Faith based music powerhouse YB drops new music with his project titled Wings Of An Angel. The ten track album features many freestyle tracks.

The official audio for “hand of God freestyle” can be heard below.

Eclectic, award-winning world-pop group and the Netherlands-based band Trinity releases Trinity Street globally today (June 17) from The Fuel Music.

The all new Trinity Street EP is available now at digital and streaming outlets everywhere via https://slinky.to/TrinityStreet and features the party-ready title track, a Mumford & Sons cover of “Awake My Soul” and three more original songs inspired by the green pastures of Ireland.

Longing to write new material following the pandemic, Trinity brothers Johan (acoustic guitars), Elbert (lead vocals, flutes, saxophone), and Niek Smelt (Drums, percussion) together with their longtime friend Bert Bos (bass) ventured out to Ireland, the place where their love for folk music and Celtic spirituality started. Always showcasing an Irish twist in their sound and lyrics, the fun-loving, acoustic approach and party-making craftsmanship is something they’re known for around the world.

“As 16-year-olds we would go to Ireland every summer to work on a farm and do mission work along the coast,” reminisces Elbert. “Over the years we’ve become good friends with the Morrisons at Hartwell, which is the beautiful name of the farm near Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains. We decided to pay them a visit and write new songs that resulted in this folky new album.

“Trinity Street treasures the past while simultaneously propelling us forward to a future,” continues Elbert. “With a childlike trust and heartfelt wonder, we look for God in friend and stranger and in his first incarnation: creation. ‘Trinity Street’ is an invitation to join the crazy family. To dance the night away toward a bright new morning full of beauty and enough love for everybody.”

We are one and many
we all just really want the same
We are flesh and bones from a million homes
With many stories, many names
But we are a crazy family with everyone we meet
So come and join the party down on trinity street
(“Trinity Street” chorus)

The new EP follows the international release of Desert Rain earlier this year and 2019’s globally acclaimed The In Between that was produced by GRAMMY-nominated, multiple Dove Award-winning Ian Eskelin and Barry Weeks. The album features singles premiered by outlets like Parade, CCM Magazine, NewReleaseToday.com and more: “Living To Love,” “Are You,” “Anthem Of Love” and “Wherever We Go,” as well as the radio favorite, “Alive Again,” which has been heard on WAY FM, 94 FM The Fish, 95.1 SHINE FM and many more stations coast-to-coast across America.

GRAMMY award-winning music group Maverick City Music and 16-time GRAMMY winner Kirk Franklin are bringing the injustices around mass incarceration – and the voices of 1,300 inmates – to center stage with the release of ‘KINGDOM Book One,’ available everywhere via Tribl Records and Fo Yo Soul Entertainment/RCA Inspiration.

Taking the idea of “prison performance” to another level, the genre-transcending, 11-track project made entirely from the grounds of a Florida prison, features Maverick City Music and Franklin recording the experience alongside more than ninety-percent of those who remain incarcerated at the location.

Maverick City Music’s Tony Brown and JJ (Jonathan Jay) share about the recording of the record below.

What was a significant moment recording this record?
TONY: We had placed flier all around the prison yard, not sure who’s going to show up, and then wound up having to postpone the recording because 1500 out of the 1700 people in the entire facility decided that they wanted to meet us on the yard, and watching them walk, single-file and every single one of them had to be checked into that prison yard with their prison ID to get into the concert.

They all came single-file, one by one, to come and be a part of the afternoon. By the time they all got in there, looking out, and just seeing a sea of residents that were there to just, it was one of the most exciting experiences for them.

The team didn’t realize that this never happens — they underestimated the value of being there. So, that was one thing. The other thing is just hearing story after story of how impacted these guys have been through the music that they have access to via the Panda app on their devices in prison… all the stories they have about how they’ve been completely impacted by the songs that Maverick City Music sings and put on their app.

What do they want to accomplish?
TONY: We want people who don’t know that mass incarceration is a humanitarian crisis globally — and raise awareness that we are the leading country that is host to these atrocities. We want awareness around the topics that affect the community that we represent — as black and brown people, primarily. This is an issue that is deeply embedded into our societal conscious. We want to be able to not just share our songs, but the heart and the lives that these songs are coming out of, and that’s our real experience, a real hard experience. Most all of us, in some way, have been impacted by these issues, and we want to bring it forward. As we mature as artists, as we get more influence, the things that matter to us the most need to take precedence over all the other narratives that are running around out there. This has to be front and center.

JJ: I think it’s for every fan that loves the music and tracks with us, that they will be aware of the challenges that people face every day that are forgotten. I think for me, the most impactful moment, but was the prisoners’ reaction to not being forgotten about… or the reaction to being remembered. I think that’s a better way to say it. Like, every single day that we showed up, it was like, ‘wow, I’m so happy you’re here. I’m so happy you remember. I’m so happy that you guys even think about us.’ It was like Christmas for them. That sentiment carried through all the

that we were there, and it was unbelievable. I think that people would just be aware that there are people out there who aren’t remembered, and that they would maybe dig in, do a little research, and figure out a way for them to be a part of helping fix the issues that come with incarceration.

What do you want listeners to take away from this record?
TONY: Besides awareness, I want it to motivate people to do something about these issues. But, if it’s not just awareness, it’s being proactive. It’s giving to foundations that help figure out how to stop this thing called mass incarceration, it’s volunteering in communities that are grossly affected by it. It’s acknowledging that it’s a real thing. If we can get a small amount of people to just simply acknowledge the fact that modern day slavery exists, then that’s a huge win for us. So awareness is massive because we like to think that the transatlantic slave trade stopped when they let all the prisoners free, but a few months later they just picked them up for J-walking, so they were right back in jail, and some of those guys never saw the light of day again. The history repeats itself over and over and over again, and a lot of times, it’s in subtle ways that we’ve all realize it, and we’re watching it in our everyday lives.

Maverick City Music recently received their first BET Awards nomination – the Dr. Bobby Jones Gospel/Inspiration Award for their song “Jireh.” Five-time BET Award winner Franklin is also nominated for his song “We Win” in this same category. The group and Franklin are set to perform on the upcoming BET Awards show, as well as part of NPR Tiny Desk’s Black Music Month (6.24), and they’ll appear on The View on Monday, June 20 (check local listings).

The Kingdom Tour continues this weekend with shows at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena (6.18) and Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena (6.19), with stops in Nashville, Los Angeles and more on the horizon. The final four performances on the tour – Kansas City, Cleveland, St. Paul, and Chicago – will be called “Kingdom Nights” and feature GRAMMY-winning artist Tamela Mann. Fans can purchase tickets to the nearly sold-out tour HERE.

River Valley Worship has released their latest project titled Faith In Our Time. The thirteen-track collection dropped last week (June 10). This is the group’s 7th full-length record and it was recorded live in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Faith In Our Time is available now.

It was in 2011 that River Valley Worship began releasing a mix of uplifting studio and live albums exemplifying the unified worship culture within their weekend services.

The music of River Valley Worship is artful and hope-filled while seeking to pioneer new sonic landscapes for the church on the local and global levels.

They are based out of River Valley Church, an inspirational and vibrant church making a global impact with more than 10,000 weekly attendees at campuses spread across the greater Minneapolis, MN area as well as an international campus in Eswatini, Africa.

Third Culture Worship, made up of husband and wife duo Irene and Vaughn Thompson, along with their good friend Randy Johnson, will release their new EP Love Trip on June 17 through Over The Line. Distributed by Bob Franks Distribution, The Orchard / Sony.

The Thompsons lead worship at Cathedral of Faith fellowship, a diverse 8,000 member church in the heart of San Jose. “Writing and singing together inspired us to start Third Culture Worship in 2010. It just seemed like a natural progression that would allow us to lead worship around the world; in person and online,” says Vaughn. 

The new EP features three original songs all centering on the concept of Love. “‘Your Love’ is a worship song that has the energy and intensity of ‘We Will Rock You.’ ‘No Greater Love’ is a musical burst of energy to celebrate and contemplate the Greatest Love we could ever know and ‘Never Fail’ reaffirms the belief that what God started in you, He will finish,” says Irene.  

With a German dad and Korean mom – a blend of two ethnicities and cultures – Vaughn identifies as “Third Culture,” neither German or Korean but something brand new – a “third culture.” He says he often felt “like a misfit, not fully fitting into any one ethnic or cultural group.” He expands on that expression by calling himself a “mixfit.” He believes in inclusion and because he often felt like an outsider, he’s making sure others who may identify as “third culture” feel included, welcomed and loved.

“Third Culture Worship brings together Korean, American, Latino and African American cultures harmonizing in worship to God. Though our skin may be different shades we are each, at our core, a ‘Hisfit,’” says Vaughn. “That’s what this EP is all about.”

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Marvin Sapp is a mainstay in Gospel music in no small part because of his consistency. Today, his 15^th album is available, and it is a lyrical and sonic masterpiece that demonstrates the depth and breadth of Marvin Sapp’s musical gifting.

While Substance is Sapp’s 15^th offering, it is also a first: the first album released on his newly formed independent label Elev8 Music & Entertainment (distributed through Thirty Tigers), and it is the first album to be recorded in his newly built 2,400 square foot Fort Worth, Texas studio.

“Being the artist and the label was a new experience,” says Sapp. “I’m used to recording the album, turning it in and letting the label do what it does best with administration, marketing and promotions. This time, I was the artist, conceptualizing and creating, and the label head, looking over budgets, production, marketing and promotions. It was a lot, but it was fulfilling. I’ve thought about having my own label for many years and now that I finally do, I embrace the challenge. I’m also grateful for long standing industry relationships that I have been able to call on for assistance and guidance when needed.”

The lead single, “All In Your Hands,” was written by Sapp and frequent collaborator Stan Jones. The luminous track speaks to the anxiety that so many of us continue to experience because of the COVID-19 pandemic and everything else happening in the world. “It speaks directly to the unsurety, the stress and pain and tells us that we do not have to worry about these things because God made us some promises, and we know He keeps His promises. We picked it as the first single because it sets the tone – thematically – for the entire album,” says Sapp. “I wanted to deliver biblically-based lyrical content that would allow listeners to have their faith fortified and be entertained simultaneously.”

The album also features “You Kept Me,” co-written by Jarmone Davis, who penned Sapp’s last #1 single “Thank You For It All.” A track that will serve as a pleasant surprise is “Serve the Lord” featuring the Williams Singers. “This is going to be a Men’s Day favorite,” says Sapp. “I have never done a song like this in my entire career. It is quartet, but it is still current and it is funky. I had a lot of fun recording this and I think people are going to like it even though it is different for me.”

Sapp revisited two of his classics and commissioned a remix of “Not the Time, Not the Place” and “Grace and Mercy.” “This is a 25^th anniversary edition of songs that I did early in my career that people still always want to hear. I gave them to a writer to flip and put his stamp on, and I love how it came out. I think people will enjoy it,” says Sapp.

SUBSTANCE boasts 11 reflective and refreshing musical reminders that a life with God at its center should be a life free of worry and stress.

“My hope is that the musicality of SUBSTANCE is so entertaining that people will listen to it over and over again. When something is repetitive, it grabs your spirit. I want to take people on a journey where – when they reach its end – they are better off than when they started, so much so that they want to experience it again. I try to use my God-given gift to create albums with no fillers; you can play any Marvin Sapp album from top to bottom and not want to skip anything.  I want people to enjoy listening to my music, and to also have a strong spiritual takeaway.”

Marvin Sapp’s new album, Substance, is available now everywhere digital music is sold.

Today, 10-time GRAMMY nominee Tauren Wells released his new album, Joy In The Morning, a bold 10-song set. From the funky bounce of lead single “Fake It” to the R&B swing of “Breath Away” to the soaring piano ballad “Empty,” he’s redefining his musical lane in real time. 

Download / stream Joy In The Morning HERE. It is also available in Wells’ online store along with an exclusive line of Joy in the Morning merchandise.

Wells, who has amassed over one billion combined global streams to date, will celebrate the album’s release with an appearance at the GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on June 13 – part of “The Drop” series – and a performance during the 8:00 AM hour of “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, June 15. He was recently nominated for a 2022 BET Award for his duet with H.E.R.
“Hold Us Together (Hope Mix).” The song was previously honored with GRAMMY and NAACP Image Awards nominations. A celebrated recording artist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Wells has charted six No. 1 radio singles thus far, earning one RIAA Platinum certification and two Gold records in the process.

His fall North American tour will include shows at The Town Hall in New York City (October 17), Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre (November 5), The Soundstage at Graceland in Memphis (November 12) and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (November 15). Special guests Aaron Cole and Lakewood Music will support. Tickets are available HERE. See below for itinerary.

Joy In The Morning is Wells’ third album and first for Capitol Records/CCMG. While the title captures the brightness that comes with the dawn, the songs capture the wide range of human experience. “Throughout the sessions, I was thinking, ‘How many people can I encourage with this album?’” he recalls. “You can consider the pain. Consider the disappointments. Consider the dreams. And now, all of a sudden, you have a soundtrack that helps sooth the wounds or awaken the dreamer,” he adds.

Flaunt Magazine observed in a recent two-page feature, “Coupling raw vulnerability with palpable passion, Wells’ lyrics evoke brave emotions and stark confessions for both himself and his listeners to come to terms with….Wells’ optimism for a better tomorrow demonstrates that music is a common language – an overwhelming sensation of love and infinity in the palm of your hands.” Read the Flaunt feature, which appears in the Rhythm in Retrograde music issue, HERE.

Acclaimed Congolese gospel music sensation Grace Lokwa releases sophomore Album tagged KUMAMA.

Grace happens to be the composer/writer of the hit single “Kumama Papa eh” which means “Yahweh be praised in English”.

Grace Lokwa became popular after Prinx Emmanuel the crooner of “God No Go Shame us” posted a video he titled Kumama Papa Refix on February 8th.

The remix of the song by Prinx Emmanuel was shared by many, including Moses Bliss within Nigeria and Abroad. The song trended to a point many made a collage of their life journey with major throwback thanking God for their life journey so far. This singular act gave Grace Lokwa and the song global attention.

He is signed to Moses Bliss’ Spotlite Entertainment and makes debut with  “Kumama”.  A 10 track album. 

The new album is distributed globally by foremost music distribution company Fortune Wind Digital Services.

IVAV recording artist Steven Malcolm celebrates a career in full bloom with the release of his highly-anticipated third album, Tree, today.

On an album filled with guest stars such as Snoop Dogg, Shaggy, Fisk Jubilee Singers and more, Tree remains grounded in the sharply-written lyrics and eclectic energy of its creator: a musician who has learned to lead by example, funneling his faith into songs that inspire and invigorate. Listen to the album HERE.

“Jamaicans pronounce the number three by saying ‘tree,’” notes Malcolm, the son of a Jamaican man who left the family during Malcolm’s youth. “This being my third studio album, I wanted to focus on the growth and fruit that came from a foundation rooted in truth. I’m a family man now. With me being a present dad in my son’s life, I’m changing the trajectory of my family life. I’m repairing the family tree. My son will know what a man of God and a faithful husband looks like.”

Tree marks Malcolm’s most fully realized blend of hip-hop rhymes and reggae rhythms and the most collaborative record of his career, featuring appearances from an acclaimed roster of guests; the Fisk Jubilee Singers add their world-renowned gospel harmonies to the album’s opening track, “Heavenly Father,” while rap icon Snoop Dogg contributes a verse to the West Coast-inspired single “Summertime,” and Malcolm teams up with Shaggy on “Fuego (R3HAB Remix),” a dancehall anthem that has already earned more than five million digital streams.

He also makes room for nearly a dozen additional collaborators on the album’s remaining tracks, including KB, Jay-Way, Ty Basel, and Social Club Misfits, the bulk of which were written during an inspired weekend in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. A 6x Dove Award nominee with multiple Top 40 hits on the Billboard charts, Malcolm has earned his stripes as a Christian hip-hop icon. Tree finds him stretching skyward, reaching new heights while remaining rooted as a songwriter, husband, father, and Man of God.

“I’m zoning in,” he says proudly. “I’ve stood firm in my faith, and I’m still on the front lines. Through all the highs and lows of my career, I’ve seen fruit be borne from this ministry that God has given me. So what is that, when you’re standing firm, you’re rooted, and you see so much fruit? That’s a tree.”

After a brief pause, he smiles and adds, “Remember that Jesus himself was a carpenter. He touched tree every day.”

Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter and trailblazing worship artist Cheri Keaggy returns with What I Know To Be True today, June 3. Co-produced by Keaggy and GRAMMY, Dove and ASCAP Golden Note Award-winning guitarist/vocalist Phil Keaggy, What I Know To Be True features 15 songs penned by Cheri Keaggy.

“This new album marks the first time I have co-produced with my uncle, Phil Keaggy,” Cheri Keaggy says. “He has been so supportive through the years, playing on a few of my projects and inviting me to perform with him. Because these songs are so personal and close to my heart, Phil was the right person to help bring them to life.”

“This record celebrates life’s joys and sorrows, and the seasons God walks us through,” she continues. “Three-and-a-half years ago I received a call from my sister that my father had taken his life. None of us could have imagined he would make that choice. For a long time, I couldn’t think about writing or recording again. But we grieve not without hope, and my journey has been framed through the lens of the Hope I have in Jesus.”

“This new music is proof of how God heals broken hearts,” Keaggy adds. “A transformation has happened and continues to happen as I place my life in His hands, trusting that He is good. He is writing a bigger story.”

Since the release of her self-titled 1994 Sparrow Records debut, Child of the Father, Cheri Keaggy has been writing and performing songs that have helped listeners around the world give voice to their worship of God. She has released nine albums; garnered nine #1 singles; and was honored with a Dove Award in 1998 for Special Event Album of the Year for God With Us: A Celebration of Christmas Carols and Classics. Her signature songs include “My Faith Will Stay,” “Make My Life An Altar,” “Open My Heart” and “You, Oh Lord, Are My Refuge,” while her “In Remembrance Of Me” and “There Is Joy In The Lord” have been sung in churches around the globe. She has also spoken at women’s events and conferences across the country.