Tribl Records is laying the foundation for 2022 with the early release of Firm Foundation (He Won’t), performed by Chandler Moore and Cody Carnes.
Both song and video were published on January 3rd, with the visuals – which were captured in front of a live audience – already racking up well over three hundred thousand views.
Click here or on the image above to check it out and remember to like, comment and share.
On Friday, January 8th, inspirational singer Esther Chungu – formerly known as Carmine – shared the official video for Healing. The song is featured on her April album, which was released in December, 2020.
Click here or on the image above to watch the visuals and remember to like, comment and share.
Real reggae lovers who know and appreciate the history of the genre would have recognized that Audley Rollen – one of Jamaica’s foundation artist from the 70s – made a forceful return to the reggae scene in 2021.
The preceding statement should not be misinterpreted to mean that Rollen has been away from music. To the contrary, he has been very active, albeit in gospel. Between the end of the 90s and early 2000s Audley stepped away from secular music, choosing instead to commit his life to Christ. Since then he has been focused on writing, recording and releasing only inspirational songs.
That said, a couple of reggae-gospel tunes he shared last year did very well in both the gospel arena and on non-religious platforms.
Never Knew Love Till You, an enchanting song laced with horns, was released on April 2nd. It stayed on the reggae chart in South Florida for weeks and even held the #1 spot for three consecutive weeks. It also sat at #1 on the Top 30 chart in New York for two weeks; and by the end of 2021 it was #11 among the top 100 Songs.
Following the success of Never Knew Love Till You, he published Close To You, another pulsating reggae record that came out at the beginning of October. Currently Close To You is riding high on several charts: it’s #12 on the South Florida Reggae Chart; #19 on the Top 30 Chart in New York and #5 on Mikey B’s Chart (WAVS 107.9 FM).
If you were not able to tune into Jonathan McReynolds and Mali Music on December 20th when NPR Music shared their Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, click here or on the image above to watch it.
The ease with which both men did their renditions of various Christmas carols, as well as the passion displayed when doing their own songs, is truly refreshing.
Nation of Worshippers (N.O.W) is the title of the brand new album from Guyanese gospel singer Samuel Medas. The fourteen-track record was symbolically released on Saturday, January 1, 2022.
The announcement of the album was accompanied by the official video for Valley – track number seven – which is a collaboration done with Nathanael Hamilton. Click here or on the image above to check out the visuals and here to stream and download the full project.
The reggae-gospel man who is always on a mission, Derrick Scott, has had an amazing year. 2021 saw him re-sharing a couple of previously released singles: God Answer Prayer and Hello Jesus. Both have enjoyed good rotation on gospel platforms and in some instances, have even crossed over to secular networks.
Such is the case with God Answer Prayer, which is – at the time of this writing – sitting in the #3 spot on New York’s reggae chart and #9 on South Florida’s reggae chart. In addition to Derrick‘s songwriting and vocal skills, the success of this record within the reggae community can also be attributed to Neville Martin‘s My Leader Born Yah, which was a huge hit in Jamaica back in the day.
Scott re-made the song for his Gospel Truth album by changing the message while keeping the flow. This is also why the official video for God Answer Prayer places a lot of emphasis on Jamaica, from the island’s independence to present day.
Fifth Friday Worship, the platform created for believers to gather in a non-judgmental, free atmosphere every 5th Friday of the year, is closing off 2021 with a special show called Next Chapter.
It’s scheduled for Thursday, December 30th at 7pm local time at the Greater St. John Baptist Church (2401 Carlos Avenue Southwest) in Birmingham, Alabama. There will be a special performance by guest artist Kierra Sheard; and tickets are available online now for only $30 USD.
