Just wanted to write a quick post to let you guys know that, as some predicted, BeBe & CeCe Winans won the NAACP Image Award on Friday night for “Outstanding Gospel Album,” for their reunion project, Still.

Also, as I joked but didn’t really EXPECT to happen, Mary Mary won “Outstanding Song” for “God In Me.”  The chart-topping single was up against Maxwell’s “Bad Habits” and “Pretty Wings,” Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State Of Mind.”  And the Marys won.  That’s HUGE for them.  Whoo hoooo, ladies!

Side note–  Tamela Mann gave an awesome performance of her single, “Joy Of The Lord,” in tribute to Tyler Perry, who was honored with the Chairman’s Award.  She looked great and sounded great.

I’m more than a little miffed that the dude from the movie Precious arrograntly refused to stop speaking when they kept giving cues to do so– it meant that the LIVE telecast was cut off, and we only got to see the first verse and chorus of Mary Mary performing “God In Me,” which was the show’s finale, of sorts.

It’s like… this ain’t the Oscars, buddy.  The network isn’t gonna delay their scheduled programming for your speech or, as much as I love it, for the NAACP Image Awards.  And, as my wife pointed out, you made the Marys have to stand in position while you gave your lil’ speech– one is 8 months pregnant and the other had laryngitis.  Don’t mess with our Marys, dude!

*glaring at him, then realizing that I’m too invested in this*

Oh well.  Maybe he’ll send them a lil’ written apology for that move– maybe I’ll start a petition to encourage it. LOL  Kidding.  I’m sooooooo not writing anything else about this… I’m just sayin’.

Who else watched?  What did you think?

The latest video from Tamela Mann, for her single “The Master Plan,” premiered on BET’s Video Gospel yesterday.  I was probably still asleep when it aired, recovering from Stellar weekend, but thank God for YouTube!

Check it out:

For me, the video wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great.  When it opened, it felt more like a stage play than a music video (shout-out to Kim Fields in the hospital scene!).  There was a bit of over-acting all around, which sort of made things a bit corny.

THAT SAID, Tamela looked like a gazillion dollars (as always)– she was dressed well and they used some great shots of her.  I loved the scenes that she was in (the street she stood on, with the piano, seems to be the same street from Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” movie– y’know, with Marvin Winans’ church in the background).

All in all, it’s a good effort and definitely serves its purpose– she conveys the message using two storylines and multiple shots of heartfelt performances.

Whatd’ya think of the video???

Willie Maxine Perry, mother of actor/director/producer/playwright Tyler Perry, passed yesterday at the age of 64, Perry announced on his website.

Though no details were released about the cause of death, a recent Facebook status update asked for prayers for his mother, as she had been “sick since August.”

Let’s make sure we pray for Tyler Perry and his family, that God will give them strength, peace and hope.

So, my wifey and I checked out Tyler Perry’s new film “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” this past weekend… really entertaining and fun.  As most of you know, Pastor Marvin L. Winans has a role of a pastor in the movie.  He’s a pretty good actor!

One song in the movie had me going in like I was at somebody’s worship service, for REAL… it’s a version of Winans’ hit single, “You Just Don’t Wanna Know,” with an added VAMP that… oh my!  Who saw the movie?

Fortunately, somebody posted a video of Marvin Winans performing that same version on the Tyler Perry show recently… check it out and lemme know what you think (apologies for the audio/video quality):

In promotion of his upcoming film, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Tyler Perry has partnered with BET for the “I Can Do Good” Gospel & Blues Music Video contest.  Winners receive a $2,500 gift card and a spot on BET.

All you’ve gotta do is submit a video of yourself singing.  The judging is being done by none other than Pastor Marvin L. Winans.  He’ll choose the winning video based on originality, talent and creativity.

HURRY.  The deadline is this Monday, September 7th.  Visit http://www.icandobadgospelcontest.com/ for more details.

And visit http://www.icandobadmovie.com for info about the upcoming film!

I chatted with Dontavies Boatwright.

You may be thinking “but, EJ… Sunday Best is over… let it go.”  To that, I say “hush up” and “so what?!”

The PEOPLE we met on the show still exist and their ministries are still going, if not more so.  Last year, folks saw a bunch of talented contestants, but where are they now?

SO, I’m committed to making sure that we at least follow-up with a handful of the people… and Dontavies Boatwright is a GREAT guy with whom to kick things off!  Lots of us loved his soaring baritone and thought he was eliminated too soon.  I definitely wanna see more from him… and I think we will.

In this interview, Dontavies dispels LOTS of rumors about the show, as well as gives us the real deal about how production went down (cuz y’all are STILL mad about “how BET did us”).  And we’ll hear what he’s up to now and how we can keep up with him in the future.

Are ya ready???  Here’s my chat with Dontavies Boatwright…

*     *     *

EJ:  What’s up, man?

DB:  I’m good, guy.  How are you?

EJ:  I’m good.  Thank you for chatting with me.

DB:  Absolutely.  My pleasure!

EJ:  Why don’t we start by talking about your experience on Sunday Best.  What was it like for you?

DB:  It was unbelievable.  To be there with all the contestants and the artists… I mean, I’ve got their CDs in my car, and to be standing there face-to-face with them was amazing.

EJ:  Sounds like a great experience!  Do you feel like the show always “fair”?  Even if you hoped for a different outcome for yourself, do you feel like there were some aspects of the show that kinda weren’t fair or was it pretty even?

DB:  I think it was pretty even.

EJ:  Good.  You were eliminated how many contestants in?

DB:  I made it to the top 5.

EJ:  And what did you feel like that night, when you were eliminated?

DB:  *laughs* Honestly, my first thought was “this is not happening.”

EJ:  *laughing*

DB:  I mean, I’m gonna be honest.  I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.  I was like “what happened?!  This cannot be happening.  I’m not supposed to go home.”

I can’t say that someone should’ve gone home over me, but I was just reviewing it in my mind… it was so quick.  When they called my name and said we were going home, I immediately began to play back my song in my head, like “what did I do wrong?”

EJ:  Right.

DB:  But at the end of the day, it was a competition and the judges had a job to do.  So I guess reviewing things, it was just my time.  I’m grateful to have made it that far, though, to the top 5.

EJ:  Absolutely.  And congratulations, because it wasn’t easy.  Watching the auditions, there were some phenomenal vocalists who weren’t even put through, so I was like “I dunno what it TAKES!”

DB: Right!

EJ:  When you watched back, week by week, is what America saw really what happened in Atlanta?  Are there things you wish they had shown that they edited out of the final tape?

DB:  I do wish that they had shown the shout-out that I gave to my hometown, which is Fort Pierce, Florida.  When I said, initially, who I was and where I was from, I said I was from Fort Pierce, Florida, now living in Jacksonville, and they only gave the shout-out to Jacksonville.  And I wish they had kept that in because my hometown has supported me.

EJ:  Sure.

DB:  But that was it.  I mean, mostly, what you see is really what happened.  There were some things that were edited in production, but it was what it was.

EJ:  Good deal.  Now, folks were HIGHLY disappointed with several aspects of the show and I want to get your reaction to some of those criticisms.

It all boils down to expectations, in my mind.  Viewers EXPECTED Sunday Best to run like a gospel American Idol.

DB:  Right.

EJ:  But the reality is that it costs A LOT of money to produce a show like Idol.  So, television magic is used to cuts some costs and a lot of the viewers felt like they didn’t get what they expected.

Talk to me about the taping schedule.  The show was taped over the course of a week or so?

DB:  Actually, it was two weeks.  One thing I do wish is that we had longer so that our voices had time to rest.  But with the time, and because of the budgeting, I think the show was presented in the best light possible considering those things.

The schedule was tight.  8:00 or 9:00 in the morning call times… there all day.

EJ:  You were there all day?

DB:  All day.  30 or 40 minutes between shows…

EJ:  Wow.  Taped two shows a day?

DB:  Yes.  Most of the time, it was two shows a day.  I think, as it got down to the last ones, there was one show a day.  But the schedule was still tight.  And if we weren’t taping, we were in rehearsal.

EJ:  So, what was that like for the contestants?  You were there for two weeks, but the contestants who were “sent home,” actually just sat in the audience and watched?

DB:  The second group of 10 did.  The first group, if I remember correctly, they were there for the second group’s first show, then went home.

I know it looked like, week-to-week, I stayed there, but my elimination show and the show when Zebulon came back, those were taped the same day.

EJ:  And the second group of 10, those who were eliminated stayed until the end?

DB:  Pretty much everyone stayed ’til the end…

EJ:  And what was the dynamic like for those contestants in the audience, knowing that your friends were continuing on and you were just there… chillin’?

DB:  From the audience, it was like “I’m supposed to be UP THERE! What happened?!”  And again, for me, this was the same day.  I got eliminated, went backstage and did an interview, switched clothes, and came to sit in the audience.

So, it wasn’t like I had time to think.  My mindset was still the same.  I was like “I’m supposed to be up there, I have my song, I know what I’m supposed to be singing, I’ve got my wardrobe picked out…”

EJ:  Oh man… that’s rough!

DB:  But again, I wouldn’t let that overshadow my rooting for my fellow contestants because we were like a family.  I know you’ve heard this a million times, but it really was true.

EJ:  Sure.

DB:  I mean, we bonded.  We were helping each other with song arrangements.  And I’ve done many vocal competitions, but I’ve never seen that.

EJ:  Yeah, and that definitely comes across as authentic.  I’ve heard it, like you said, from a bunch of y’all by now– Jessica, Camille, Y’Anna, Latice… everyone has said “we are family.”  And they meant it.

DB:  Right.  We talk on the phone on a regular basis, we text… I did a radio show on Sunday and the top 6 called in to say “wassup.”

EJ:  Very nice.  That’s a great take-away.  Talk to me about the finale, cuz people had an issue with THAT being pre-taped, too.

Everyone talked about the lack of emotion on the faces of Y’Anna and Jessica.  I say, it’s just hard to script that type of stuff and I don’t fault them for it.  What are your thoughts on how it turned out?

DB:  I didn’t see it as a problem considering the schedule.  There were two endings that were taped and two takes of BOTH endings.  So, getting up there, doing the commercial with the ladies, hair and make-up… it was a lot.

I would’ve liked for there to have been some rest.  If there had been some rest time, they could’ve maybe cried or staged some emotion.  But I think we’re lucky to get what we got from them.

EJ:  Wow.

DB:  Yeah, I mean… a really really tight schedule.

EJ:  Okay, dispel some myths for me– did the judges already have a favorite among you all?

DB:  If they did, they didn’t let on.

EJ:  Cool.  Umm… I’m trying to think of other rumors I’ve seen around the internet… Did one of the BET producers have some sort of professional or social relationship with one of the contestants that led to some unfairness there?

DB:  If that’s the case, I wanna know who that is, because it wasn’t me! *laughing*

EJ: *laughs*

DB:  I mean, again, I don’t know about any of that going on.  I don’t even know when we’d have time.  The contestants were all in the same hotel, but not the judges or BET staff, aside from those assisting us at the hotel.

EJ:  Yeah, and that’s what I’d assume.  I didn’t get the sense from speaking to anyone that there was anything shady going on.

DB:  Not at all.

EJ:  Now, you were one of the contestants that folks really loved.  I remember saying on GospelPundit that your voice is needed in the industry.  What’s next for you?

DB:  I’m definitely listening to music now, exercising my writing skills… trying to put some foundational things in place– management, a publicist.  I’m looking forward to what’s next for me.

I definitely wanna do plays.  I do aspire to work with Tyler Perry, so I’m trying to create a package of some plays that I’ve done  to kinda pitch something to him and the theater world.  So, hopefully soon, there will be something out that the fans can have in their hands.

EJ:  Very nice.  You were trained in theater?

DB:  Yes.  I have a theater background and an opera background.  Gospel is my first love, though.

EJ:  And that’s cool because not many people are bringing that element to gospel music.  I think that’s one of the reasons so many people liked you– they could see the passion, but also hear the formal training in there.

And it wasn’t fake training, you know… cuz some singers have never been trained, but they try to get that sound. *laughs*

DB:  *laughing*

EJ:  And I’m not gonna name names, but I’m just sayin’… *laughs*

DB:  *laughing*

EJ:  Where can people find out more about you, man?

DB:  MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/dboatwright).  And I’m on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/Don_SundayBest).

EJ:  Yes, you ARE on Twitter and I noticed something from your daily tweets– anyone who loves coffee half as much as I do, you’ve gotta be a good dude!

DB:  I’ve GOTTA have my Starbucks in the morning!

EJ:  Got to! *laughs*  And you’re a trained vocalist and you’re saying coffee is ok, right?

DB:  I would say decaf.  And I increase my water intake when I drink coffee.  Caffeine dries you out, so I increase my water intake.

EJ:  Hmmm… I’m not big on decaf, but I’ll try.

DB:  Yeah, it’s an acquired taste, but once you do it, you’re fine.  I laid off Coke… I do drink Sprite, but Donald Lawrence took me off of carbonated drinks while we were there.

EJ:  He said no carbonated drinks at all?

DB:  He said “I advise NO carbonated drinks.”  So, I adhered to that, but when I came home…

EJ: *laughing*

DB:  *laughs*  I’m tellin’ you.  Before I got my BAG, I got a Sprite.

EJ:  Hilarious! *laughs* Dude, thanks for the chat.  I’m excited for you cuz I think you’re gonna do well in the industry.

DB:  I appreciate it, man, definitely.  Just coming from someone who knows and talks to artists, with an eye on that stuff, I do appreciate it.

EJ:  No, I’m just lil’ ol’ me.  But I really do believe we’ll see you doing stuff.

DB:  Well, thank you.

EJ:  No doubt.  And we’ll talk soon.

DB:  Okay.

EJ:  Bye-bye.

*     *     *

Dontavies is a COOL dude.  No lie.  Make sure you check him out on MySpace and Twitter.  Like I keep saying, I really think we’re gonna see more of him.

What did you guys think???

Word has it that Marvin Winans is slated to appear in Tyler Perry’s upcoming film, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, set to be released in September of this year.  AOL’s BlackVoices reports that Taraji P. Henson, Brian J. White and Gladys Knight are also on board for the film.

First of all, Tyler Perry makes a new movie every weekend, but I ain’t mad.  Second, good for you Pastor Winans… I hope he gets some good dialogue so we can see him get his Denzel on.

Earlier this week, Byron Cage took a minute to chat with me to discuss his upcoming LIVE recording in Detroit on March 13th!

We had a great convo about what folks can expect from this new album, how he’s developed as an artist, and I even got a couple of tidbits of random trivia about him.  He’s a personable and friendly guy… I rather enjoyed him.  I hope you enjoy the interview…. Here’s Byron Cage.

*     *     *

EJ:  How are you?

BC:  I’m good,  how about you?

EJ:  I’m great.  Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.  I really appreciate it.

BC:  Oh yeah, thank you.

EJ:  I wanna jump right in and talk about this upcoming recording that’s got everybody buzzing.  I wanna know what you’ve got planned for the people!  You’re going to Detroit, March 13th…

BC:  Yes!  March 13th.

EJ:  Talk to me about returning back there.

BC:  Oh man, you know, that’s my hometown.  I was born in Grand Rapids, but Detroit is where I consider home.  I was there for junior high school, high school, college… and I grew up in Detroit during the “golden era” of gospel music.  You had people like Donald Vails, Thomas Whitfield… I sang background for Thomas Whitfield.  Donald Vails was the minister of music at my church, Fred Hammond played the bass guitar there, I directed the choir.  Then, you have the Clark Sisters, the Winans, Rudolph Stanfield, Esther Smith, so many incredible artists… Rance Allen.  The concerts used to be amazing!

EJ:  I can only imagine!

BC:  Yeah, I grew up in that.  And even once I started in the industry… a lot of people don’t know that I sang background vocals on one of Commissioned’s albums, Will You Be Ready?

So, I look at the history of all of that, you know, the whole Detroit connection… and now I’m going back home to do my 6th recording.  I’m just so thankful that I’ve lasted in this time and people still wanna hear the ministry.

EJ:  What’s the direction of this album?

BC:  It’s a hard-hitting, praise and worship, Sunday morning, Wednesday night Bible Study, revival, on the treadmill, in your car… it’s all of that.

EJ:  I love it!

BC:  Yeah, it’s gonna be one of those CDs that you’re going to want to just get your groove on, get your worship on… there’s just such a wide variety of music on this one.

EJ:  Awesome.  Do you have any guest artists coming?

BC:  I do, indeed.  One, I can’t name yet.  We were trying to work out Pastor Marvin Sapp, but it didn’t work out for this one.  But, thank God, Pastor Marvin Winans is doing a song with me, my boy Tye Tribbett is coming to do a song I wrote called “In The Midst” with me… it’s gonna be a great time.

It’s being produced by the 2009 Stellar Award Producer of the Year, Aaron Lindsey.

EJ:  Well, we KNOW that’s gonna be hot.

BC:  Yeah, and we’ve got some great writers.  And the songs are just phenomenal.  I believe it’s gonna touch the lives of people in a special way.

EJ:  Nice, do you have background singers already lined-up?

BC:  Yeah, I’m using 3 of my background singers and I’m pulling 9 singers from Detroit.  You know, they say “it’s in the water in Detroit,” *laughs* so if I’m going home, there’s no sense in me bringing a whole aggregation of singers with me, ’cause there are so many great singers there in Detroit.

It’s gonna be like a big homecoming there, you know?  On March 13th, all roads are leading to Second Ebenezer Baptist Church and we’re just  looking forward to the Lord doing something magnificent through the praise and worship that evening.

EJ:  You have a title yet?

BC:  You know, we’re teeter-tottering.  I was thinking about calling it ”In The Midst,” but then I wrote this song with Aaron Lindsey… I just wanna do cartwheels when I hear that song!  So, I don’t know.

EJ: *laughs*

BC: *laughing*  I’m just grateful that it’s on MY record, you know what I’m saying?   Because if I heard it on someone else’s record, I’d be like “maaan…” *laughs*

EJ: Right!

BC:  But, I’m really looking forward to it.

EJ:  That’s great, man.  Tell me: how do you feel that you have evolved as an artist?  What, if anything, is different about you on this album, musically or ministry-wise?

BC:  Well, you know, I started out in the industry pretty much as a very creative artist.  I produced my first two records and I thank God for them because they kind of established me as an artist.  Both projects were nominated for Stellars, though neither of them won.  But when I got to GospoCentric, Vicki Mack Lataillade wanted to move me out of the “Byron Cage & Purpose” era and she just wanted to sign me as a solo artist, a praise and worship leader.  I said, “I don’t know if the church is ready for praise and worship,” and she was like “are you kidding me?  Did you see what happened when you did ‘Shabach’ with Full Gospel Baptist?  All the Baptist churches had praise teams the next year!”

EJ: *laughing*

BC:  So, the next song I wrote was “Yet Praise Him,” and she signed me.  We were having creative battles at first because I wanted to stay in that group setting and she didn’t want that.  She brought in Kurt Carr, a phenomenal writer and great producer, and he wrote “The Presence of the Lord Is Here” for me and the rest is history.

The next record had “I Will Bless The Lord” and, though that record was wonderful and it was a blessing, it was somewhat hurtful to me as well.  Brother Isaiah Thomas, who is a very talented writer, his original form of that song had different words.  I wrote all the words over because I wanted to add more scripture to it.  And when it won “Song of the Year,” of course I didn’t get any accolade as being co-writer of the song.  But the Lord showed me something, as I evolved in the music business of what we do, and I understood that there are just certain things that you don’t do.  If you wanna change the words to a song, you gotta let people know, you gotta sign agreements… so that was something that I learned from it.

With The Proclamation, I wrote the majority of the songs on that one and I’ve just watched this whole musical ministry go from writing for a group to praise and worship… For this upcoming album, I wrote a song called “Goodbye,” which just deals with relationships and people and strongholds that have tried to hinder you… I’m saying ”Goodbye” to them in 2009.  And that’s a growth for me, because I’ve never written a song like that.

EJ:  Wow.  That’s awesome.  You’ve also managed to feature a bunch of incredible guest artists on your albums.  Who have you NOT yet worked with that you are dying to have on one of your albums?

BC:  Hmmm… Man, I have so many favorites.  Of course, Karen Clark-Sheard has been one of my favorites of all time.

EJ:  Absolutely!

BC:  I love her ministry.  I think if there was someone I would have loved to have on this upcoming record, it would have been… like, Vanessa Bell Armstrong.  Some of these up-and-coming singers are really incredible, too, like Nikki Ross.  Oh, and I would love to get up there and go toe-to-toe, although I couldn’t, with Kierra Sheard! *laughs*

EJ:  Oh, she’s ridiculous.  I just saw her on the BMI Trailblazers thing and I just had to stare at the screen, like “this is unreal.”

BC:  Yeah, and she did a hard song.  I think she did “Jesus Is A Love Song,” right?

EJ:  Yeah, man.  It was incredible.

BC:  Oh, she ABSOLUTELY tore it up.

EJ:  Most definitely.  After your break-out hit, “The Presence of the Lord Is Here,” you were practically swept up into a whirlwind of success– tons of performance spots, a bunch of awards.  On the more personal side, how do you stay grounded?  Are you the same “Byron”?

BC:  You know what?  I stay grounded because I’m a minister of music of a church.  I’ve been here at Ebenezer AME, in Fort Washington, Maryland, for 11 years and these jokers know how to keep me grounded!

EJ: *laughs* It’s like THAT?!

BC:  *laughing*  They don’t consider me “The Prince of Praise,” or “Byron Cage the Artist.”  Some visitors come to church and they want to take pictures or get autographs, but for the most part, like… I’m at church now and getting ready to go to choir rehearsal in a few hours.

EJ:  Really?

BC:  Yeah, my Male Chorus rehearsal is tonight and those brothers, they don’t even consider me an artist.  They just consider me “Byron” and we have a blast.  So, I think that having pastors and a church where I can stay grounded, work, and be connected while serving God’s people, it all helps me to be appreciative when I can go out and do concerts and meet people.

That’s what keeps me humble.  And to know… first of all, I didn’t record “The Presence of the Lord Is Here” until I was 41.

EJ:  What?!

BC:  Yeah, man.  So to know that the Lord can bring you to a place, after holding you back in a certain area… when it was His time to really bring me forth, it took no time at all.

EJ:  That’s the truth.

BC:  And you sit there and it becomes surreal.  You just say “God, thank you so much because I don’t know that I could have handled it in my twenties.”

EJ:  That’s incredible.  I had no idea that you were 41 when that song took off.  That means you’ve been doing this for a while now.

BC:  Absolutely.  People don’t understand that I was a background singer first.  I was in Michael Matthews’ first play back in 1984, I was in Tyler Perry’s very first play, “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

EJ:  No way!

BC:  Yeah, man.  It was starring me, Shun Pace and Ann Nesby.

EJ:  You know, it’s funny that you mention stuff from back in the day cuz I VIVIDLY remember a certain episode of The Cosby Show…

BC: *laughing*  Yep!

EJ:  And I’ve got proof of it on my DVD box set, where you were singing in a choir behind good ol’ Claire Huxtable!

BC:  You know what’s so funny about that, man?  It took us all day to film that scene and they originally had me in the last row to the right.  They dismissed everyone but the choir because they wanted to do the song over again, I was the only person they moved and they moved me right behind Phylicia Rashad!  I just think that was the favor of the Lord because even back then, and that was back in 1986 *screams*, but I think “God, Almighty!”

The journey that I have had to go has not always been easy.  But I am so thankful to God that I stayed and I didn’t lose heart when everybody else counted me out and said “he’s not this, he’s not that,” and… just know that if you’re faithful to the Lord, He will make you the ruler over many so that no one else can take credit for what God does.

EJ:  That’s great stuff, man.  I’m trying to be mindful of your time… do we have time for some quick getting-to-know-you questions?

BC:  Yeah, sure!

EJ:  Okay, fill in the blanks.  Many folks would be surprised to learn that Byron Cage loves __________________.

BC:  to ride my motorcycle.

EJ:  Seriously?

BC:  Yeah, I’ve got a Harley Davidson Soft Tail Classic.

EJ: Ok, that’s dangerous…

BC:  *laughing*

EJ:  What’s with the Detroit people and motorcycles?  You, Fred Hammond…

BC:  Yeah, but he’s got more than I have.  I’ve just got that one big hog.  He’s got like four or five.

EJ:  Okay, next one.  Byron Cage is at the airport, on his way to his dream vacation.  He’s on a direct flight to __________________.

BC:  Whoooooo!  TAHITI!

EJ:  *laughs*  Yeah?

BC:  Mmm-hmmm!  Never been.

EJ:  Ok.  When the dessert menu comes around, Byron Cage hopes it’ll have __________________ on it.

BC: *quickly* ICE WATER cuz I don’t need the carbs, or the sugar, or the fat grams!

EJ:  What?!  No.  That’s not dessert!

BC:  *laughing*  I am just not a “sweets” person anymore.  Sweets don’t agree with me– they cut off the blood circulation to my belly button when I put my belt on, so I had to let it go.  If it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, I might do some red velvet cake or peach cobbler.  But for the most part, I’m not a “sweet” person.

EJ:  I hear you.  I wish more gospel artists would preach THAT!

BC:  Right, exactly.

EJ:  Ok, last one.  Let Byron Cage loose in a shopping mall and the first place he’ll be is __________________.

BC:  Oooh.  The first place I’ll be in a shopping mall will be Neiman Marcus.

EJ:  They’re kinda expensive aren’t they?  Their catalog has, like… cars for $50,000 in it.

BC:  I know, they’re crazy but you can catch them on some good days, too.  Catch the “20 or 30 percent off” sales.  I paid full price for a couple of Paul Smith jackets that were kind of expensive, but for the most part… yeah, man… I’m a sales king.  I don’t like payin’ full price!

EJ:  I ain’t mad at that.  One last question, on a more serious note, what is your message as an artist?  At the end of the concert, or when the last track on the iPod is over, what do you hope people will know about you as it relates to your ministry?

BC:  I pray that, when it’s over, people will know that I am a man of God who loves to worship the Lord, and my heart’s desire is that whatever has been given to me, I want to be a blessing to God’s people.  Whether that’s through salvation, healing, encouragement, I want people to leave with the authentic feeling that God has spoken to them right where they need it.  And they’re encouraged to go on in the journey.

EJ:  Sounds good to me.  Man, I’m excited for this album.  I think it’s going to be good and I hope the recording goes well.

BC:  I appreciate it, EJ.  And I appreciate you for doing this for me.

EJ:  It was my pleasure and, hopefully, we’ll talk soon.

BC:  Okay.

EJ:  Take care.

BC:  Alright, bye-bye.

*     *     *

Click here for more information about Byron’s upcoming recording.

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Lemme know your thoughts!

BET aired an encore presentation of its second annual BET Honors program on Sunday night, which honored several folks in entertainment, media, education, politics and corporate service.  Honorees got awards and a tribute performance of some sort.  (An aside, not that it’s gospel: Anita Baker is timeless and her voice is just as incredible as twenty years ago.)

Tyler Perry, awarded for being a ”media phenomenon,” received a musical tribute from Yolanda Adams and Joss Stone.  Yolanda started with “Just A Prayer Away,” a CLASSIC favorite of mine from her Through The Storm album. 

I might’ve known that things were going to go awry when Joss Stone joined her on stage, followed by a choir wearing those typical awards-show choir robes.  The woman can sing, no doubt, but it turned into a howling match in which Yolanda’s incredibly warm and pure tone couldn’t even be heard.  By the end, I just sat at the screen and thought “huh?!”

So, I beseech the production powers-that-be: can we just sing our songs by ourselves, please?

Nobody ran up and joined Anita Baker, Ne-Yo, Monica, Anthony Hamilton, Queen Latifah, Keyshia Cole or Stevie Wonder in their musical tributes.  How come the ONLY duet of the entire show has to happen on the ONLY gospel song of the night?  And, if for some reason you simply MUST create a duet out of a gospel song that was recorded (and has always been performed) as a SOLO, why add a secular artist to it?  Somebody had to have planned this.  Like, “you know what would be HOT?!”  But, no… not hot, BET.

Anyone else catch it?  Thoughts???

Nominees for the 40th annual NAACP Image Awards were announced yesterday.  They offer an “Outstanding Gospel Artist (Traditional or Contemporary)” award… and the nominees are:

Hezekiah Walker | Marvin Sapp | Mary Mary | Regina Belle | Take 6

Taking nothing from the other nominees, my money is on Marvin Sapp cuz I think the industry and the fans love him A LOT right now.  And rightfully so.

The show, hosted by Halle Berry and Tyler Perry (cute… rhyming…) airs live on Thursday, February 12th on FOX at 8pm ET/PT (to my wife: I’m prolly gonna forget, so can you help me remember to set the DVR?).