By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.
Stellar Award-winning Tye Tribbett signed with EMI Gospel—now Motown Gospel—earlier this year.  He opened BET’s Celebration of Gospel on Sunday, April 7.  His new single, “If He Did It Before…Same God,” debuted at #1 on iTunes and #17 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Singles Chart.
Tribbett recently spoke to TBGB about his music, his new single, and his forthcoming album, Greater Than.  After one minute, it was clear Tye Tribbett is just as effervescent off stage as he is on.
Tribbett grew up in a musical family.  His father was an organist and his mother a choir director and singer.  His brother played the bass, and his two sisters sang. “We were like a small Jacksons,” he laughed.  Their church home was El Bethel Church of Christ in Camden, New Jersey.  “We were rocking that church every week,” Tribbett recalled.
Not allowed to listen to anything but gospel music as a youth, Tribbett gleaned his earliest inspirations from innovators such as the Winans, Commissioned, Andrae’ Crouch, Hezekiah Walker, John P. Kee, and James Hall & Worship and Praise.  When he got his first taste of secular music, it was Joe Sample, the Yellowjackets, and Weather Report who piqued his interest most.  “I love people who kind of push it and break the mold a little bit,” he said.  “That’s me!”
Tribbett calls his style of gospel “Kingdom Music—which to me means that any style or any genre should be represented in the kingdom of God.  I don’t believe we should have to leave the kingdom of God for any style of music.  Whatever field you are looking for, it should be in the kingdom.  I found myself expressing all types through my presentation so I decided to call it Kingdom Music.  It’s my jambalaya!”
Although Tribbett said growing up, “the only dancing we did was the holy dance in church every Sunday,” his live performances are finely choreographed.  “I have always been theatrical,” he reasoned.  “I’ve always been a little ‘extra,’ so I try to implement that in my performances—whether facial expressions or choreographed moves—because I want to make sure you get the point, and you know how I feel about the point.”
Perhaps the most vivid example of Tribbett’s musical “jambalaya” is his fourth album, Fresh.  He explained the strategy behind the album’s creation.
“I was living in L.A, attending the Dream Center Church, which had a pop/rock feel.  Every Sunday was like a concert, the lights and productions, everything!  At that point in my life, my musical expression reflected that.  Plus, Freshwas going to be different because it was a studio project.  When you are in the studio, you can push sounds a little bit more.  I wanted each presentation to be authentic, so I took time to put that type of focus into each track.  That is why a lot of tracks sound different than the one before them.  I had the liberty and time to really be authentic in my presentation.”
Looking back on Fresh, Tribbett mused, “Honestly, I think I accomplished that to a fault, because people said they couldn’t hear me, that I got lost in it.  They were like, ‘Where’s Tye?!’  So in the next project, they’ll see, ‘Okay, there he is, he’s back!’”
EMI Gospel approached Tribbett when they learned that his deal with Sony was over.  “Actually, we courted everybody to see who would be the best fit for us,” Tribbett said.  “EMI Gospel was a wonderful connection, a wonderful relationship, and we decided to partner with them.”
He added, “I was in the meeting, presenting my music to EMI Gospel in Nashville, when [President and Chief Executive Officer] Bill Hearn came in to say, ‘I might as well tell you now: we’re going to merge with Motown.’  I was like ‘Whaaaaat?’  I was thinking, ‘Am I supposed to be here?  Am I supposed to be hearing this?’  So it went from great to greater in a manner of minutes!”
“If He Did It Before…Same God,” one of the songs Tribbett wrote for Greater Than, to be released June 4, 2013 by Motown Gospel, has been percolating for some time.
“I’ve been singing the hook for years and I put verses to it last year,” Tribbett said of the single.  “To me, it’s becoming the anthem of the summer, because people need to be reminded that if He did it before, He will do it again.  This is not our first time being in a weird space or trying times, and when we look back, we realize God brought us through.  So if you are in another weird spot, don’t fret, because you already know He’s the same God. 
“People are gravitating to the sound and the presentation,” Tribbett said, “but more so, hopefully, to the message.”
To Tribbett, the theme of Greater Than is that “God is greater than sickness, trouble, disease, loneliness, stress, politics, the government.  Whatever is posturing itself in your life as a great force, God is saying it may be great, but I’m greater, so I should be the one influencing your decisions, I should be the one who is the source. 
“In this time, God is challenging anything that causes us to move, if it’s not Him.  Even if we’re fearful or scared, God says I’m supposed to be the lord of your life, not fear.  He’s greater than all these things, internal and external.  All the songs on the album are like a parade, pointing to the God who is on the float, that He’s greater, He’s stronger.  That’s what I want to scream, and hopefully we have accomplished that on the album.”
Special guest artists on Greater Than include Mali Music, Zacardi Cortez, and, Tribbett added, possibly Pastor Donnie McClurkin.
Reflecting back on his career thus far, Tribbett said, “I always thought that if I could play keyboards behind some of the greats, that would be a dream come true!  But to be where I am now, no, I never imagined this.  God has done exceedingly, abundantly above what I could ask of Him.  It’s a good season and I’m grateful!”
Visit Tye Tribbett on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tyetribbett.

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Written by : Bob Marovich

Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.