Phenomenal in Philly, Michelle Bonilla to Release Sophisticated Second Project

Her new CD, In Spite of Me, will be available digitally April 13, 2010.

by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog

When your father organized a rock band in his native Puerto Rico and played Latin jazz in Village clubs upon moving to New York, your musical tastes are going to be eclectic.

Such is the story of emerging Christian artist Michelle Bonilla. She grew up in a Dominican Republic-Puerto Rican household that feasted on a steady diet of BB King, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and the Fania All Stars. She breathed it all in like fresh air in a spring meadow.

Then, when her father got saved, Bonilla told TBGB, “he started listening to Christian contemporary artists. He played them all the time!”

One of her father’s favorites, the Winans, became hers, too, though she later developed a fondness for the music of the Clark Sisters, Kim Burrell, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Amy Grant and others.

With such an eclectic musical palette, it’s no surprise that Bonilla’s sophomore album, In Spite of Me, is an amalgam of musical influences distilled to a distinctly urban finish. For Bonilla, it’s not about genres or labels. “I want to do good music and I’m not going to sacrifice on the quality. It may not fit [a category], and I’m okay with that, because at this point I just want to share the love of Christ, what He’s done for me, and how I developed a relationship with Him, and put it into music.”

Bonilla’s career in Christian music didn’t start until she was a teenager, but she was no stranger to public performance at an early age. “My father put a microphone in my hand when I was five. He was like, ‘Sing,’ and I was like, ‘Okay!’” She led worship at church with her father and sang three-part harmony with her two sisters.

Then tragedy struck. “My father fell back into alcohol and drugs. He fell away from everything he had taught us about the Christian faith. It was a difficult time for us, but I kept going to church. Eventually, I moved to Bay Ridge Christian Center, a bilingual church in New York.”

Bonilla hadn’t planned to participate in worship ministry at her new church, “but they asked me to. Somebody heard me singing in the pews and said, ‘You should be up there!’” While she wasn’t sure she had what it took to lead worship on her own, she obliged.

It was during this period in her life that Bonilla met Lee Jerkins. He had come to Bay Ridge for a concert, heard Bonilla leading worship and singing a Christianized version of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

“Lee told me, ‘You have something, but that song isn’t it!’” He became her music mentor and the two eventually married.

With Jerkins’ encouragement and assistance, Bonilla began developing into a Christian artist. “People think you kind of just wake up and all of a sudden you are an artist who’s developed and ready to go,” Bonilla said, “but that’s not necessarily the case. You have to grow into it.”

Practice and persistence paid off: five years later, Bonilla released her debut CD, Phenomenal. It was the first time she tried songwriting. “I took experiences from my life, turned them into songs, and showed how God was in the midst of all of it.”

While pursuing music, Bonilla attended the City University of New York. She studied first to be a doctor, then subsequently turned to law. At 21, on sheer faith, she changed direction and moved to Philadelphia. “I put my life in God’s hands, two pastors took me in, and I worked on my second album.”

Bonilla’s father encouraged her to complete her education, just to be on the safe side, so she enrolled in Temple University, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She graduated cum laude. “I continued to pursue music because it’s what I love to do. I’d get out of class at 6 p.m., after a full day of work, and be in the studio working until midnight, 1 a.m.

“I don’t think that I would be happy if I wasn’t doing something creative, and I definitely wouldn’t be fulfilled if I was doing it without sharing my faith.”

In Spite of Me is the result of Bonilla’s late hours and determination. In some respects, the new album follows the formula of Phenomenal: “real life experiences married with Christian faith.” Stylistically, however, there are some differences.

“Phenomenal was a middle of the road album,” Bonilla explained. “I had these different musical influences, and I wasn’t sure what genre I would fit into. I don’t sound like a black gospel artist, but I don’t necessarily sound like a CCM artist. And I have all this Latin stuff in me, too, and what do I do with that? Phenomenal was a fusion of all these styles.

“For In Spite of Me, I streamlined my sound. I gave it an urban feel. I am characterized as an urban artist but I hadn’t yet produced an urban project.”

The album’s current single, “I Love You,” has earned the singer plenty of positive feedback and radio spins. “Philly’s 103.9 recently gave me some local love, and it’s been on a lot of online radio stations. It’s not traditional like you’d hear Sunday morning in church, but why couldn’t it be? Why shouldn’t it be?”

One song from the album, “My Generation,” addresses an issue that is at once eternal and distinctly post-modern. “We [youth] are told that we have potential but we’re not tapping into it, that we are not listening to our elders. But elders aren’t elders anymore. Grandma is 35 years old. Who is passing wisdom down to us? Is it that we don’t have potential or is it that do we not have the wisdom? We do have potential, but times are changing, and the way we share the message of Christ has to change as well.”

Bonilla sings one song in Spanish on In Spite of Me, and plans someday to do an entire Christian album in Spanish. “I want to take my time and do it right. I’ve grown up around Latin musicians who are absolutely excellent, and I don’t want to present anything less than that.”

In Spite of Me will be released digitally on April 13 and Bonilla will hold a CD release party on Saturday, April 17 at her home church, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia. The date the album will be available in stores has not yet been determined.

Meanwhile, Bonilla is building buzz for the new album by tapping social networks and performin other kinds of grassroots marketing. “I’ve got a message of Christ, I’ve got a message of hope,” Bonilla stated, “and whatever I’ve got to do to get it out there, that’s what I’m going to do.”

For more on Michelle Bonilla, visit her website: www.myspace.com/michellebonillamusic