Anton Eshon Hairston (born April 21, 1980), who goes by the stage name Eshon Burgundy, is an American former

Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United S ...

musician. His first album, ''Blood Rushing to My Head'', was released in 2012 with Salvation Armie Music Group. He released his second album, 2015's ''The Fear of God'', with Humble Beast Records.

Early life

Eshon Burgundy was born Anton Eshon Hairston in Abington, Pennsylvania, He was raised by his mother Rochelle in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He was raised in an environment of constantly moving from residence-to-residence across Philadelphia after his mother was in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend at the time. They eventually settled in a housing complex, Passyunk Homes. This would lead him to become the responsible oldest sibling in his family, where he has two younger brothers, Seifuddin and Ameer, and a younger sister, Aleema. Eshon was shot three times when he was 15 years old, coming within minutes of dying. This was the impetus for him to dedicate the next five years of his life to being involved in the hip hop underground community in his hometown of Philadelphia. He later signed two record deals with drug kingpins around 2000 but never released any music. He became a Christian in 2001 and began making Christian hip hop music in his hometown, until he relocated to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

Music career

His professional music career began in 2007, when he was featured along with poet Black Ice on Dj Jazzy Jeff's Return Of The Magnificent album. The song was entitled Run that back. Eshon Burgundy released his debut album ''Blood Rushing to My Head'' with Salvation Armie Music Group on July 24, 2012. His second album, ''The Fear of God'', was released by Humble Beast Records on March 3, 2015, just shy of his thirty-fifth birthday. This was his ''Billboard'' chart breakthrough album, with it charting at No. 15 on the

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

, No. 20 on the

Rap Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...

, No. 25 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

, and on the

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

at No. 4. On May 27, 2016, Eshon Burgundy released his highly anticipated third album called The Passover. The album was inspired by the Passover of the

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

of the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

out of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. He then released a fourth and most recent album which he named For The Love of Money on September 20, 2019. Beginning in late 2020, Burgundy began to refer to himself as a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, the idea that he—as a descendant of Black American slaves—is a true

Hebrew Israelite Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved th ...

. As such, he has begun to distance himself from mainstream Christianity and the larger

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

community.

Personal life

Eshon Burgundy has a wife, Zara, and they have three children. Harlem, Evyr and Kinsington.

Discography

References

External links

Official website

Wade-O Radio interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgundy, Eshon Living people African-American male rappers African-American Christians Singers from Texas Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida People from Fort Worth, Texas American performers of Christian hip hop music Rappers from Texas Rappers from Florida Rappers from Philadelphia Rappers from Atlanta Songwriters from Florida Songwriters from Pennsylvania Songwriters from Texas Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people) African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American musicians American male songwriters