Gerald "Slink" Johnson has himself a hit show. He has gone from relative unknown (Slink doesn't even have a Wiki page) to being the star of one of the funniest sitcoms on television. Despite Christian groups being upset about Aaron McGruder's take on their white, hippy-looking version of the greatest man to walk this planet, Black Jesus had a phenomenal first season. Which is mind-boggling because McGruder and Slink's interpretation of God's only begotten son is that of a hippy: Black Jesus likes to smoke weed and is all about peace, love, and kindness. He walks around barefoot sometimes and doesn't take showers. If that's not a hippy, I don't know what is. Tonight on Adult Swim, they look to ruffle even more feathers with the premiere of the second season. We had the pleasure of talking to Slink about the show's success, their plans for this upcoming season, and the overall message they're trying to hammer home. Prepare to have your mind ready and your heart open.
So last season, you guys established the characters and the crew. So what’s going to be different this season?
This season we’re going to delve deeper into some of their personalities and some of the issues they deal with as individuals. This season is very funny. We have a lot of different stories, a lot of different plots going on, and you’re just going to have to hold on and pay attention, man. Black Jesus season two is going to be a wild ride.
At the end of last season you got put in a mental hospital. In the new trailer you get out and tell the guys you want to go legit.
Yes sir. Yes sir. That was our aim last year, to go legit. So we going more legit this season.
The show came across some controversy because of the subject matter. I know you talked about this before but do you have any more thoughts on it?
Black Jesus is a well thought-out, well-written satire. We're very mindful as to how we deliver the story. People are always going to be pretty sensitive to my portrayal of Jesus, or anybody’s portrayal of Jesus in a light which they might not be used to seeing him in. So we always try to be mindful of what we’re doing, things we talk about.
How do you try to navigate through those waters while still pushing the envelope?
We definitely try to push the envelope with the show, and again, we’re encompassing Jesus’ humanity and him dealing with humanity. We’re not covering the divinity necessarily. There’s always going to be references to his divinity in the show, but we’re covering the humanity, the things that happen here on Earth and how we think—our interpretation of how Jesus would deal with these things.
In the first season, every time you used your powers for selfish reasons it backfired.
Right. Because Pops controls the miracle department. When he wants the miracle to be done, he will allow Jesus to be his conduit.
You’re God’s vehicle, that’s what Jesus was. It’s like when you turn the water into Hennessy.
It’s the same thing. If you look at a bottle of Hennessy, it’s going to say cognac wine, if I’m not mistaken. The Hennessy reference was obviously a take on the water into wine thing, but you know it’s going to be Hennessy.
I think the subject matter clouds the message in the episodes too. You guys always try to put a message in each episode.
The message that you see in the show, I will be honest and tell you, it’s like 85-90 percent organic. Meaning we don’t always go out of our way to make the message—it just all falls together perfectly. Our Jesus is about love and kindness despite the scene it’s set in or the language that you hear. It’s always going to be about love and kindness and that message will always, always shine.
Do you think the people that criticize the show actually watched it?
No. They watched the trailer, they watched the clips that they wanted to watch perhaps, and they read a lot of negative comments. But everybody is entitled to their opinions and we respect and welcome everybody’s opinion. This is about dialogue. I’m not going to sit here and say, “I’m mad at the people who don’t like the show.” I’m just glad that we’re able to create dialogue and get people to talk about Jesus and spirituality.
Talk about the jokes that play off the bible. You’re coming from the perspective of someone from the hood.
The original Black Jesus sketches were all improvised. I was just given a role and a wig, and like, what would you do or what would you say if you were Jesus? With Aaron giving me that freedom and that ball to run with, I just delivered my interpretation. A lot of the character is a lot of my own personality, so that’s what makes it so easy for me.
If Jesus was from the hood and had friends that were gangbangers.
Right. And to be able to deliver those messages or to reenact some of those famous stories that we heard in the bible, it’s just a wonderful opportunity. I think that’s what Jesus would say—if he lived next door to me, I would expect him to talk like me.
Like in layman’s terms, very down to earth.
Exactly. You’re not going to go to Mexico and expect people to listen to you or to hear or understand you if you’re speaking Mandarin. You have to speak Spanish. You know, sometimes you have to talk Crip. Sometimes you have to talk businessman. There’s different languages that different people understand, so you know you have to be able to definitely adapt to different people and have to be able to meet them where they are.
The web series was no holds barred, you were able to curse. What was the biggest challenge transitioning from to a cable network like Adult Swim and Cartoon Network?
It was pretty easy. The only difference is the language. I have to make a conscious effort to keep the profanity down to a minimum. Actually, that’s a better thing because I feel like if you could express yourself without a whole lot of profane language, you’re pretty good at expressing yourself.
You still get your point across.
Right. The Internet is the Wild West. Anything goes. [But] transitioning from an Internet personality to a television personality was pretty easy for me.
Adult Swim is easier too because it comes on so late.
Adult Swim kicks ass. Don’t forget. Adult Swim kicks major ass.
I was honestly—with the controversy and it being a black show—I was surprised that it got picked up for another season.
Well I was very confident that we would get picked up, but once the order came in I was very relieved. It’s awesome, a wonderful opportunity to be able to do what I’m doing right now, especially to be backed by so many great people like Aaron McGruder, like Mike Clattenburg, like Norm Aladjem and all the producers of Black Jesus and all the great people over at Adult Swim every day. They nurture the talent and they do great things for me and the show.
Without giving away too much, what’s going to happen in Season Two's premiere episode tonight?
If you watched last season, we’re just picking up where we left off. Jesus was committed. A lot of people said, “Oh he went to jail.” I guess any time you’re in bondage that’s a form of jail, but he was actually committed for a brief stay in a mental asylum. The show picks up now after he’s being released from his stay and he hits the ground running. He’s back on his shit. Look here, man, the world don’t stop. The world needs love and kindness all the time. Jesus is never off. He’s never off. Pops spoke to him and gave him the divine plan and he knows it’s time. He’s got to spread his love and kindness so he hit the ground running, literally.
Throughout the whole season people kept saying, “Oh this motherfucker’s homeless and crazy.”
And you know, that’s the beauty of it all to me, because you bring Jesus down to a level at which many people can understand. And I’ll equate it like this: I listen to a lot of rap music nowadays and these guys are talking about these cars and these houses and just, “I’m throwing away $100,000.” I don’t think that’s life for half your fans. Most of your fans will never experience riding in a Bentley or throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars around. To take it back to Jesus, making him a blue collar guy who appears to be impoverished or who appears to be dealing with life on a real level, a lot of people gravitate to that because a lot of people are dealing with life on a very, very real level.
Jesus seems like the dude that will chill on the block with you and roll a blunt.
Most definitely, because Jesus is everywhere. He’s in all situations, even some unfavorable ones. And in those unfavorable situations he’s there, trying to tell you, “Hey, it’s going to be alright. Hey, you don’t have to do this. Hey, I got something better for you.” And he’s always there. Even in Compton.
