“Keep Hope Alive” – Earnest Pugh feat. Dr. Jamal H. Bryant
“Keep Hope Alive” by Earnest Pugh reminds that while “we shall overcome someday,” we must keep pressing on until that someday comes.
JGM Pick of the Week – March 28, 2023
“I Still Have You” may be Smokie Norful’s most affecting single since “I Need You Now.”
Various Artists – The Voices of Quartet, Vol. 1
Various Artists The Voices of Quartet Vol. 1 Overboard Records (2023) By Robert M. Marovich Few record labels today pay much mind to gospel quartets, despite the fact that quartet singing was the dominant sound of gospel’s golden age and maintains a presence in urban and rural areas nationwide, especially [...]
TKE3 – The Maker & III (A Drill Tape)
TKE3 The Maker & III (A Drill Tape) GTG Entertainment (2022) By Robert M. Marovich Nigerian-born and UK-raised Victor Atuonwu is a producer and rapper known as TKE3. The Maker & III is his first release since 2020’s EP Amen. The sixteen-minute drill tape is a chill electronic mélange of [...]
JGM Pick of the Week – March 20, 2023
“Gonna Be OK” (remix) Tayme’ tee Independent (release date: July 17, 2022)
JGM Pick of the Week: March 13, 2023
“Fire” Kingdmusic feat. CASS From the album Perfect Love (release date: December 9, 2022)
The Gospel Compilations in Birthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium
By Nicole McCray Black History Month coincided with the release of the new compilation, Birthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium (Craft Recordings, 2023). Listeners who want to learn about Black music history can enjoy and rejoice in Black artists' impact on American music throughout history. Some of the recordings are [...]
“Get Up” – Cheryl Boggs
Cheryl Boggs’ anthemic “Get Up” is directed at everyone who has been hurt and hides their pain behind a brave face.
JGM Pick of the Week – March 7, 2023
“Proof” K.T. Ellis feat. Kenneth Coleman Blacksmoke Music Worldwide (2023)
“Building – ‘What Are You Waiting On?'” – Erica Reed
“Building – ‘What Are You Waiting On?’” Erica Reed EDP Entertainment (release date: October 21, 2021) By Robert M. Marovich I’ve followed the career of St. Louis-based indie gospel artist Erica Reed since meeting her at the Gospel Music Workshop of America years ago. Her new single, “Building – [...]
“If I Don’t Wake Up” – Chosen 4
On the mellow “If I Don’t Wake Up,” the quartet members reassure their loved ones that they “fixed it up with Jesus a long, long time ago” and are therefore ready to receive their crown and “golden shoes” when the great day comes.
JGM Pick of the Week – February 27, 2023
“Come By Here” Aria Gaston From the EP Aria Gaston Presents Worship Live (release date: June 21, 2022)
Da’ T.R.U.T.H. – Emanuel
Da' T.R.U.T.H. gathered an all-star crew of veteran and current gospel stars—from Fred Hammond and Yolanda Adams to Dante Bowe and Maranda Curtis—to assist on his self-titled Emanuel.
“If It Weren’t for Grace” – Mariee Murphy
Plano, Texas, singer-songwriter Mariee Murphy’s “If It Weren’t for Grace” is a salvation story bathed in warm and unobtrusive electronica.
JGM Pick of the Week – February 20, 2023
“Cover Me” Patrick Lundy & the Ministers of Music feat. LeJuene Thompson From the album Way Maker – 25th Anniversary Live Recording (album release: March 4, 2021)
JGM Pick of the Week: February 13, 2023
“I Wanna Say Thank You” James Grear & Company feat. Maurette Brown Clark Blacksmoke Music Worldwide (release date: October 7, 2022)
“It Is Well” – Kergyma Community Choir
The Kergyma Community Choir’s “It Is Well” is inspired by and has the same message, but is not the same piece as, the classic nineteenth-century hymn that begins, “When peace like a river…”
“Lamb of God” – Brenda Jefferson feat. Stephen Hurd
The muscular-voiced Hurd who leads the call-and-response with the background vocalists on this rhythmically undulating song of praise.