Nebraskan hip-hop artist J. Crum is releasing his newest single “Monochrome Melancholy”, alongside fellow Nebraska emcee Tylynn and Nashville producer Syde-FX.
“Monochrome Melancholy” is a catchy yet introspective song all about the grind of creating and pursuing a career. It speaks on keeping a healthy perspective in our pursuits. “Don’t feel validated when I checked the numbers//Don’t feel celebrated when I wrecked the summer,” Crum says as he reveals his feelings of his career in 2020. You can feel the wrestle he has in finding a healthy perspective on everything. Tylynn also really shines on this record, with her amazing tone and lyrical prowess she shows that she is going to be around for a long time.
The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, aired live on Sunday, March 14,(8:00-11:30 PM, live ET/5:00-8:30 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network. The following is a sampling of relevant nominations from the GRAMMY Awards’ 30 Fields and 83 Categories. For a complete winners list, visit www.grammy.com.
As the only peer-selected music accolade, the GRAMMY Awards are voted on by the Recording Academy’s voting membership body of music makers, who represent all genres and creative disciplines, including recording artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, and engineers. The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston is executive producer, Jesse Collins and Raj Kapoor are co-executive producers, Fatima Robinson, Josie Cliff and David Wild are producers, Patrick Menton is talent producer, and Hamish Hamilton is director.
Best Gospel Performance/Song
“Wonderful Is Your Name” (Melvin Crispell III)
“Release Live” (Ricky Dillard Feat. Tiff Joy; David Frazier, songwriter)
“Come Together” (Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins Present: The Good News; Lashawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, Lecrae Moore & Jazz Nixon, songwriters)
“Won’t Let Go” (Travis Greene; Travis Green, songwriter)
“Movin’ On” (Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music; Darryl L. Howell, Jonathan Caleb McReynolds, Kortney Jamaal Pollard & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters) – WINNER
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
“The Blessing (Live)” (Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship; Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe Carnes & Steven Furtick, songwriters)
“Sunday Morning” (Lecrae featuring Kirk Franklin; Denisia Andrews, Jones Terrence Antonio, Saint Bodhi, Brittany Coney, Kirk Franklin, Lasanna Harris, Shama Joseph, Stuart Lowery, Lecrae Moore, & Nathanael Saint-Fleur, songwriters)
“Holy Water” (We The Kingdom; Andrew Bergthold, Ed Cash, Franni Cash, Martin Cash & Scott Cash, songwriters)
Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling is celebrating its 25th year anniversary as one of the most dynamic and captivating choirs in Gospel music with a new recording project that will be released later this year. As an introduction to the forthcoming LP, the single “For Your Good” is available today on all digital music providers. The lyric video for the song will help you sing along about the “good news from glory” that all things will indeed work out for your good.
If the name of this group sounds familiar, that is because over the past 25 years they have traveled nationally and internationally, sharing the stage with everyone from Bebe Winans to Kirk Franklin to Hezekiah Walker. They have also ministered on the telecast of The Stellar Gospel Music Awards.
Lemons describes “For Your Good” as “a feel-good church song that gets you excited to think about the goodness of the Lord and everything that He has done; it’s a reminder that no matter what we are going through, it going to work out for our good.”
Hezekiah Walker says the energy and impeccable vocal harmonies of Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling is what drew him to this group. “Choirs are the bedrock of the Gospel music tradition,” says Walker. “Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling are proof that no matter the trends of the moment, there are young people who are also maintaining the choir tradition in fresh new ways.”
Lemons began directing under the tutelage of his father, who was director of the historic Atlanta Masonic Choir. Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling was founded when 50 Atlanta-based singers came together for a one-time appearance in a special musical event that Lemons’ father had created. That event went so well, and the singers enjoyed working with each other – and Kevin – so much that they stayed together. Two recording projects and countless national and international singing engagements later, Higher Calling is now comprised of 100 members: the core 50+ Atlanta-based singers, and some 50 additional singers hailing from California, Virginia, the DMV, New York, New Orleans, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama. Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling is an enduring force.
Lemons himself is a force as a vocal director, and most recently oversaw vocals on the critically acclaimed Netflix presentation and soundtrack for Come Sunday. His prowess shines through beautifully on “For Your Good,” delivering a song perfectly timed for this season of enormous change.
Crossroads Music announces the release of their newest single, “Conquered Grave.” Written by Austin Livingood, Dustin Smith (from Here Be Lions) and Robbie Reider and produced by Chad Carouthers, “Conquered Grave” will be featured on the upcoming Conquered Grave EP along with three additional songs scheduled to release on Good Friday, April 2.
Although the song is timely with Easter right around the corner, it is a needed daily reminder — that Jesus conquered the grave and reigns victorious over death! Robbie Reider, the Director of Crossroads Music, said, “I may be the only one who needs a reminder that Jesus conquered death every morning…but I don’t think so. When I have a fresh reminder of His power and authority it changes how I walk through my day. To the degree that we believe, not simply know, that Jesus is more powerful than death, is the degree that we’ll walk in freedom.”
Only a few weeks into quarantine Austin Livingood, Dustin Smith and Robbie Reider met via zoom to write what would become Crossroads Church’s Easter “victory over death” anthem. From Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, they battled video lag and buffering to pen the lyric, “Death has died, crushed by nail-pierced hands” as a reminder to each follower that our ultimate struggle has already been laid to rest by what Jesus did on the Cross.
The arrangement took form as the veteran worship leaders created the rise and fall, the tension and release that they wanted to lead their communities through. They’re excited to have these words on the lips of their community this Easter; “Every day we wake to a conquered grave.” These words root us deeply in the belief that Jesus is in fact the “Author of freedom.”
Co-writer, Austin Livingood, said, “When the global pandemic shut down everything in March 2020 and we were in quarantine, it was wild to wake up to what felt like the same day over and over again. Easter was approaching, and I remembered a different idea I had that turned into this song. The overarching theme was regardless of me waking up to the same day over and over again, I also wake up to the same hope and mercy every morning. Every day I wake up to a conquered grave and a defeated death. I don’t need four cups of coffee in the morning to get excited about that!”
The Crossroads Music team’s hope for the church is that this isn’t something to just be self-reflective and somber over, but that we can celebrate and have confidence in the fact that Jesus paved a way to life that’s just ahead of us. We don’t have to be paralyzed by our broken past but can have momentum in our relationship with God and the world because of Jesus dying and coming back to life. The cross is pivotal in the gospel story, but the cross without a conquered grave means nothing.
It’s all about Jesus and they are honored and humbled that they get to be a part of what He is doing in the church — at Crossroads, and the global Church.
“Refuge” is the latest song to be released by Luke Wareham alongside his friend Matt Caddick, two worship leaders and songwriters based in the South West of England.
The song has been produced by brothers Tim and Jonny Stephenson and is to be released on March 12th. Luke released his debut EP ‘Whisper’ along with his friend Rachel last year that was voted no.1 in the Louder Than The Music 2020 awards with the song “Whisper” making it to number 11 in the UK Christian Music Charts. His lockdown prayers, turned into songs “I will not fear” and ‘Glimpse” were released in late 2020. Luke has a passion for writing songs that speak into people’s everyday life situations.
“Refuge” is based on Psalm 34 v.18 when David writes that ‘The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Luke says that “the song is inspired by a journey of grief in his own and his fiancée’s life through the experience of losing loved ones to Covid 19 and terminal illness.”
His prayer is that the song would speak into people’s lives and help them to hold onto the hope Jesus brings. He says “2021 might not have delivered the fresh new start that many of us had hoped for, but we can walk through this year knowing that we never go through our struggles alone, as we have a God who will never leave us. Jesus sees us, weeps with us and longs to draw close to us. As people listen and worship to this song we hope that it would help to draw people near to God and trust in him.” Co-writer Matt says “we are really excited about this song, mainly the truth behind it that Jesus is our refuge, he is our rock, he is our hiding place. If there is a message we need to hold onto now it is that!”
“Refuge” is available to stream and download on all music platforms and the brand new lyric video is on YouTube. The chords to the song are available to download via SongSelect. Download here – https://linktr.ee/warehamluke
Platinum-selling artist and award-winning songwriter Dante Bowe is spreading positivity with “joyful,” the lead single from his forthcoming sophomore album Circles.
The gospel and R&B infused track reminds listeners that although most of us have experienced change in our lives, some things – like joy – remain constant. With an infectious beat and uplifting lyrics that can’t help but put a skip in your step, Dante declares that all we have is today to make joy contagious. “joyful” is now available on all streaming services HERE.
“‘joyful’ is a breath of fresh air at a time when we all need it. Joy is so different than happiness. While happiness is that temporary feeling created by circumstance, joy isn’t based on anything other than truth,” Bowe observes. “You can be in a bad place or sad situation and still have joy: the knowing that greater things are coming and the moment you are in is not the end.”
Earlier this month Bowe announced that his long-awaited sophomore album and record label debut, Circles, will be released via Bethel Music on March 26th. To help celebrate the release, Dante will be performing select album tracks for an intimate livestream concert on March 19th, giving fans a sneak peek into what is being called Dante’s “most personal work to date.” Tickets are free and can be claimed at www.dantebowe.com.
Nigerian Dove Award winning Songstress Sinach releases new music with her latest single titled “Love My Home.”
This single is another pre-release ahead of Sinach’s upcoming album titled Greatest Lord, which is said to feature Travis Greene, Darlene Zschech, Nathanial Bassey, Panam Percy Paul, Leeland, Maranda Curtis, and more.
Sinach, whose full name is Osinachi Okoro, is the songwriter to over 200 songs, most recently to the world-renowned worship anthem “Way Maker.”
JJ Heller releases the first single off her upcoming album titled I Dream Of You Vol. 1.
Heller shares that “while [the new album is] mostly a dressed-up version of the songs on the original album, we did add two cover songs and a couple more originals.”
Alternative phenom Alex Henry Foster releases today (March. 12) the second video/single, “Winter Is Coming In,” from his live triple-vinyl / double-CD and concert film Standing Under Bright Lights that is set to release April 16 and available to preorder now from Hopeful Tragedy Records. The project was recorded live in front of a sold out Club Soda (July 2019) while Foster headlined the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Filled with an intense, sprechstimme-driven opening followed by hopeful-expressed lyrics sung amidst a wash of instrumentation that melt into a quiet, peaceful resonance, Foster wrote “Winter Is Coming In” after wrestling with his own broken childhood, abuses of which he has been a victim, functional depression and thoughts of taking his own life.
“The amount of time I must have spent musing, contemplating, struggling and raging for that song…I was obsessed with ‘authenticity,’ the measure of consciousness it requires to be honest, the nature of redemption, the meaning of being free, contrition, confession, the difference between hope and truth,” Foster shares. He realized the key to the song “wasn’t about understanding the concept of confession and faith…it was allowing those words to loudly carry a burden I was usually holding in the loneliest of all silences…”
The song’s companion video is featured this week by by Louder Than War, Rebel Noise and Glide Magazine, which calls the track “a vivacious take that is transcending with cryptic electricity that spirals and unravels serendipitously.” The magazine also labels Foster a “creative force” that “has helped transcend post-rock into a realm of prog possibilities encompassing the world where Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree meet Godspeed You! Black Emperor.”
“Winter Is Coming In” follows Foster’s release of lead single “The Son of Hannah,” which was featured by American Songwriter and labeled “simply fascinating” by a Rolling Stone playlist. It also gathered video premiers by both BrooklynVegan and Prog Magazine. “The Son of Hannah” was further featured on multiple Spotify Playlists, including Loudwire’s “Weekly Wire-This Week’s Best Songs,” “Best Of Rock” (along with Foo Fighters, Five Finger Death Punch, Adelitas Way, Breaking Benjamin and more), plus Post Rock, Dark Folk, Progressive, Noise Rock, Sad songs for hopeful nights and others.
Recently featured by Montreal Rocks and named as one of Sound Vapors’ top 5 all-time favorite interviews,” Foster is from Montreal and now resides in the highlands of Virginia. His full production, 11-piece band concert, Standing Under Bright Lights, was named one of the top five events not to be missed by Canada’s national TV/Radio broadcaster CBC. Originally set to release October 8, 2020, which would have been his late father’s birthday, Foster decided to utilize the extra time the worldwide pandemic would give him to produce the recording and concert film.
Along with “The Son of Hannah” and “Winter Is Coming In,” Standing Under Bright Lights features every song from Foster’s debut solo album, Windows in the Sky, which hit No. 1 multiple times on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, staying in the Top 40 on the chart for a full year after its release. The songs from this celebrated album were re-invented for the live recording as the band performed along with a movie projection produced by Foster. Almost 2 hours and 30 minutes long, the concert at which Standing Under Bright Lightswas recorded is now considered among the best concerts throughout the 40 years of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Following the release of the album, Foster and his band are preparing to tour internationally with 23 dates in Europe set to begin in May, pandemic allowing.
After bringing us two EP’s last year that soon became a favourite for many fans, Marizu is back with his first track of 2021! Every time you hear Marizu is releasing a new track, you know it is going to be something special and this time the anticipation is as strong as ever.
His first song in 2020, ‘I Know’ was an audacious twist from his usual Afrobeat style and it has shown us how versatile his music style is. This new track ‘Wonder’ takes us back to his melodious vibey style, coupled with lyrics that remind you of the greatness of God and your identity as God’s child. There is no doubt this track is to set to become another favourite!
Since the artist released his debut single ‘Chosen’ in 2018, he has garnered over a 3.5 million views on YouTube and 3m streams on digital streaming platforms. Marizu stressed in a recent post, “My desire for everyone who listens is to feel liberated and loved. Remember this, ‘You’re a wonder because Christ lives in you.’” – Marizu
‘Wonder’ is available to download and stream on all digital platforms – iTunes, Apple Music, Googleplay, Amazon, Spotify, and Youtube from March 12.
This track was released under HFP Music label and was written by Marizu, pro- duced by Schekina and graphics by JA Brand Design.
