What Did You Think? Of Course They Were Gonna Get Up And Get It

by | Jul 30, 2020 | FILM & TV

The duo known as Get Up And Get It are video producers, social media influencers, and event planners. But first and foremost, JRoth and Hallelujah God-Bless-Us are dream chasers determined to get the most out of life.

Do you make the most out of your 24 hours? For the duo known as Get Up And Get It, this isn’t a challenge, but a way of life.

“It’s my testimony,” said Hallelujah God-Bless-Us. “It’s not easy, you know, chasing the dream, and it goes for 24 hours. I’ve been homeless going out there chasing the dream, not just in the States, but also in foreign countries. I’m trying the best you can.”

Hallelujah God-Bless-Us, 28, is one half of Get Up And Get It. He became a proponent of inspiring others to make the most of his 24 daily hours after learning how to do so himself.

If hustling was easy then everyone would do it, but this is why the duo use their love for life as motivation to inspire anyone and everyone to feel exactly the same. Whether it be water gun fights, noodle battles, or showing strangers their own beauty by using a mirror, Get Up and Get It won’t discriminate when it comes to brightening their day — and having strangers join them in doing so. 

You might recognize Hallelujah and his counterpart, Josh Roth, 24 — who prefers to go by JRoth — from their viral skits filmed around Richmond, or as the masterminds behind last year’s RVA Splashfest event at the Diamond. The group, named after the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony song, may not have officially broken the Guinness World Record for largest water gun fight last year, due to no Guinness Book representative being present to officiate the head count of close to 4000 attendees. But the amount of sheer joy brought to the packed parking lot of the Flying Squirrels stadium was enough for them — not to mention that the proceeds went to the nonprofit Splash, whose mission is to provide clean water for kids in need.

JRoth was the original creator of Get Up and Get It. “I started Get Up & Get It back in 2016 as something I would just say, going to the gym and hustling my business each day,” said Roth. Call it fate or an act of god that he met Hallelujah in the VCU library; they have been living by those words ever since.

“We met at VCU in the creative room at the Library,” JRoth explains. “We were both editing videos and around each other, and ended up working on a video together. And then it just kept going from there. The phrase ‘Get Up & Get It’ stuck, and then became an actual business where we inspire individuals to become the best version of themself.”

Almost 48 hours after their chance encounter, they were both on a plane to Miami, seeking to inspire others by using whatever creative outlet that their hearts desired. They experimented with several different concepts when they started, but it was the water guns that resonated with the audience and sprung them to social media superstardom. 

Hallelujah’s TikTok page boasts close to 720,000 followers and over 10 million views. He has 52,000 followers on Instagram. JRoth has around 13,000 followers on Instagram and 10,000 Twitter followers. He grabbed over 11.5 million views on his most viral video on Twitter, the Water Gun Challenge with Strangers. The duo were even featured on Good Morning America because of their mission of spreading joy.

COVID-19 may have delayed Get Up and Get It hosting the second Splashfest, but they are currently living by their moniker and ‘getting it.’ Hallelujah recently relocated to the West Coast and has been carrying on the skit aspect of Get Up and Get It. JRoth, on the other hand, just finished up the first season of his podcast, the Get Up and Get It Show. He provides advice by being transparent with his failures and success stories, in order to inspire viewers to follow in his footsteps, and Get Up and Get It.

Hallelujah hasn’t been overtly political about the current conflict over systemic racism and police brutality in our nation, but he has been using his videos to subtly make a statement during this crisis. He knows his worth as a Black influencer and has chosen to take a diplomatic approach. Despite the way the protests have been covered as a very adversarial situation, he has gotten both ‘sides’ to join in the fun. And yes, that does mean law enforcement. Hallelujah takes extreme pride in his Blackness, and feels that the best way to have some sense of peace is to extend an olive branch in order to recruit more to stand beside the Black Lives Matter movement. These protests are not, in his view, about White vs BIPOC, but Love vs Hate.

“With the frequency that America and the nation is on right now, I do feel as if we are providing a different vibe for people to really see that Black lives do matter. Because love matters,” said Hallelujah. “I feel that we know we are telling a different side of the story that’s not seen or tried, especially with the way that we’re interacting with strangers. I mean, me as a Black man interacting with all types of colors and showing that. Love is something that can be easily sparked by sowing this, giving you a hula hoop or quoting a mirror, or even picking up a water gun, is so effortless that we can, as a community, have a happy ending.”

For Get Up and Get It, their online presence isn’t all about going viral. They are just doing what is organic to them. As their popularity has grown, they’ve made the decision to adapt and grow with the audiences feedback. They see it as doing God’s work, and feel that God has continued to deliver his blessing to the group and everyone affected by their presence. For instance, they recently just happened to run into Petersburg’s Uriyah, which led to collaboration with his Grind Pray Clothing brand.

“You know, a lot of us are walking not even knowing if tomorrow is promised,” said Hallelujah. “That does not mean that you don’t have to have joy that is so overwhelming that you can’t contain it in that vessel you call yourself, so you must spread it to someone else. Just know that the struggle is real.”

And by the way, to answer the elephant in the room, Hallelujah God-Bless-Us isn’t his birth name.

 “The meaning of Hallelujah is to praise the Lord. It’s just kind of a double whammy, when you know someone is giving love to me, Hallelujah, they’re kind of low-key saying praise the Lord as well. This is why I go by the name Hallelujah, which is my name, for sure,” said Hallelujah. “I’m Haitian for sure, I know, my birth [last] name being Pierre-Louis. Nonetheless, that was a name given to us by someone who used to be called a master, and God is my master. So consequently, I want to satisfy that even after, during, and before, despite my shortcomings, to always be able to say praise the Lord.”

Right now, despite currently living on separate coasts, Hallelujah and JRoth are continuing Get Up And Get It’s message into the future. As Hallelujah continues to produce video content, JRoth is in the process of creating season 2 of the Get Up And Get It Show. But while a date is not currently set for a reunion, one is sure to happen at some point in the near future. When it does, at the very least, we can expect more viral videos, as well as an official record-breaking event once COVID is over. And of course, we can expect a continuation of Get Up And Get It’s priority mission: the spreading of positivity.

Malik Hall

Malik Hall

Malik Hall is a RVA native and received his Bachelors of Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Minor in Media Studies. Writing wasn't big on his radar until he took a science journalism class in college and since then he found it as a perfect outlet for himself. Skateboarding is his favorite hobby outside of his new found love for writing.




more in art

Ladies Night Out with Linda Dee: Diverse Divas Edition!

Richmond comedian Linda Dee is getting ready to rock Women’s History Month with her brand-new comedy series, "Diverse Divas of Comedy," kicking off on March 21st at Crescent Collective. With a killer lineup of funny ladies, Linda Dee wants you to come along for a...

Richmond Day Tripper! Waynesboro Will Surprise You

In Virginia's countryside, picture a scene straight out of a postcard – rolling hills, farms, and winding roads leading through the sometimes misty mountains. That's Waynesboro for you, a cozy town nestled in the Shenandoah Valley. With about 22,000 folks calling it...

Science Museum of Virginia Brings Boozy Fun with Science on Tap

Many of our readers have probably heard of or seen the Science Museum of Virginia — it’s that giant regal-looking building down on West Broad past the DMV — but how many of you have actually been inside? Notable for its wonderful architecture, having been a train...

Of Mud & Blood: Ceramics and Tattoos Become One at VisArts

Created under a funerary theme, Of Mud & Blood fuses the talent of Richmond’s ceramic artists and tattoo artists into one collaborative art show. Over the course of about eight months, the ceramic artists of the Visual Arts Center (VisArts) and the tattooer...

You Can Call Me Bill: An Interview William Shatner

Over the course of his decades-long career, he’s been known by many names: Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Sergeant TJ Hooker, Commander Buck Murdock, and even Stan Fields if you can be so bold as to tell us why April 25th is, in fact, the perfect date (Answer: it’s not...

Kids of the Black Hole

We stepped down the cobblestone steps, our backs to that gothic tower of bricks seeing us off into a damp night. Jesse’s face was blue as he stared down into his phone and said: C’mon, I think it’s this way. It’s west? I asked.  No, it’s in this direct—I mean...

Pin It on Pinterest