Why gospel music is so hot

Ebony, July, 2002 by Glenn Jeffers

THE fastest-growing music segment is not rap; it's not R&B--the fastest-growing musical genre in America is the stirring, pulse-pounding, foot-stomping music that came out of the African-American church and changed American music forever.

Called in the beginning "Dorseys" and later dubbed gospel, the music that was confined for years to small and marginal Black churches has become a half-billion-dollar-a-year industry, holding 6.7 percent of the total musical market in 2001 (up from 4.8 percent in 2000). In the EBONY Music Poll (June 2002), 21.2 percent of the respondents said their favorite music is gospel, compared to 9.2 for easy listening, and 6.5 for hip-hop.

One of the clearest indications of the increasing popularity of the gospel medium is that it has produced crossovers like Yolanda Adams and Kirk Franklin, who were named top gospel artists in the recent EBONY Music Poll, and continues to attract mainstream stars and producers, including Sean (P. Diddy) Combs. Adams, Franklin, the Winans family and Pastor Donnie McClurkin are currently the best-selling gospel artists of 2002 with albums consistently debuting at the top of the Billboard charts. And the Stellar Awards, gospel music's premier awards ceremony, is now a major TV event.

If there was any doubt about the pull of the field, it was swept away when Michelle Williams of the chart-topping Destiny's Child made her solo debut, not in the patented rhythm 'n' blues style, but in gospel music.

Why, all of a sudden, is gospel so hot? One reason, cited by almost everybody, is a need for spiritually. Within recent years and especially since 9-11, almost all Americans have felt a need for themes of encouragement, inspiration, hope and salvation. "God had something He wanted to say," says Pastor Marvin Winans. "When He opens the door, we have a responsibility to walk in."

Kurt Carr, a five-time Stellar Award winner, agrees. "The moral fiber of our country and of the world is really falling apart," says the gospel singer and pianist. "Over the course of time, we have gotten away from those principles [of the church] and now we're coming back to what God would have it be."

Another reason for the rise of gospel is that it provides spirituality with a beat. Kirk Franklin says that people are receptive to the positive, exciting songs. The beat, the pace, the rhythm of the music has the ability to stimulate and motivate--something, Franklin says, is lacking in so much music today.

"The music industry has gotten real cookie-cutter," he says. "And when it gets like that, you cut out the emotional part of it. With gospel music, the purpose is to glorify God and lift up God, and because of that, you're going to get the emotion. You're going to get the heart of it. The people behind it have come to know that it works for them."

For these reasons and others, record companies are putting more money into the production and marketing side of the genre, while the television, radio and print media are rushing to cover its artists. As in the case of the blues and jazz and rhythm 'n' blues, White artists are "integrating" the music and the money.

And it's no wonder, considering that other music categories are suffering from declining sales, while gospel sales have risen since 1992. "With that kind of coverage, people can't help but get into gospel music," Adams says. "It's amazing that the same people who listen to me listen to Whitney. They've been listening all along and it's like, wow! We have a nice fan base."

But in the earlier days of gospel music, the days of Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker and the Caravans, the Rev. James Cleveland and Shirley Caesar, musicians were limited in many ways. Less money was spent on production and most "radio time" came from AM radio stations rather than the popular FM band. Gospel artists often spent a day or two in the studio with slapped-together back-up bands to record an entire album. And the artists did any and all promotion through barnstorming tours.

They had no choice, says gospel legend Albertina Walker of her group, the Caravans. It was their livelihood. Back then, royalties did not exist. "There was no one out there going on promotional tours," Walker says. "We went out there on the road. That's how we made ours. We didn't make it from the record."

There was also a split within the church between "gospel" music and "secular" or "worldly." During those days, gospel was considered sacred and it was taboo for gospel musicians to play other forms of music. Gospel great Mahalia Jackson gave up millions of dollars when she refused to sing in nightclubs or other secular settings. Winans says that when his father, David (Pop) Winans, learned that friend and fellow gospel artist Sam Cooke had switched to rhythm 'n' blues in the late '50s, he tracked Cooke down and told him that he couldn't listen to his music anymore. Cooke was hurt, but he understood, Winans says. "That was the respect that not only those who sang gospel had [for the music], but those who were secular artists had as well."