On Friday, January 13, 2012, BMI held its annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music awards luncheon at Nashville’s Rocketown. The invite-only industry gathering has become the hottest ticket in town.

This year, BMI saluted the music and ministry of Bishop Hezekiah Walker and Kirk Franklin.

A virtual who’s-who was in attendance… Kim Burrell, Israel Houghton, Fred Hammond, Isaac Carree, Trin-i-tee 5:7, Jason Nelson, Jonathan Nelson, Jessica Reedy, Virtue, Asaph Ward, Ricky Dillard, Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, BeBe Winans, DJ Rogers, David & Tamela Mann, Dayna Caddell, Brian Courtney Wilson, Dorinda Clark Cole, Marvin Sapp… my fingers are tired, but just think of EVERYONE in gospel music.

Check out these photos from the event!

FREE MUSIC.

Nuff said.

Folks, I want you to check out a FREE DOWNLOAD from Major3rd Productions, titled EPIC. It features a collection of gifted artists and great songs.

Comprised of budding producers Gerald Jones, Justin Djuane Francis and Carlos Woodard, Major3rd has been making waves in the music biz lately, having worked with artists ranging from Virtue to Joshua’s Troop and Claude Deuce.

The 12-track mixtape features several artists including Darwin Hobbs, Paula Champion, Virtue, Tammi Haddon and more. Here’s a full track listing:

1.Virtue-Oh Lord
2.Stephanie Goldsmith-Breaking Of The Day
3.Claude Deuce-I Believe God
4.Sheree Holman-Count It All Joy
5.Staci Brown-Simply Because
6.Tammi Haddon-I Need You
7.Darwin Hobbs-Stronger
8.Boyce Hudson-If It Had
9.Paula Champion-Can’t Imagine
10.Jaye Brown-Work In Me
11.Jeff Beatty-Stranded
12.Deah Harriott-Have Your Way

I’ve added Virtue’s cut, titled “Oh Lord,” to the Pundit Player below. Check it out!

And download the mixtape right here– www.major3rdproductions.bandcamp.com.

Karima Kibble, former lead vocalist of gospel group Virtue, recently released her debut solo project, Just Karima.

She just posted the new video for her lead single, “So Happy,” yesterday.  And it goes a lil’ something like this:

It took me a minute to get the concept of the video, but I get it. There are a couple of slow-motion effects throughout the video that tend to drag the song’s energy down for me, but Karima looks great and I think it’s a much more quality video than we tend to see in our industry.

Your thoughts???

Three great newsworthy projects hit stores TODAY and you should prolly check them out.

First, there’s the long-awaited release from Tarralyn Ramsey, entitled Beyond The Darkness.  Also, Kierra Sheard has released KiKi’s Mixtape with several new tracks on it.  Finally, the long-awaited solo debut from Virtue’s Karima Kibble, Just Karima, is out now.

Follow the links below to listen to snippets and to PURCHASE ‘em.

Anybody already bought any of ‘em? Which ones are YOU planning to buy???

This project was Virtue’s last on Verity, but it’s definitely my favorite from them.  And I think almost EVERYBODY Slept On it.

I actually wrote a review for this album at NuthinButGospel.com when it came out in 2003.  I mentioned that I hadn’t been a huge fan of Virtue before, but that THIS album had me talking about them nonstop.  From the vocals, to the production and songwriting, the project is on point and I STILL play it like it just came out.

Production on this one came from PAJAM and Asaph Ward, among others.  Standout tracks for me are “Thankful,” “You’ll Win If You Try,” “Worthy,” “Lord, I Lift My Hands,” “Open Arms,” “Nothing Else I Can Do”… I could go on and on.

I couldn’t embed the full songs from this project, so I’m giving ya two 30-second clips–”Lord, I Lift My Hands” and “Thankful.”  But I reeeaaallly want you to buy this album and listen to the whole thing, cuz… my goodness.

By the way, Karima’s solo project is soon-coming and it sounds goooood. I’ma do a post about it soon.

In the meantime, FESS UP! Who Slept On it? Who has it? Do you love it? Talk to me!

So, I have to admit that I hadn’t heard much about the Nevels Sisters until I read a press release yesterday, announcing the release of their new album, Beautiful.  I thought it was a debut, but their bio indicates otherwise– they’ve been recording since 1984.  Turns out, they were the first winners of Gospel F.O.C.U.S., a nationwide gospel talent competition airing on The Word Network.  I didn’t have cable back then, so…

Anyway, a line in their bio caught my attention: “The four biological sisters are one of the hottest groups to hit Gospel in a long time.  Easily drawing strong comparisons to The Clark Sisters…”

I could see that.

But after listening to the album, produced by Tommie Walker (Fred Hammond, CeCe Winans), I believe the similarities are much more subtle than one might assume.  Sure, they’re four ladies who sing a lot in unison before breaking into unique harmonies.  But, the style of music is not Clark-esque.  They’re not really doing traditional gospel, or even modernized traditional gospel.  They’re more like an urban praise & worship– some of the songs have a sound that could easily translate to a Men of Standard, Virtue or Trinitee 5:7 album, in terms of style.

There’s no denying that these ladies are really good vocalists.  Both the lead vocals and background vocals display some great agility and even better color and tone.  I listened through snippets of each of the 17 tracks (good Lawd!), and enjoyed the song choices.  My faves: “Clap Your Hands,” a beat-laden praise & worship track kinda reminscent of the Clark Sisters’ “You Brought the Sunshine”; “Unbelievable,” just a good song of gratitude; ”I Wanna Bless You” and ”There’s Only One,” two songs that praise teams want to include in their repertoire.

All in all, I really like ‘em.  I wish I had seen or heard more about them before the day of their album’s release.  Many people probably don’t know much about them.  But if they don’t take off, that will be the reason; not because the album doesn’t deliver.

Check ‘em out!