I love finding out about new music! Today I bring to you In His Presence, the gospel choir from Wright State University!
The choir is releasing their debut album, For His Glory, on June 12th. I love choir music!!
Listen to their single, “Marvelous Things” below and make sure to support the album.
TosinMojiSpeaks is proud to be partnering with Tyscot Records in hosting Damita Haddon’s lyric video debut of
“Won’t Turn Back”.
“Won’t Turn Back” is off her upcoming album, Anticipation, which will hit stores July 24th.
You’ve heard the single; now it’s your time to sing along!
On Thursday, May 31st, Tyscot Music & Entertainment will host the virtual lyric video debut of Damita’s current radio single “Won’t Turn Back”.
The lyric video will feature the hot track and never before seen images of Ms. Damita. Won’t Turn Back is the current single from the upcoming project Anticipation, to be released July 24th.
“Won’t Turn Back” is a fun song that also carries a strong message of staying with God no matter the circumstances.
Written by Damita and produced by, Fredrick “Blaze” Crawford, the song’s declarative lyrics say, “I’ve been running for You a long time and I won’t turn back, No I won’t turn back, I’ll keep on Running!” Throughout the song, she expresses her commitment to God with the lyrics, “With you by my side, I know I can win, You’re my Guide and You’re my closest Friend-I won’t turn Back!”
On May 31st, Damita fans will be treated to a musically unique and visually electrifying lyric video which will debut on Tyscot Music and Entertainment’s Youtube channel, Tyscot TV (www.youtube.com/Tyscottv).
In addition, several key Gospel Entertainment sites have also joined Tyscot in hosting Damita’s video including:
www.gospelpundit.com
www.gospelcity.com
www.ugospel.com
www.getvnetwork.com
www.gospel360online.com
www.tosinmojispeaks.wordpress.com
www.pathmagazine.com
www.1800gospel.com
www.yeslordradio.com
www.gospelinnovation.com
www.gospelnw.com
JTA Promotions Youtube channel
Damita will release the follow-up to her acclaimed album, No Looking Back, on July 24th. For those who purchase the album via iTunes, Amazon MP3 or Digital 7, fans will be treated to a Deluxe version of the Anticipation album which will include a brand new, never-released bonus track, her previous hit single “No Looking Back” and its video which has generated nearly 1 million views on Youtube.
Anticipation will be available in stores and online July 24th. The current single, “Won’t Turn Back” can be heard on radio stations across the country. If you haven’t heard it on your favorite station, request it today.
Every so often you come across musicians on Youtube that you want to learn more about. A couple years ago I was watching some clips from the Village Underground in NYC and came across Broken ChainZ. I was immediately captured by the song, the sound, and their worship. I was able to catch up with the band to talk about their vision, sound, and debut album. Read it below!
TosinMoji:Tell me about how Broken ChainZ began.
Jerry “Juice”:Broken ChainZ band started in summer 2009. It basically started out with me reaching out to some guys that I actually prayed about. God led me to some musicians that I believed could be a part of the sound and a part of this movement. I told them what God put on my heart to do as far as this freedom movement and what Broken ChainZ was about.
TosinMoji:What is this freedom sound that you talk about?
Juice: Basically it’s about liberation. The vision stems from Luke 4: 18-19 where Jesus said the spirit of the Lord is upon me for He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. One thing that stuck out is when He said to liberate the captives. I just believe that we have a lot of Christians who are still bound and we cover that up with attractive gospel music that really doesn’t hit the core. But overall there’s a lot of great and inspiring gospel music out there. But I just felt that there’s a rebellious generation out there that needs to hear an aggressive, in your face style of music with the message that let’s them know they can be free.
TosinMoji: I like that! So you all just released your debut album. Congrats! What was the process like?
Juice: What I normally do is I come to the rehearsal with whatever idea I have or whatever inspiration God has given me and kind of pull from their thoughts, ideas, and inspirations. We share this idea musically and make it into the sound that you hear on the album. The contribution from each of these guys is what makes the Broken Chainz sound what it is.
Phinees: This is probably the longest ministry/band I’ve ever played with. We all bring our own personality to the sound. Everyone plays a different instrument but I realized when you listen to gospel records you hear the same people playing the same thing. When I listened to the playback of the record I felt like I played this way on this song and on another one I sound like a totally different person. But it’s still the same personality. So I love how we make our own personality not fit in a box.
Marcus: This was initially Juice’s sound or idea and we all participated in carrying out that vision and bringing it to life. We have all been able to utilize what we have and be able to execute it in a way that it’s just a different sound.
TosinMoji: Your sound is very different from the typical gospel sound. How receptive are people to your music?
Juice: We’ve had our share of rejection simply because people do two things when they view something that’s different and new. They either try to destroy it or they run away from it. But you have those people who we are actually reaching out to who have a heart of the band because they hear a sound that their spirit or their soul is crying out for. So we definitely have the traditional crowd that’s not gonna get this album at all, but we’re not called to everybody. We’re just called to a certain few especially in this generation that see that these guys are young, fresh, dope, but they do love God.
TosinMoji: So I love the way you all have described your sound and vision for the project. What about the lyrics? Who writes them or is it a collaborative effort?
Juice: Simply because this is our first album it’s been me writing and Saeed would co-write. We would shoot ideas back and forth as far as where the song should go. These are songs that God’s given me either few years ago or just recently.
Marcus: Like I said, this was initially Juice’s idea but now that we are a lot more familiar with the sound and with each other we’re definitely going to make it more of a collaborative effort and put it together in the next album. We all have ideas to bring to the table.
TosinMoji: What are your favorite songs on the album?
Phinees: Freedom Cry. It’s the anthem of the band. It’s very cross-cultural
Carlin: Cross Anthem. It’s an aggressive song. I love the fact that it’s a hymn and we approached it differently.
TosinMoji: Yea I really like that song. It was interesting how you took that song and switched it up.
Juice: That was actually my pastor’s idea. My pastor told me you guys should do a hymn. I looked at him like ‘A hymn with our style? That would never work’. Lo and behold I was coming from a studio session and next thing you know it’s on the album.
Marcus: My favorite song might be Cross Anthem as well. It’s a hymn that’s been modernized and Broken Chainz-ized.
Matthais: My favorite is Merciful God. Most people like Cross Anthem and I love that song too but Merciful God is a worship song and I’m all about that.
Juice: I think my favorite song would have to be Musician’s Cry. Not because of the musicality of it but basically because of the relationship it has with me personally. The words are like my spirit speaking out loud. Every word from start to finish.
TosinMoji: What are your rehearsals like? I imagine they get quite interesting!
Juice: We have a couple of clowns. Carlin and Marcus are the funniest guys in the entire universe. They need their own T.V show. These guys will have you crying throughout the whole rehearsal. One thing I love about rehearsals is that we cry out to God. One thing that we do when we come to rehearsal is we speak out loud the things we are believing God to do in our lives. That’s our tradition. We don’t play first, we go straight into confessing and speaking those things that are not as though they are.
TosinMoji: Wow that’s amazing! How did that start?
Juice: It was something we did for the first time a couple years ago and the Spirit of God just said ‘This is us. This is what we do’. And we have witnessed God through us confessing and speaking those things in the atmosphere.
TosinMoji: Amen. What do you guys expect listeners to get from your music?
Matthais: When you get the album you should be prepared for the unexpected. You should be prepared for a sound that’s unprecedented. Be prepared for a spiritual whirlwind. Something different; it’s not something that you’ve heard before.
Juice:We want listeners to be engaged. It is our job to set the atmosphere and begin this journey to this place called freedom where people—young people—are not afraid to lift up their hands, jump, scream, shout, and just experience God in a way where they feel they’re not being judged. They can see young, black men who are radical and on fire for God. It’s not only about Jesus Culture, Planetshakers, or Hillsong. We have people right here in New York that are on fire for God.
Well there you have it! Listen to their debut album,Sound of War, Cry of Freedom, and you can certainly tell these young men are on fire for God–and want others to experience that same feeling. The album is amazing, both lyrically and musically. If you are looking for a new sound or just more music to add to your collection this is definitely a band to check out!
Watch their video for Freedom Cry!
Have you heard the new single from Deon Kipping?
On his latest single, “What’s Coming is Better”, Deon Kipping reminds us that “what’s coming is better than what’s been.”
Do you believe that for your life today? Check out the single below.
Who’s excited about the new Travis Malloy album? Well if you’re not, Travis just gave you a reason to get excited! He has leaked snippets of songs off his album and I’m definitely liking what I’m hearing. Listen to it below.
His self-titled album is available June 29th.
The lovely Damita Haddon is back with her second single, “Won’t Turn Back”.
The single is off of her upcoming album,Anticipation,in stores July 24th.
Take a listen to the track below!
The wait is over!! Lecrae dropped his mixtape today at 1:16PM
I was upset that I couldn’t get it at midnight, but 1:16 makes way more sense (Romans 1:16…Get it?!)
Anyway, you NEED to get this mixtape!!
Like now…go…GET IT!
Get the mixtape here!
When your father is a legendary jazz guitarist and your aunt a well-renowned gospel artist it’s hard not to follow those footsteps! Gospel newcomer Tim Bowman Jr. is doing just that with his Top 10 Billboard Gospel debut album, Beautiful.
I had the pleasure of chatting with him to get a little more insight on his journey to Beautiful.
TMS: First let me say again congratulations! I love the album! It’s been on repeat since the release. How does it feel to have just released your debut album?
TBJ: First of all thank you for taking the time to interview me. It feels great. It’s an overwhelming feeling. I didn’t expect it to have such an impact!
TMS: It really is a great album! When I was listening to it I was trying to pick a favorite; but every song is my favorite. I really love “I’ll Try” though.
TBJ: Wow, thank you for that! That’s amazing.
TMS: No problem. How’d you come up with the title?
TBJ: It’s the title of the song I did with my father. We decided that would be the album title.
TMS: Cool, What was the recording process was like.
TBJ: It took about two and a half to three years. We recorded between 30 and 40 songs and narrowed it down to 13.
TMS: Wow, must have been a hard decision making those cuts! Did you do most of the writing on the album?
TBJ: I co-wrote about 8 of the songs. There was a core group of 4 of us who wrote for the album.
TMS: Your music is very eclectic. There’s pop, jazz, acoustic…everything really! Why did you decide to take that route?
TBJ: Well, I did that for two reasons. First, I listen to every genre of music. I try to find the best product of music. I love the simplicity of rock, the power of gospel, the sincerity of worship and the beats of pop. I wanted my album to show that. Also, we live in a day where we can go on iTunes and buy single tracks instead of records. But if people wanted to get a mix of music they can get the whole album!
TMS: That is a very interesting idea. But, did you feel you were taking a risk in making your album so musically diverse, especially in being a new artist?
TBJ: Of course! It’s a huge risk, but someone has to take it. I have nothing to lose!
TMS: You’ve been in the industry before this debut. I first heard you on “How I Got Over”. I remember getting the WOW Gospel 11 compilation and it was on there. I was like who is that scatting! I literally spent like 2 weeks trying to learn that. How did you learn how to scat like that?
TBJ: My father. I got the whole jazzy thing from him. When I was younger he would get his guitar and do little doodles and have me follow after him. That’s how I learned to scat.
TMS: That’s great. Not many people can master the art of scatting! With both your father and aunt being legendary artists did you feel any pressure growing up to fill their shoes?
TBJ: I feel like I had and still feel like I have big shoes to fill. They are trailblazers and amazing artists. But they don’t put any pressure on me. I just hope I can achieve half the things they did.
TMS: You will! Aside from them, who are some other musical influences?
TBJ: Wow. I have a lot. On the gospel side there’s the Clark sisters, Kim Burrell, Mary Mary, and the Winans. And I appreciate artists that do their craft well like Michael Jackson, Coldplay, Beatles, and Beyonce.
TMS: Wow that is a very eclectic list. Now I understand why your album is the way it is!
TBJ: Exactly! I listen to everything.
TMS: What do you hope listeners get from listening to you album?
TBJ: I hope people get an overall experience. I want the music to make them want to dance, worship, mellow out, chill out, praise…a whole mix of emotions! I want it to tell a story. I want them to take a journey.
TMS: Describe Tim Bowman Jr. in 3 words.
TBJ: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I would say motivated, dedicated, and transparent.
Well, there you have it! Tim Bowman Jr’s dedication has landed him at #8 on the charts and he’s just getting started. It was truly a pleasure speaking with him and I’m excited to see what is in store for him in the future. He’s going to be touring so when he’s in your area…go see him!
In the meantime, make sure you get his debut album, Beautiful. It is amazing! Definitely music worth adding to your collection 🙂
Livre’ is an upcoming NY-based gospel group consisting of 7 vocalist and 5 musicians. They have shared the stage with many seasoned artists such as Donnie McClurklin, Shirley Ceaser, and Mary Mary and are now working on their album!
Also, they will be celebrating their single release on June 15 in the Bronx. If you’re in the area you should go! Concert also features Kierra Sheard. Visit the event page for flyer details!
Listen to their recent single, “The Only God” below. Then go get it on iTunes!!
Visit their website.
Follow them on Twitter.
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