At the start of 2015, Vegas artist Asaiah Ziv was virtually unknown in his hometown’s hip-hop scene—at least by that name. As KIDD, the former Christian rapper was successful enough to have been signed by Infiltrate Music at age 16, his debut album Murder My Flesh reaching No. 14 on Billboard’s Gospel chart. But the now 19-year-old recently parted ways with his label, set on re-creating his sound.

Maintaining the conscious and bold lyricism for which he was most known, Ziv takes a smoother approach, rhyming with a mellow flow over self-made production. He favors melodic beats that match his raw energy, sounding like a mesh of Soulection producer Sango and hip-hop legend J Dilla, the latter a key influence. He preserves similar religious beliefs, but his message now focuses on life experiences. With the change came backlash, and he lost fans. But Ziv believes his vision will catch on. “My music is based on me, the journey and the process, so I think the more people listen, they’ll know where I am in life.”

Although he’s only released a couple of tracks as Asaiah Ziv thus far, he has plans to release a longer project on Soundcloud before the end of January. Having already caught the attention of—and opened for—Vegas hip-hop heavyweight Dizzy Wright, Ziv’s original content and authenticity might be hard even for his lost fans to resist. ­soundcloud.com/asaiahziv