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By J. MATTHEW COBB MANY MUSIC FORMATS HAVE CHANGED over the years. From mainstream pop shifting from live instruments to electronic on the brink of the eighties to the easy sampling loops of hip-hop dominating a big portion of the nineties. And with the dawn of a new decade awaiting us, we may see even bigger changes just in the world of gospel music. Gospel music is becoming more and more popular - and with that comes bigger responsibilities and more worries to reach the big demand. According to 2006 sales reports by Nielsen Soundscan, gospel and Christian music rose 3.4% from 2005. John W. Styll, president and CEO of the Gospel Music Association, responded to the great news regarding sales in gospel music. “Everywhere you look,” he replied, “in books, games, TV and movies, music that is inspired by faith seems more prevalent than ever before. There may be many reasons why this is true, but I think chief among them is that people seem to be drawn to the inspiring and compassionate message of Gospel music amid uncertain times.” But the big album sellers in gospel music, in the year of 2006, was Kirk Franklin’s Hero, Yolanda Adams’ Day By Day and Juanita Bynum’s Piece of My Passion. In the nineties, gospel music was dominated by the big contemporary choirs of the day: the Mississippi Mass Choir, the New Life Community Choir featuring John P. Kee and even a few staunch traditional gospel favorites like Dottie Peoples and Shirley Caesar. What separates the two period is how quickly traditionalism was replaced with popular re-imaging and revolutionary studio production; leaving no room for choirs and large groups to cash in on the newfound success of gospel music. Amazingly, not all traditional gospel music is extinct from the national marketplace. Apparently, there is still demand for the rootsy material. “We have to be the revival, Jimmy Carter of the Blind Boys of Alabama commented, “and we're trying to relate to the young people, too.” Carter continued, “That's one reason why we collaborate with people like Ben Harper, Aaron Neville, and Peter Gabriel … they relate to younger folks. And now when we have our concerts, we find that we have more young people attending than there has been before.” Make sense indeed, since most traditional gospel singers are being the rules a bit to extend their bases to reach a broader and wider audience - with the hopes of staying “in the game.” Shirley Caesar decided to reinvent her image with gospel buzz sensation Tonex’ on her 2005 album I Know The Truth. The title cut, also featuring Tonex’ as a special guest, became a radio hit for the legendary gospel singer. Other well-known traditional artists have also jumped into more urban-contemporary markets over the years, with considerable dosages of success, including Melvin Williams, John P. Kee, Hezekiah Walker and Dorinda Clark-Cole. Dr. Bobby Jones, known for his history of traditional-tinged projects and flavor, even decided to get a contemporary make-over on his 2007 project - led by big urban sounds produced by PAJAM (J Moss, Walter Kearney, Paul Allen), Cedric & Victor Caldwell and Teddy Riley. In the eyes of most gospel purists, the idea of pushing Dr. Bobby Jones into the urban market was conceived in the beginning to be a creative disaster. But this seems to be the normal response to the inner cries from most traditional gospel singers struggling to keep their music visible and marketable. Modern gospel now circulates the big buzz styles and genres of hip-hop, newly-developed soul (branded as neo-soul) and even contemporary R&B. And with far less choirs entering into the top tier of gospel sales and far less of the traditional images of choirs being used to market them (i.e. choir robes, group shots, live performance visuals, audio from live recordings, etc.), it seems like gospel music is losing more and more of its authentic flavor and feels more transparent in bearing more synthetic sounds taken from mainstream music’s templates with no form of apology. Now choirs are becoming too ashamed to embrace album covers with the fear of sale drops - just because it looks too “churchy” or too “gospel-oriented.” “I do gospel music and I’m very proud of that,” gospel artist Fred Hammond told BET on the wake of his last project Free To Worship. “Young artists are coming up...they want to be the people that they see on TV and on the videos. And gospel has nobody that’s like proud to be gospel artists...I’m not talking about Donnie and Kirk and Yolanda and CeCe...we’ve kinda structured ourselves in there, but the new guard coming up, I wanna just tell them to be proud of our heritage. Our heritage is the Pilgrim Jubilees, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Clara Ward Singers, Dorothy Norwood, Caravans James Cleveland, Andrae Crouch, the Clark Sisters and many more.” Hammond is known for dipping into urban markets and consistently putting out records that appeal to younger audiences through his favorable brand of urban praise-and-worship and funky musical arrangements. His Somethin’ ‘Bout Love project, released in 2004, carried an interesting urban-contemporary R&B style to it - very different from previous Hammond releases - and made impressive leaps up both gospel and R&B/hip-hop charts (number 1 and number 4 respectively). His other best-selling gospel albums have also done considerable well on mainstream charts, but his heart and passion remains committed to gospel music. “I’ve learned that people that are...like they say “unchurched” or that like other forms of music, they really want gospel to be gospel. That’s what new gospel artists have to understand. When they want to hear 50 [Cent] or T.I., they hear 50 [Cent] and T.I. And when they wanna hear gospel...they wanna hear it the way that they know it.” But the tide seems to be turning in a different direction with the latest awakening of hip-hop bred musicians turning to the younger audiences within the gospel markets. The results have been promising for those striving to break into gospel territory, but traditionalists may have another thing coming. Cross Movement Records, one of the more trusted and best-selling “holy-hip-hop” brands in Christian rap and hip-hop, have excelled to greater heights with their big roster of artists - and are now releasing albums quarterly with favorable results. Flame, a Christian rapper, soared to number five this year on Billboard’s Gospel charts with his new release Our World: Redeemed. Da’ T.R.U.T.H., another successful rapper on the Cross Movement label, skyrocketed up the gospel charts to number two in 2007 for Open Book. The album even lands a number of urban gospel notables including Lisa McClendon, Tye Tribbett, IZZY and Donnie McClurkin. The independent label is also home to other breakout artists including J.R., the Ambassador, Lecrae and the Cross Movement. Canton Jones, a popular Atlanta artist who flickers from rapper to singer on record, has all the right sounds, looks and imagery of a multi-millionaire rap superstar, but his album releases are aimed and targeted to gospel consumers. His latest project, Kingdom Business, soared to number three on the gospel charts and even appeared briefly on the Billboard 200 at number 187. With the demand for more hip-hop and mainstream pop causing the big labels to shake up their rosters, the looks of ol’ skool and conventional gospel have been easily and obviously replaced for cool gear, bling-bling, nice rides, glitzy album covers, graphic design and even sex appeal. So is it possible for traditional gospel artists, from quartets to choirs, to stay in-demand in these ever-changing times or should they now market themselves in the way of their hip contemporaries found in the urban-oriented, trendier artists? No contemporary choir has ever pulled off a choir robe designed by Sean Jean or even Ecko, but could that be a new idea for labels to seek after? Could a quartet rock an album cover wearing only tank-tops, blue jeans and Timberland boots? It’s not ideologically incorrect or totally improper to suggest, but is that a wise move worth being cast on gospel artists? To be sexually appealing is a very obscure and controversial subject matter for gospel audiences, but is it possible to be athletically fit, in-shape and look good on album covers to sale more records for younger audiences? Hard and very tough questions raised, but the majority of today’s gospel artists may need to address and answer them if they are going to compete with the new generation of gospel’s trend changers and setters. And it may need to be answered before heaven calls for them to put on their golden slippers and their long white robe. By then, it will really be too late. OTHER VALUABLE RESOURCES TO LOOK INTO:
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