Popular journalist and personality Jawn Murray has partnered with EMI Gospel in a new talent search– Jawn Murray presents… Untapped. They’re looking for the next big gospel artist.
Check it out–
For more information on the competition, visit http://untapped.emigospel.com.
Anyone planning to go for it???
VaShawn Mitchell has debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart with the new release of his latest album, Triumphant (EMI Gospel). This sales week represents the highest week of his career. Congrats!
Also, Brian Courtney Wilson jumped from #12 to #7 on the chart. Great job!
The rest of the top 10 looks like this…
#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#3 | WOW Gospel 2010
#4 | Various Artists (from Fred Hammond) - Life In the Word
#5 | Forever Jones - Get Ready
#6 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC - Souled Out
#7 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#8 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#9 | Trip Lee - Between Two Worlds
#10 | BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still
What do you think???
We’re back with another album review in the Purchase Or Pass series, from contributing writer Mia Paylor.
This time, Mia’s helping you make an informed decision about buying Triumphant, the new album from VaShawn Mitchell, which hit stores TODAY. And what I love most about her review is that she gets some help from one of the most unlikely of interns– her 6-year old son, Jordan.
Hear what Mia (and Jordan) have to say about VaShawn’s new project in this installment of Purchase Or Pass, titled “Jordan Says…”
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Based on the many positive conversations I’ve had with folks about it, I believe that the first single alone, “Nobody Greater” (produced by VaShawn Mitchell and Daniel Weatherspoon), has placed VaShawn Mitchell’s EMI Gospel debut, Triumphant, on plenty “must buy CD” lists…including mine!
So, I was especially excited when I received my copy. And, like many of you, I prefer to listen to new music in the car first. However, during this particular car ride and CD listening experience, my music loving, 6-year-old son, Jordan, was in the car too. Jordan’s comments about Triumphant were not only funny, but dead-on in my opinion. So much so, that I had to share them with my GospelPundit.com family!
Here’s how it went down…
“Mom,” Jordan says, “can we listen to the iPod?”
“No. We have a new CD. We’re gonna listen to it now.”
“Who is it?”
“VaShawn Mitchell.”
“Who’s that?!”
“You don’t know him, Son.”
About halfway through the first song, the Rocky-esque “Conqueror”, Jordan says…
“Mom, can we listen to something else?”
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“It’s okay, but I still wanna hear something else.”
“Wow. I actually feel you on that, Jordan. But, we have to listen to the whole CD.”
Once he recognizes the musical intro to “Nobody Greater”, Jordan says…
“Hey!” He’s smiling.
“Yup, it’s what you think it is. You love this song, huh?”
“Yeah, I do!” He sang his little heart out…stumbling all over the words! LOL!
After recognizing the musical intro to the recent hit, “Chasing After You”, Jordan says…
“Ooh, Mom!”
Then, after hearing VaShawn singing the lead on it, Jordan shouts…
“MOM!” He looks confused and offended.
“What, Jay?”
“This is the fake one! Where’s the lady?!”
“This is VaShawn Mitchell’s version of the song, Jordan. You won’t hear the lady on this one.”
“Well, it’s still the fake one.” He reluctantly sang along anyway.
While listening to the church-funky cut, “His Blood Still Works” (featuring Lisa Page-Brooks), I start yelling at the radio…
“Sang it, Lisa! SAAANG!”
“MOM! Mo–”
“Quiet, Jordan! “ I continued to SHOUT at the radio. I have no clue what Jordan said about the song. “His Blood Still Works” is too hot! I repeated the song more than once.
We finished the CD in the car over the next few days. I absolutely loved the reprise to “Nobody Greater” (featuring William Murphy). It’s a “must-hear” and a welcomed idea for worship teams already singing the single.
Triumphant has a familiar sound. It has pleasant vocals, church-friendly arrangements, and uplifting lyrics to raise the spirit of any downtrodden believer. I will say that I expected a bit more triumph…more hard-hitting, “gotta get my dance on” songs on a CD titled Triumphant. Was I wrong for that?!
Overall, I think our final exchange sums up what Jordan and I think about the CD:
“That’s it, Jordan. What’d you think of the CD?”
“It was nice,” Jordan says passively. “Can we listen to something else now?”
“Absolutely.”
* * *
Okay, first of all– Jordan is HILARIOUS to me. Thanks for the review, Mia! And please tell Jordan that his GospelPundit fam appreciates him!
I hope that helps, folks. Anybody already grab it? Anyone planning to? Anyone thinking they’ll wait a while???
As a heads-up, you can listen to snippets AND buy it right now– the digital version is just $7.99 at Amazon.com.
Talk to me!
Word has it that forever Jones, gospel’s new family band (and the group behind the hit single “He Wants It All”), is giving away an iPad in a video contest.
I love this family. Peep their video explaining aaaalll about it, right here–
Anybody participating???
It’s not every day that we see our gospel LABELS being the church. Let’s all agree to support this effort in any way we can…
Word has it that EMI Gospel (and its parent company, EMI Christian Music Group) are among several music companies that have partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville, TN, to provide food for the city’s flood victims.
Apparently, the food bank lost A LOT of perishable food in the flood, and it now struggles to meet the many ongoing needs of Nashville residents. EMI has already collected 8,000 pounds of food and they’re hoping to TRIPLE that by the end of July.
Check out the letter below from EMI Gospel President Ken Pennell and the staff at EMI. Then, pray… and let’s act.
* * *
July 15, 2010
Dear Friend,
Due to the overwhelming need in the Nashville community as a result of the flood of 2010, EMI Christian Music Group, Provident Music, and Word Entertainment Group are partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank to provide food to those that suffered serious losses during the flood. Second Harvest lost $200,000 of perishable food during the flood. They need help to replenish their food stock so they can continue to help the hungry. Since the beginning of July, we have collected canned and boxed food but we still need to do more. If you live in Nashville and would like to contribute non-perishable food, let us know – we will pick it up. If you don’t live in Nashville but would like to help, you can order food for Second Harvest Food Bank at:
http://tinyurl.com/wowsharesemicmg
When you place an order, please click the drop down menu called “company” and select Publishing/Gospel so they will know you are an associate of EMI Gospel.
Thank you in advance for your help to those who suffered from the Nashville Flood. Please forward this note to anyone you think would like to participate.
Ken Pennell
Larry Blackwell
Jarrett Dyson
Cameron Hilson
Tim Frank
Karen Jackson
Eboni Funderburk
Clyde Duffie
EMI Gospel
101 Winners Circle
Brentwood, TN 37204
615-371-6800
* * *
Again, that link is– http://tinyurl.com/wowsharesemicmg.
I’ll see you over there! 
VaShawn Mitchell’s new project, Triumphant, hits stores on August 10. The new single, “Nobody Greater,” is a great one, and has already been impacting radio.
Yesterday, EMI Gospel released footage from VaShawn’s live recording of the track– just a little visual to go with your audio…
Check it out:
Whatd’ya think?!
MAJOR props to EMI Gospel family band Forever Jones for debuting at #3 with their first major project, Get Ready, on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart! The single from their album, “He Wants It All,” continues to make headway at gospel radio.
Also, shout-out to James Hall, whose choir project made some SIGNIFICANT gains at retail this week, leaping from #16 to #5 on the chart.
The full gospel bizzzzness for the week…
#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Forever Jones – Get Ready
#4 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#5 | James Hall & VOC – Won’t It Be Wonderful
#6 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#7 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#8 | Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
#9 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#10 | Juanita Bynum – More Passion
Which of the above projects do you NOT have yet? And what are you waiting for???
Purchase or Pass is the new series from Mia Paylor, GospelPundit.com’s newest contributing writer (click here to read about her). Here, in her first post, she comes clean. Go on, Mia. Tell ‘em what you did…
* * *
I have a confession to make. I never purchased or listened to the gospel CD’s released by Michelle Williams, Dave Hollister, Heather Headley… notice the trend? I admit that I normally don’t purchase projects released by those I think are “I can’t make it financially with secular music so I’ll just make money off of church folk” gospel artists. It’s not that I believe secular artists aren’t saved and don’t desire to see souls saved. I just don’t want to hear what I’m thinking was motivated by money…not ministry.
So, you know what I didn’t do when I heard that Jason Champion, former member of the R&B duo, Men at Large, released Reflections through EMI Gospel. That’s RIGHT! I didn’t buy it! My fellow R&B connoisseurs remember Men at Large or, at the very least, you remember their hit, “So Alone”. I sure do…cause that was my JAAAM!
But, while listening to Bonnerfide Radio recently, I heard Jason’s song, “Find a Reason”…and I LOVED it! Through this guitar-laced jam (with what I swear are some Prince elements from the Purple Rain era), Jason declares that in spite of what we face in life, we must always find reasons to do what God calls us to do. I found myself listening to that song over and over again until I finally told myself I needed to download it…because I was DONE fast-forwarding halfway through that 2 hour podcast just to listen to it! Then, after previewing all the tracks, I knew I had to download the whole CD. And I’m GLAD I DID!
I have not stopped listening to it. The lyrics are completely Christian and relatable. The production was handled by greats such as Warryn Campbell and Gerald Haddon. The R&B vibe is consistent throughout the entire CD. “Always” (with its millennium disco vibe) and “Friend of Mine” (with its base driven groove) keep me dancing! And, most importantly, I felt Jason’s heart in every song…which prompted me to dig up his story. I learned that God released Jason from Men at Large and, shortly thereafter, he began recording and touring with Kirk Franklin. He’s a family man with a powerful testimony and a heart for ministry. His wife, Paula, is featured singing beautifully on “For Better or For Worse”.
I’m now a changed woman! No more passing on purchasing a gospel CD simply because the artist just hopped off of the secular bandwagon seemingly because they were too broke to stay there! Instead, I’ll do a bit of research…try to get a feel for their true motive for recording the project by reading bios and interviews…listen to their song clips to see if my Spirit-man connects with them. Then, I’ll decide to purchase or pass.
So, Jason, PLEASE forgive me! Accept this heartfelt editorial as a penance for doing you sooo wrong! I withheld a blessing from myself and, most importantly, you…because you deserve every cent I paid for it.
I won’t be making this mistake again. What about you?
* * *
Okay, so I guess I’ll confess, too. When Mia told me she was writing on Jason Champion, I was SoOooO excited because I had JUST discovered the full album, myself. I had heard tracks from it before, and I loved his voice and the music, but never listened all the way through!
IT IS INCREDIBLE. Definitely my favorite album of the past 30 days– even though it’s 2 years old.
So, I stand with Mia on this one. Do yourself a favor, if you have not already done so, BUY THIS ALBUM. At least, take a listen to see if you wanna do it. Click here to listen to snippets and to make a purchase
Tell me–
(1) Whatd’ya think of what Mia had to say? Didn’t she do a great job?!
(2) Did you Purchase or Pass on Jason Champion’s project? What are your thoughts on the album?
I have a feeling that this song is going to be HUUUUUUUGE at radio, in churches and on stages across the U.S. of A. It’s just got that vibe.
I’m talkin’ about the newest single from VaShawn Mitchell, titled “Nobody Greater.” It’s from his upcoming album, Triumphant, which will be released via EMI Gospel on August 10, 2010.
The production is tight (Daniel Weatherspoon!), the vocals are tasteful and just right… the song is beautiful. Love it.
And for your listening pleasure, I’ve added it to the PunditPlayer.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!!!
Artistic Soul Entertainment’s popular Beyond Potential Music Gathering & Showcase is taking place this weekend in Nashville, TN.
The two-day conference is the brainchild of Brandon Egerton & Antonio Neal and has been very successful over the past several years, providing attendees with a LOT of industry info and some great performance/feedback opportunities.
On the evening of Friday, April 16th, there will be time to chat with Joey Elwood (President, Gotee Records) and Wade Jessen (Sr. Chart Manager, Neilsen/Billboard), followed by an Open Mic Showcase hosted by Wayne “Holla” Waller.
On Saturday, April 17th, there will be a full day of instructional seminars and discussions featuring presentations by Larry Blackwell (VP/GM, EMI Gospel), Karen Jackson (Director of Artist Development, EMI Gospel), Marcelo Pennell (GRAMMY-winning mix/recording engineer), and several other notable industry folks.
If that’s enough to draw you in (and it oughta be), yours truly will be teaching a class on “Maximizing Social Media”, as well as sponsoring a Networking Luncheon & Halftime Show.
Visit http://www.GoBeyondPotential.com for details on how to attend– I don’t think it’s too late!
Several of you have reached out to me on Twitter, telling me you’ll be there. Can’t wait to see ya! Who all is coming???
