Mia Paylor puts you on to a hot new artist you absolutely can’t miss…

I MISS TONEX! The runs. The range. The arrangements. The music. The dancing. Tonex was in a league of his own. Say what you want about him, but you cannot deny the extraordinary talent and ability. I definitely feel his absence from gospel music. But, has God raised up another young man who embodies many of the same talents and abilities that The Artist Formerly Known As Tonex does? Has God raised up a male gospel soloist with serious range, an experimental sound, and dancing skills…all of which may help to fill the void that Tonex left? Let’s examine Zephaniah, a new kid on the block, and his mixtape, All For You, to see.

According to his bio, Zephaniah survived a serious bout with Meningitis at age of three. After a two-week coma and a long rehabilitation process, God completely restored his health! The talent that Zephaniah has displayed since that experience is nothing short of a miracle. He’d opt to skip playtime so he could write songs and record them using a karaoke machine. Dissatisfied with a cappella, Zephaniah would use anything he could get his hands on to produce the music. He then recorded the music, lead, and background vocals using multiple tape decks! (Why didn’t I think of that?!) Zephaniah perfected his performing skills by singing, dancing, and acting in church, talent shows, musicals, youth events, and college tours.

All For You is Zephaniah’s first official project. Released in October 2010, All For You is more of a debut release than a mixtape…and that’s really good! Eight out of Ten tracks are originals. If I hadn’t read the credits, I would have assumed that most of the tracks were borrowed from mainstream secular projects! Zephaniah and his collaborators (Marz Beats, Jamaal “Elhae” Jones, Kalib White, and Andre Atherley) did a nice job making the original tracks sound current and relevant. Hip-Hop lovers will correctly assume that “Hello Good Morning” was borrowed from the Diddy Dirty Money hit with the same title. The track for Trey Songz’s “Can’t Be Friends” provides the musical accompaniment for “The Prodigal Son” (featuring L9). But, Zephaniah COMPLETELY reworked the melody and lyrical flow! It’s one of my favorites on the mixtape. On All For You, Zephaniah gives vocal highs (“Back Up”) and lows (“The Prodigal Son”), Hip-Hop party songs (“Hello, Good Morning”), R&B songs (“All For You”), and hints of 80’s pop (“I Got Love”) and electronica (“Robot Transform”).

Zephaniah has experienced a serious battle over his destiny, displayed a passion for music at an early age, can write and produce his own songs, tackles different styles of music, and can sing up and down the music scale.  In addition to all that, he is a well-rounded performer. Zephaniah definitely has the goods to make The Artist Formerly Known As Tonex’s absence less noticeable. If his live performances are as strong as All For You, Zephaniah might be the man for the job!

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You can listen to the full album (and get it) at Zephaniah’s BandCamp page– http://zephaniah.bandcamp.com/.  And check out his music video for “Hello Good Morning”: