Why Is Gospel Music So Hot?

Jet, Feb 5, 2001

PRAISING the Lord is something that will never go out of style. Gospel music proves this. An $863 million business in 1998, according to the Gospel Music Association, gospel's increasing popularity has made it the fastest-growing genre--bigger than jazz, classical and new-age combined.

JET recently spoke with several of gospel's biggest performers to find out, Why is gospel music so hot?

Yolanda Adams, whose tune Open My Heart became one of the most-requested songs on R&B radio stations across the country, says that gospel music's uplifting messages continue to make it tops. "Gospel music brings to the listener a sense of hope, encouragement and also truth," she says. "It makes you look at yourself, your surroundings and situations and shows you it's not as hopeless as it seems. Everybody can look at the bad of a situation, but gospel makes you look at the good and the God of the situation."

Adams recently won five Stellar Music Awards, Black gospel's biggest honor.

Despite gospel music's little backing, it continues to bring in big bucks, Adams says. "Gospel has made millions and millions of dollars without promotion and marketing for years. People buy gospel all-year round. Gospel is sold every day of the year, and it sells year after year on a continual basis."

Gospel music fills the soul and that makes it hot, says CeCe Winans, whose current project, Alabaster Box, the first on her own label, Wellspring Gospel, earned her a recent Grammy nomination. "It's the greatest music out there," proclaims CeCe, who, along with her brother BeBe Winans, broke new ground in contemporary gospel with their hit songs Addictive Love, Lost Without You, Hold Up The Light, and Heaven. "People are ready for something wholesome and powerful. It'll get hotter and hotter because God has to reach everybody."

One reason gospel is beginning to reach everybody, she adds, is that "now it is getting out there because you have hip hop for the kids. And now contemporary and traditional gospel is more out there. People are becoming more aware of the variety. Most music formats come from gospel. There are little bits in blues, pop and rock music. Since record companies realize how much it is growing, it is being marketed and produced right."

Hit group Mary Mary, which consists of sisters Erica and Tina Atkins, has won a huge following with the upbeat gospel tune, Shackles (I Just Want To Praise Him). Mary Mary recently walked away with four Stellar Awards. Erica Atkins believes that the positive energy that gospel ignites is what makes it sizzle. "It has a new sound, a new look. People are looking for positive music, positive energy that will uplift them and that's really going to help them become a better person. They don't want everything they listen to to be offensive. Gospel music does double duty. It makes you want to dance and it is also spiritual food that makes you think and want to be better and feel good about yourself ,no matter what is going on in your life."

Tina Atkins maintains, "There is a lot of technical advances that are helping gospel. The production has stepped up, the appearance, the look of gospel has stepped up ... Everybody can relate to the lyrics. We are not saying we are perfect beings. He has helped our lives to be better."

Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin is credited with opening the door of contemporary gospel music in recent years and making it acceptable in mainstream music circles. He opened the door for some of today's hottest gospel performers. "I can't take any of the credit for it," Franklin insists. "It is just God using so many of us. I got to give all the credit to Him. We are all like links in a long chain, whether it started with James Cleveland, the Hawkins family, different times, different people were very beneficial. All of us are just links in a long chain."

In explaining gospel's phenomenal appeal, Franklin resolves that it is simply a matter of "supply and demand. Society is craving it. The demand is so high and gospel music supplies that demand. People are still lost, they are hurting. Family members are dying of AIDS, family members are in prison, people want to hear something more than `booties and Bentleys,' more than just a party type of attitude ... Gospel music addresses real issues. People need to hear something with substance and that is gospel music."

Everyone can relate to gospel music, says Donnie McClurkin, who is noted for his hit songs Stand, Speak to My Heart and the current We Fall Down. "Gospel music is so hot because it relates to every man's situation both spiritually and secularly," he points out. "People relate to it because it is healing for the hurting, love for the loveless. Gospel is hot because the music and the artists are simply awesome! After all, it is the origin of all other forms of music."

Natalie Wilson, who performs with the Sounds of Praise (S.O.P.) Chorale, notes, "How can we sing about Christ and not embrace a spirit of excellence? Clearly Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary and Yolanda Adams have made this fact true. If we present our best to mainstream media and radio, they will feel proud to present it to their audience."