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Bri Babineaux gets six million views in six days, kicks off second leg of tour

Social media singing star Briana “Bri” Babineaux has done it again.  Over
the last year, she has posted several singing videos on Facebook that
have netted millions of views.  This past week, a fan posted a video
on Facebook of Bri singing “He’s Able” and it garnered over 6.8
million views within six days
and won her a new fan in Grammy® Award winning vocalist
Donnie McClurkin.  

“I’ve been listening to you all morning long and the
anointing you carry is so full and genuine,” McClurkin wrote on Facebook. “I
look forward to sitting in your ministry one day and experiencing first
hand what I’m experiencing online.”

Fans will experience that
throughout the month of July.  Bri kicked off the second leg of
the  “New Artist on the Block” tour this past Tuesday (July 5) at The Celebration
of Life Church in Hendersonville, TN.  The first leg of the tour
launched in March, selling out all seven cities and earning a major New
York Times write-up revolving around Babineaux’s meteoric rise to
fame. This incarnation of the tour also features Geoffrey Golden
from BET’s reality TV show Sunday Best and YouTube singing sensation Kelontae Gavin.

Meanwhile,
Bri’s new self-penned gospel radio single “Jacob’s Song” is also
picking up heat, receiving airplay on a dozen gospel radio stations. 

“It came from a place of determination,” Bri says. “I had been
going through so much in my personal life and I was determined to be
just like Jacob was in the Bible and I told God that I’m not letting go
until you bless me. So this song means the world to me because it came
from an experience that I overcame.”

The second leg of the “New Artist on the Block” tour is stopping in the following cities:

7/11/16   Bethel World Outreach, Olney, MD.         
7/12/16   Have Life Church, Charlotte NC
7/13/16   Valley Brook Outreach Baptist Church, Pelzer, SC
7/14/16   Heritage Christian Center, Jacksonville, FL
7/18/16   Dothan High School, Dothan, AL
7/19/16   KVIC, Columbus, MS.
7/20/16   Showers of Blessing Church, Hammond, LA
7/21/16   TBA, Dallas, TX

Visit www.brination.org for more Bri news and eventbrite.com to purchase concert tickets. 

– From a press release

"Angels" – Judea feat. The Loving Sisters

“Angels”
Judea feat. The Loving Sisters
From the upcoming CD, Trumpets (Available Summer 2016)
MG Music Group

Angels art work Judea ft. The Loving Sisters

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Acts of violence, terrorism, and evil appear daily in news headlines around the world.  It’s a savage reality that Christian rapper Judea chooses to address in his self-penned single “Angels,” featuring The Loving Sisters.

Arpeggiated strings punctuate Judea’s lyrical imagery as he speaks of these atrocities and laments, “Dear Lord, if you hear me please save us; all these suicide killers is outrageous.  Taking innocent lives, they’re called ISIS; I guess they don’t really know who Christ is.”  Beyond the present social condition, however, he “can hear the angels singing in Heaven,” where suffering, death, and conflict are nonexistent.

Judea, aka George Pettiford, enlisted the music and production talent of Deacon Authority (aka Cedric Hester) and the supporting vocals of his biological siblings, female quartet group The Loving Sisters of Roxboro, NC.

Kirk Franklin wins the BET Award in its only gospel category

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Kirk Franklin emerged as last night’s winner in the BET Awards’ sole gospel music category, the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award (formerly called the Best Gospel Artist Award).  Kirk edged out Erica Campbell, Lecrae, Anthony Brown and group therAPy, Tamela Mann, and Tasha Cobbs.

The 2016 BET Awards took place June 26 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and was aired live on the BET Network.  Last night after the show, he and wife Tammy took to social media to thank fans for their support of his music (below).

Kirk recently wrapped up a successful nine-week “Twenty Years in One Night” World Tour, selling out several venues across the country.  Tomorrow (June 28), he is scheduled to speak at the Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony for Pastor Shirley Caesar (see Shirley Caesar’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star dedication set for June 28).
 

A video posted by Kirk Franklin (@kirkfranklin) on

Shirley Caesar’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Dedication set for June 28

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Pastor Shirley Caesar’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will be dedicated during a public ceremony at 6126 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Fonda Theatre, on Tuesday, June 28.  As GMF reported when the honor was announced here last June, Caesar is among only a handful of black gospel music artists to have stars cemented into the famous Los Angeles walkway.

The ceremony will begin at 11:30 AM PT (2:30 PM ET) and stream live here: Shirley Caesar – Walk of Fame Ceremony.  Gospel luminaries Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams will speak during the 45-minute dedication.  Read more about Pastor Caesar’s upcoming star ceremony here.

Gospel music’s reigning queen, who is also a Raleigh pastor, is currently celebrating the success of her latest project, Fill This House, which debuted in the number one spot on Billboard’s Top Gospel Album chart and features the single “It’s Alright, It’s OK” with Anthony Hamilton and the tribute song “Mother Emanuel.” 

GMF’s Libra Boyd earns doctorate

Libra Nicole Boyd, founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™, was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree in educational studies at the 125th Commencement of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) on Friday, May 6, 2016. Approximately 2,500 students received undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Libra’s research interests include cultural and social foundations of education, culturally responsive teaching and leadership, community-based pedagogical spaces, and the role of gospel music in social movements. In her dissertation, she explored the significance of gospel music to social activism in North Carolina. While completing doctoral studies at UNCG, she presented her research at conferences of the American Educational Studies Association, National Association for Multicultural Education, National Council for Black Studies, and the Southeastern Association of Educational Studies. She also served as a journal manuscript reviewer for Educational Studies and the Journal of Negro Education. Additionally, she published in the peer-reviewed journal, New Horizons in Adult Education & Human Resource Development and co-authored a chapter in the forthcoming (August 2016) book, Culturally Affirming Literacy Practices for Urban Elementary Students.

The UNCG School of Education recently honored Libra for her exemplary graduate research and presented her a Graduate Research Scholar Award during its 2016 Student and Faculty Research Award Ceremony. At the awards ceremony, she gave a poster presentation on the significance of gospel music within the context of the North Carolina-based Forward Together Moral Movement.  

In addition to being GMF’s founder, editor, and primary writer, Libra is an award-winning author, speaker, musician, and educator.

The doctor is in: Lee Williams receives honorary doctorate

From LWSQCs Facebook Page

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Congratulations are in order for Lee Williams–Dr. Lee Williams, that is.  This past weekend, the beloved quartet frontman of the Spiritual QC’s received the Honorary Doctorate of Sacred Music from Bible Believers Christian College in California.  Other members of the Spiritual QC’s–Leonard Shumpert, Patrick Hollis, and Al Hollis–were also celebrated with certificates of recognition in sacred music.

Williams began singing at eight years of age, mentored by his uncle Mitchell Thornton, who eventually formed the Spiritual QC’s.  The group established by Thornton disbanded in the 1960s, but Lee and his brother Willie maintained the group’s name and enlisted new personnel to continue singing.  His brother no longer performs with the Tupelo-based group, but Lee is a mainstay as the quartet’s lead singer and primary songwriter.  Since achieving national acclaim in the late 1990s with a pair of well-received albums–Jesus Is Alive and Well and Love Will God All the Way–he and the QC’s have become one of the most in-demand quartet gospel groups in the country with Billboard-charting albums, more than a dozen releases, and multiple Stellar Awards.  Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC’s currently travel and perform roughly 50 weeks of the year.

Desmond Pringle’s ‘Get Us Through’ single honors victims of Charleston church shootings

Desmond Pringle has a personal connection to Charleston, SC and the historic “Mother Emanuel” AME Church. The gospel singer and songwriter grew up less than a mile from the church where nine people were murdered during Bible study on June 17, 2015. Three attendees survived, including the pastor’s wife and daughter who hid.


Pringle remembers that horrific day and the national dialogue that followed concerning racism, hate crimes, and the symbolism of the Confederate flag. Exactly one year since the tragedy, he is releasing a new single, “Get Us Through,” to pay tribute to the victims and to send a message of hope and uplift to others who have been impacted by devastating events.



In a press release, Pringle shared his reaction to what has become known as the Charleston Church Massacre. He recalled, 

It
was very personal. As I watched the news, I am seeing places that
are very familiar to me–every street sign and every landmark. One of the
ladies who was killed was the wife of the pastor at the church I grew up in. I
sang at Emanuel AME just a few months prior and had been in talks with Rev. Senator
Clementa Pinckney (Emanuel AME’s pastor who was also killed) to come back and
do a concert there. It was crazy.


As
I watched the reports, I just sang to myself, ‘Get us through, Lord, Oh get us
through.’ And there the song was. It came very organically.

On June 25, Pringle will headline a gospel concert at Mother Emanuel. The concert starts at 6 PM, and will culminate a week and a half of events taking place in the city to mark the anniversary of the shootings.
“Get Us Through” will be released June 17 and will be available on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, and other digital platforms.

PJ Morton presents urban inspirational artist JoJo Martin on Morton Records

New Orleans (LA)  Maroon 5’s PJ Morton is excited to present JoJo as the latest signing to his newly formed record label, Morton Records. JoJo’s debut radio single “Run On” will soon hit multiple radio formats.

“’Run On’ is a very personal single release for me,” says Morton. “JoJo has sung background for me and toured with me for ten plus years. His support over the years not only to me but the likes of Fred Hammond has been amazing. I’m excited for the masses to hear what I’ve been fortunate to hear for years. JoJo’s voice is truly special.”

“‘Run On’ is a song that speaks to every part of you and whatever situation you may face,” JoJo says. “It helps you to know that nothing is too big or too devastating that you can’t just pick up and press forward–‘Run On!’ I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a modern day, God ordained movement called Morton Records! I believe this was all a part of God not only connecting me to PJ and his family, but giving me the discipline to stay and fully support another man’s dream for so many years! It’s only because I was faithful to his dream, that God gave him to idea to turn around to make my dreams come true.”

JoJo was born Josiah Martin on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.  The son of a church pastor, he is the youngest of five boys. He began to sing at the age of four and by the age of seven, he was traveling around California singing at musicals and performing sermonic selections before his father preached. Later on, he and his siblings traveled and performed together as The Martin Boys. With some direction from his mother, a trained vocal instructor, JoJo began to develop as a soloist and ended up as a finalist for the NAACP ACT-SO Competition in Houston. He eventually sang lead on “Just Praise Him” and “So Good” with Joe Pace and The Colorado Mass Choir. It was during this time that JoJo discovered he wanted to make music his primary focus.

JoJo traveled the country with a musical stage play called, “The Rock and The Rabbi,” and has also had the opportunity to share the stage with Tyrese, Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin, Maroon 5, PJ Morton, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr., Mary Mary, Frank McComb, Tweet, Dave Hollister and others.


– From Bill Carpenter

2016 BET Award nominees announced; Gospel category renamed to honor Dr. Bobby Jones

Clockwise from top left: Campbell, Lecrae, Brown, Franklin, Mann, and Cobbs

Congratulations to this year’s BET Awards gospel nominees. 

Finalists for the newly named Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award (formerly called the Best Gospel Artist Award) are Erica Campbell, Lecrae, Anthony Brown and group therAPy, Kirk Franklin, Tamela Mann, and Tasha Cobbs.

You can view the complete list here.

The show will take place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on June 26, 2016, at 8 PM ET and will be broadcast live on BET.