Make sure you tune in to FOX this Friday, at 8pm ET/7pm CST, to watch the NAACP Image Awards.

Word has it that Mary Mary will be performing, so will Deitrick Haddon, as will Committed (winners of NBC’s “The Sing-Off”) and the legendary Mavis Staples.

Plus, we’ll see who wins in the “Outstanding Gospel Album” category. The nominees:

Kirk Whalum – Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter III
Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love: Deluxe Edition
Tamela Mann – The Master Plan
Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

Tune in!

The 42nd Annual NAACP Image Awards have announced this years nominees.  Gospel artists are recognized by the “Outstanding Gospel Album” category.  The nominees are–

Kirk Whalum – Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter III
Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love: Deluxe Edition
Tamela Mann – The Master Plan
Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

The televised special airs LIVE on March 4, 2011 at 8pm ET on FOX.

Powered by his hit single, “Nobody Greater,” and on the heels of receiving two GRAMMY nods, VaShawn Mitchell has soared to #2 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this week.

Also making great sales gains this week was William McDowell, whose As We Worship: Live jumped from #7 to #3.

The rest of the Top 10 shakes out like this…

#1 | LeCrae – Rehab
#2 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#3 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live
#4 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#5 | Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir – A Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas
#6 | Tye Tribbett – Fresh
#7 | WOW Gospel 2010
#8 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#9 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#10 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love

I think these will be the key players in the Top 10 for the rest of the year… don’t know of any new releases due before January that would trouble the waters…

But maybe VaShawn will hit #1 before the year’s out…

Whatd’ya think???

Christian hip-hop phenom LeCrae is still at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart.  He’s got some GREAT music, so if you haven’t checked it out yet– DO SO.

The full top 10 looks like this… right… here…

#1 | LeCrae – Rehab
#2 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#3 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#4 | Tye Tribbett – Fresh
#5 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#6 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#7 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live
#8 | Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir – A Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas
#9 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#10 | WOW Gospel 2010

Micah Stampley’s project, which debuted at #2 last week, has fallen from the top 10, while Mavis Staples’ project jumped from #12 to #2 this week.  Everyone else has been around for some time, and should hold there for a minute…

I’ma need that Soul Seekers album to come up, though.  Y’all buy it yet???

Not much movement to report in the top 10 of Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart, aside from the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir’s leap from #24 to #5 with their holiday project, A Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas.

The Christmas season kinda crept up on me, but here we are!

The rest of the top 10 looks a little something like…

#1 | LeCrae – Rehab
#2 | Tye Tribbett – Fresh
#3 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#4 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#5 | Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir – A Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas
#6 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#7 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live
#8 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#9 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#10 | WOW Gospel 2010

Anyone got that Brooklyn Tab project???

LeCrae’s Rehab project shows no signs of slowing– it’s back at #1 this week on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart, having taken a backseat to Tye Tribbett’s Fresh debut last week.

Also, remember how I said that Israel’s sudden disappearance from the Billboard chart last week must have been an administrative error? It was. Apparently, Soundscan numbers reported that he was actually in the #3 position in gospel music last week, but Billboard omitted his name from the line-up.  I blame a Billboard intern.

Anyway, all’s fixed now and the top 10 looks like this in gospel:

#1 | LeCrae – Rehab
#2 | Tye Tribbett – Fresh
#3 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#4 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#5 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#6 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#7 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#8 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live
#9 | WOW Gospel 2010
#10 | Shekinah Glory Ministry – Refreshed By Fire

Based on the numbers, I believe that the Bishop Morton compilation I told you about this week could chart pretty high in the coming week.  And Aaron Neville’s released a new gospel project this week that, like Mavis Staples’ project, will likely get significant mainstream attention.  We’ll see.

What do you guys think???

Big congrats to Tye Tribbett, whose “Fresh” new album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this week!  I am, in fact, listening to that album as I type this post.  Music for livin’.

Kudos also to Wess Morgan, who debuted at #10 with Under An Open Heaven. Also, kudos to Joe Pace who debuted at #11 with his newest project, Praise for the Sanctuary.

The top 10 looks like this:

#1 | Tye Tribbett – Fresh
#2 | Lecrae – Rehab
#3 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#4 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#5 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#6 | Shekinah Glory Ministry – Refreshed By Fire
#7 | WOW Gospel 2010
#8 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live
#9 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#10 | Wess Morgan – Under An Open Heaven

I’m a bit dismayed that Israel Houghton’s Love God. Love People appears to have fallen from the #2 slot, totally out of the top 10 in just a week.  It’s so bizarre that I’m almost wondering if someone made an administrative error…

In any case, what do you think of the charts this week???

It’s week 3 of gospel hip-hop artist Lecrae’s reign at the #1 spot on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart.  Kudos to ya!

In fact, Billboard’s top 5 positions remain the same as last week, so kudos to all of ya.

The top 10 slots are as follows:

#1 | Lecrae – Rehab
#2 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#3 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#4 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#5 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#6 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#7 | Shekinah Glory Ministry – Refreshed By Fire
#8 | WOW Gospel 2010
#9 | Myron Williams – Thankful
#10 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live

Myron Williams sits at #9 with his new project, Thankful, which jumped #26, where it debuted last week. Interesting to see how far it climbs.  VaShawn Mitchell jumped from #8 to #6 this week, while WOW Gospel went from #7 to #8, with Shekinah Glory taking the #7 spot from last week’s #6. Just some musical chairs…

With new releases this week from Tye Tribbett, Wess Morgan and Joe Pace, I’m expecting a bit of a shake-up on the charts next week.  We’ll see…

What do you think?

Lecrae remains in the #1 spot on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this week, having made history last week for the highest-selling debut in his genre of Christian hip-hop. The project, Rehab, sold over 25,000 units. He’s also slated to release a follow-up album, Rehab: The Overdose, in January.

Brian Courtney Wilson also experienced some significant sales gains this week, jumping from #19 last week to #3 this week with his project Just Love. I’m inclined to believe that the gain is related to last week’s release of the Just Love (Deluxe Edition), though I assumed it would be listed separate from the standard release. In any case, grab it– it’s got new music and some exclusive video footage.

The rest of the top 10 pretty much features the same cast of characters…

#1 | Lecrae – Rehab
#2 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#3 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#4 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#5 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#6 | Shekinah Glory Ministry – Refreshed By Fire
#7 | WOW Gospel 2010
#8 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#9 | Kerry Douglas – Gospel Mix Vol. IV
#10 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live

Ok, who’s got what and who’s getting what?

Talk to me!

I’ve been hinting at it… no, outright declaring it since I heard that Lecrae was returning to the marketplace with a new project, Rehab.

This week, he did just that and did so with a HUGE splash at #1, selling over 25,000 units. Not only did that land him at #1 on the Gospel Albums chart at Billboard, but he’s also #1 on the Christian Albums chart (debuting higher than CCM favorite Michael W. Smith’s new project, Wonder!), #17 on the Billboard 200, #1 on the Independent Albums chart, #5 on the Rap Albums chart and #6 on the Digital Albums chart.  WOW.  Major congrats to Lecrae and his team.

The rest of the top 10 in gospel looks a bit like this…

#1 | Lecrae – Rehab
#2 | Israel Houghton – Love God. Love People.
#3 | Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
#4 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#5 | Shekinah Glory Ministry – Refreshed By Fire
#6 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#7 | WOW Gospel 2010
#8 | Beverly Crawford – Live From Los Angeles, Vol. 2
#9 | Lizz Wright – Fellowship
#10 | Kerry Douglas – Gospel Mix Vol. IV

Kudos also to jazz vocalist Lizz Wright for debuting at #9 with her new project, Fellowship.  The album has received great reviews by critics at mainstream and in gospel (gospel historian Bob Marovich, of TheBlackGospelBlog.com gave it five stars out of five stars).  I’ll have to take a listen!  Anyone have it already?

How about that new Lecrae project?  Got it?  Love it?

Whatd’ya think???