Word has it that Integrity Music’s hit gospel compilation project, Gotta Have Gospel, will be returning to stores with its 8th edition on October 5th.

The project features 24 tracks, with a bonus DVD of gospel performances and music videos.

The track listing?  Glad you asked–

Disc One
1.  I Give You Praise – Byron Cage
2. Expect The Great – Jonathan Nelson
3. All Of My Help – Hezekiah Walker & LFC
4. How I Got Over featuring Tim Bowman, Jr. – Vickie Winans
5. Nobody Like You Lord – Fred Hammond
6. Every Prayer featuring Mary Mary – Israel Houghton
7. I Will Lift – Trin-I-Tee 5:7
8. Your Name Alone – Stephen Hurd
9. Lord You Reign Forever – Crystal Aikin
10. Jesus – Kirk Franklin
11. Free – Rizen
12. I Gave It Up – J Moss

Disc Two
1. Trusting In You – Donnie McClurkin
2. Let The Word Do The Work featuring Brother Hahz – Donald Lawrence & Co.
3. I Praise You – Shari Addison
4. Get Up – Mary Mary
5. It All Belongs To You – The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
6. The Master Plan – Tamela Mann
7. Bless The Lord (Son Of Man) – Tye Tribbett
8. Worship Medley: I Worship You Almighty God/There Is None Like You/There’s Something About That Name – Marvin Sapp
9. All I Need – Brian Courtney Wilson
10. Free – Darwin Hobbs
11. Your Will – Ken Reynolds
12. Trading My Sorrows – PAJAM

DVD Footage
1. La Buena Vida (Romans 8:31) – Ken Reynolds featuring Lucia Parker
2. I’ll Say Yes – The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
3. Just Wanna Say – Israel Houghton
4. Worship Medley: I Worship You Almighty God/There Is None Like You/There’s Something About That Name – Marvin Sapp

Sounds good, yes?

Who’s thinking of grabbin’ this one???

Tomorrow, GospelPundit.com turns ONE YEAR OLD!

It’s humbling to see how much growth my blog has experienced in just one year.  From hard-hitting interviews to exclusive premieres of highly anticipated singles, God has blessed me to play a pivotal role in the industry.  I’m blown away by that because I DO NOT deserve to fulfill all that He’s called me to do and be.

Moreover, I’m grateful to each of you for visiting the site on a regular basis, for telling folks about it, and for every encouraging comment or email I’ve received about it.  Daily readership continues to skyrocket and I promise that I’ll continue to give you my absolute best, for the glory of God alone.

I’ve got some major things planned for the coming year.  But, first, we’re gonna celebrate the past year!!!

Beginning MONDAY, I’m giving away a bundle of recent releases EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Each day next week, I’ll pose a question about SOMETHING I’ve said on the site in the past year.  Your task will be to find the answer and email it to me.  From among those emails, I’ll randomly select a winner to receive my hand-picked bundle pack of new music, which will include the new releases from BeBe & CeCe Winans, Fred Hammond, Byron Cage, Israel & New Breed, Ted Winn, Kierra Sheard, J Moss, Rizen, Shirley Caesar, Coko, JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise AND MORE… even an autographed copy of the newest album from Smokie Norful!  For real, guys… it’s big.  Kinda like the “new release JACKPOT.”

Do you hear what I’m saying?  Every day, ONE person will win about 20 new CDs.    Just my little way of sayin’ “thanks.”

Okay, so spread the word and get ready to celebrate all week long.  Sound good?

Love you guys.

After Marvin Sapp’s recording on Friday, I caught up with the producer of the project– Aaron Lindsey.  He’s a really good guy.

He mentioned that he learned about James Fortune and Isaac Carree being robbed recently from my post at GospelPundit.com (glad that I’m helping to keep the people informed!).

He also shared that he wrote on several of the songs recorded that evening, including the already-a-hit “He Saw The Best In Me,” “Holding On,” and “I Came.”  In fact, they pre-recorded “I Came,” before the recording and there’s already a ringtone of it available for purchase!

In addition to leading the charge on Sapp’s upcoming album, Aaron Lindsey’s already finished work on the upcoming albums from Byron Cage and Rizen (both due at the end of this month), as well as the new project from DeWayne Woods (due in 2010).

Finally, you just might see him working on an upcoming project from Jonathan Nelson… more on that later!

And that’s THAT.

I got my paws on Rizen’s upcoming album (due on October 27th), entitled Free.  Don’t forget that the group has gone from four to two– it’s just the two sisters on this one.

I haven’t listened to all the tracks yet, but the songs that I’ve heard so far have a sort of funk-meets-quartet kinda style.  I’ll give a full review as the release date approaches.

In the meantime, I’m liking the album cover:

How many of you are already Rizen supporters???

The urban gospel scene is growing by leaps and bounds and, even if you ain’t necessarily feeling it, it is undeniable that the people involved in it are gifted and are having an impact on the audiences for which God intended ‘em.  So, I’m supporting.  And I’m enjoying!

Right now, I’m enjoying Terrell King…

This German-born, now Atlanta-based new artist is getting a lot of attention from consumers and industry execs.  He’s even tapped to be featured with Marvin Sapp at a GMA Week mixer in Nashville, TN in a coupla weeks. [Editor’s Note: Marvin Sapp won’t be at the mixer anymore– on board, though, are several artists, including Tonex, Rizen and Karima Kibble, and industry execs like Roger Holmes and Monica Coates.)

He’s a songwriter, vocal producer and vocalist… even more, he’s got a passion to serve God and to share the message of Jesus Christ with his generation.

His digital EP, Almost Clear, was released on December 2nd and, in just a few short months, he’s already gotten 30,000 single streams from it.  Expect a full album from him THIS summer, but expect to hear about him A LOT sooner. He’s got a good voice, a good look, a good fanbase already… I think he’ll do well.

Listen to the audio on this clip and lemme know what y’all think:

And make sure you visit his MySpace page for more streaming audio from his EP: www.myspace.com/officialterrellkingmusic

Thoughts???

Oh yeah… I forgot to mention that, at the Stellar Awards post party, Zomba Gospel head Jazzy Jordan got on the mic and announced that the label had just signed the female group Rizen.

Rizen stomps and shouts like nobody’s bizness and, while their performances are prolly a bit much for some folks, I LOVE to watch ‘em in action.  Congrats, ladies!

In case y’all have no idea who I’m talking about, a performance clip from the Stellars a few years ago: