET.com: Mother’s Day is right around the corner. What do you have in mind this year?
Kel Mitchell: Mother’s Day is awesome. Women are beautiful and just amazing and powerful and so Mother's Day is very important in our family. T definitely involves a lot of gift giving and time to relax and not think about doing anything. We just go have fun and hang out and the kids love it. They love getting excited about doing artwork.
