Thanks to the wonderful folks at Verity, I am able to provide y’all with ADVANCE MUSIC! 
I’m gettin’ all official and what not…
Follow the links below for the exclusive online listening parties, where you can listen to the ENTIRE albums (yes, folks, all the way through) of BET’s Sunday Best winner, Crystal Aikin, and the runner-up, Shari Addison.
I’m torn between which album I like the most, but I’m prolly leaning toward Shari Addison’s project. Crystal Aikin’s is great (and she’s SINGING on it), but I love the nostalgic, Chicago-style gospel vibe I get from Shari Addison’s (she captures the CLASSIC sound of gospel unlike many in the game right now).
Listen to the albums and tell me what you think. And, by the way, BOTH albums are in stores tomorrow, January 13th. PICK THEM UP!
Click here to listen to the full album from Crystal Aikin!
Click here to listen to the full album from Shari Addison!
Thanks for the advance! I will say that there's something about Shari Addison that just makes me comfortable with her. She's somehow familiar, yet different.
Don't get me wrong, I like both Shari and Crystal....but when it comes to album sales and popularity and industry-stuff, I feel like Shari might end up going farther than Crystal in those departments. I think now people are really into church music. And that's not to say that contemporary stuff is bad, but because Crystal hasn't necessarily been marketed as a "churchy" singer with "churchy" material, I don't think that her record sales will be as great. I think to some degree, church people are sort of tired of the "blends" and "contemporary tracks" and "gospel + R &B+jazz+rock all-in-one." Shari seems like a person who can branch out in her music, but still remain churchy. That's what I like about her.