#Reviews2016: Gospel Music and Music News from 2016

First of all, check out my Gospel music reviews on the music I listened to in 2014 here and from 2015 here.

Then, below is a summary of my music experience in 2016;

Gospel music reviews from 2016

NEW ARTISTS, NEW MUSIC
1. Mwamba Children's Choir
Not exactly new, but I met them last year. May have begun around 2008 or there about.
2. Elevation Worship are doing extraordinary stuff this season. They released their fourth album "Here As In Heaven" in February last year. I shared a single from that album (here.)
3. Proclaim
I mean, these Ugandan kids can saaang.
4. Hollyn

Barely 19-years-old, and doing explosive stuff CEDM and pop-wise. If you happen to stumble upon her self-titled album Hollyn from last year, pick it up and don't lose it!
5. Angel Bernard
Angel Benard is extraordinary. I mean, unbelievably good. And she is a local artist. Tanzanian. She has four labums to her name and is now going international. You should have heard her latest collabo with Mercy Masika Huyu Yesu released later December last year. But she's more than that. You should check her music out sometime. (And no, she's not single.)
6. Alarm Ministries (from Rwanda) 
I somehow loved their single Yesu Abwira Abigushwa Be. The rest, not so much.
7. Austin & Lindsey Adamec 
A great couple with great sound. Go look for their tarck Walk On Waves. Not bad at all.
8. Deon Kipling
He released an album titled last year (Something to Talk About) and I've been addicted to a single from that album: By Myself.
9. Cliche
A promising Gospel Afro-HipHop group (I think that's a genre I just created to define this new sound we hear nowadays.) Vasaa was their second single and it was fair-ish.
10. VERIDIA
I discovered these CEDM and Urban Gospel guys at last year's Dove Awards. They have two EPs to their name: Inseparable (2014) and Pretty Lies (2015).
11. I also met these guys called Fearless BND. Great guys with some cool mix of both contemporary worship music and EDM.
12. I stumbled upon a great team from Zimbabwe by the name of ZimPraise under one Joseph Madziyire. They have been existing for almost a decade, I think. Great people, great music, awesome events and with a great vision.
13.  Ivlyn Mutua, sister to the Gospel dancehall star Dafari has this dancehall tune POWER. Real big tune.
14. Jessica Honore Bm, a Tanzanian lady who begun music waaaay back in the early 2000s is also one voice we should be watching out for in 2017.

Awesome Singles
1. Life Worship - Wide Open Space single (2016).
2. Hillary Scott and Scott Family - Thy Will
3. Anthem Lights - Good Good Father (Cover)
4. Godwill Babette - Umenibeba
5. Angle Benard - Kiu Yangu and Salama

Unique collabos

1. Michael W Smith ft. Carrie Underwood in All Is Well
2. 24 Elders ft. Daddy Owen in Okokroko 
3. Jamie Grace and her sister Morgan Harper Nichols did a great cover of NEEDTOBREATHE's "Brother".
4. Tasha Cobbs and Jamie Grace in "Solid Rock".
5. VaShawn Mitchell, BeBe Winans and Tasha Cobbs in "Nobody Greater (Remix)". This one might just be my collabo of the year in Praise and Worship category! Hands down,
6. Mercy Masika ft. Angel Benard in Huyu Yesu.
7. Tori Kelly ft. Amy Grant in Baby Baby.


MUSIC ALBUMS I LISTENED TO LAST YEAR BY GENRE
Note: I'm putting in bold my best albums in each category/genre.

Hip Hop and Rap
1. Lecrae - Church Clothes 3 (2016)
2. NF - Therapy Session (2016)
On its week of release, its numbers trumped all Christian hip-hop releases last year besides Lecrae's surprise mixtape Church Clothes 3.
3. FLAME - Forward (2015)
4. Sho Baraka - Talented 10th (2013)
5. Da' T.R.U.T.H - It's Complicated (2016)
6. Oscar Urbina - Molly Pitcher (2016)
7. Sho Baraka - The Narrative (2016)
8. Tedashii - This Time Around EP (2016)
9. Propaganda - Crimson Cord (2014)
10. Eshon Burgundy - The Fear of God (2015)
11. Jackie Hill Perry - The Art of Joy (2014)
12. JGivens - Fly Exam (2015)

Pop/Rock/Contemporary
1. Sarah Groves - Floodplain (2015)
2. Christy Nockels - Let It Be Jesus (2015)
3. Passion - Salvation's Tide Is Rising (2016)
This album debuted at No. 3 on Billboard Digital Albums Chart in the week of release. The album also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Christian Albums Chart, making it the seventh Passion release to do so.
4. Jesus Culture - Let It Echo (2016)
5. Bethel Music - Have It All (2016)
6. Planetshakers - #LETSGO (2015)
7. Hawk Nelson - Diamonds (2015)
8. Meredith Andrews - Deeper (2016)
9. Thousand Foot Krutch - Exhale (2016)
10. Bryan & Katie Torwalt - Champion (2016)
11. Skillet - Unleashed (2016)
12. Elevation Worship - Here As In Heaven (2016)
13. Audrey Assad - Inheritance (2016)
14. Casting Crowns - The Very Next Thing (2016)
15. Casting Crowns - A Live Worship Experience (2015)
16. Rend Collective - Campfire II: Simplicity (2016)
17. Hillsong UNITED - Of Dirt And Grace (2016)
18. United Pursuit - Looking For A Savior (2016)
19. Planetshakers - Overflow (LIVE) (2016)
20. Steven Curtis Chapman - Worship And Believe (2016)
21. Elevation Worship - Speak Revival EP (2016)
22. Zach Williams - Chain Breaker EP (2016)
23. Jonathan & Melissa Helser (from Bethel Music) - Beautiful Surrender (2016)
24. Chris Tomlin - Never Lose Sight (2016)
25. I Am They - I Am They (2015)
26. Hillsong Worship - Let There Be Light (2016)
I may review and share this album soon. Soon.

Christian Electronic Dance Music
1. Britt Nicole - The Remixes (2015)
2. 1GN (formerly 1 Girl Nation) - Unite (2016)
3. VERIDIA - Pretty Lies EP (2015)
4. Hollyn - Hollyn EP (2015)
A 19 year old with a fantastic sound!
5. Group 1 Crew - POWER (2016)
6. Britt Nicole - Britt Nicole (2016)
7. Hillsong Young & Free - Youth Revival (2016)

R&B, Urban and Soul
1. 3for3 - 3for3 EP (2015)
2. Christon Gray - The Glory Album (2016)
Gray sings some kind of fusion of Hip Hop and urban R&B. I love his music style.
3. Deitrick Haddon - Masterpiece (2015)
4. Charles Jenkins - Think About These Things (2016)
5. Jordan Feliz - The River (2016)

Praise and Worship and Southern Gospel
1. Israel & New Breed - Covered: Alive In Asia (2015)
2. Tasha Cobbs - One Place (2015)
3. Gaither Vocal Band - Sometimes It Takes A Mountain (2014)
4. Karen Clark Sheard - Destined To Win (2015)
5. Travis Greene - The Hill (2015)
6. Tamela Mann - One Way (2016)
7. VaShawn Mitchell - Secret Place: Live In South Africa (2016)
8. Micah Stampley - To the King... Vertical Worship (2016)
After a long period of silence, Micah was back last year with this interesting record.

Christmas
1. Pentatonix - That's Christmas to Me (2015)
2. Matthew West - Unto Us (2016)
3. Lauren Daigle - Behold: A Christmas Collection (2016)

Collections 
1. WOW Hits 20th Anniversary
2. WoW Gospel 2016

Local
1. Kelele Takatifu - Ndoto Za Kupaa (2016)
This album is good. Very focused, very Scriptural.
2. RECAPP - Proud to Be A Christian EP (2014)
3. Mwanga Band - We Will Rule (2016)
Read news on this album's launch at Parklands Baptist Church here.
4. Sinach - Way Maker (2016)


NEWS, NEWS AND MORE GOSPEL MUSIC NEWS FROM 2016

1.      28^th April, 2016: That collabo between Willy Paul and Sauti Sol was empty. Yes, EMPTY.

2.      Friday 6^th May, 2016: Eunice Njeri, Shiru Wa GP, Lydia Joy Kaimuri, Grace Muna etc wanted their music copyright rights back (on NVT's The Trend).

3.     Wednesday 27^th April, 2016 » Groove Awards 2016 News > No Bahati, no Willy Paul in Groove Awards;  Kalenjin music singer Lillian Rotich turned down her Groove Awards nomination under the Rift Valley Counties Award category and said that she was giving space to other talented and emerging artists from the region.

4.     24^th April, 2016: Popular gospel singer Mercy Masika escaped unscathed after being involved in a road accident on Sunday along the Thika Superhighway. 

5.     In an interview with RAPZILLA, Tedashii recalled a time when Christian Hip-Hop was excluded in church. Tedashii said that when he started out, Christian rap was still frowned upon in most churches and he had a number of experiences where he was intentionally made to feel like an outsider.

6.     I hear that through events like crusades where Anastazia Mukabwa invites bishops to preach the gospel and medical camps where people receive free medical treatment in constituencies in Kakamega County, it is where the secular artiste Sukuma bin Ongaro accepted Jesus as his personal saviour and he now sings Gospel music. He has recorded an album and he is looking forward to producing another one soon.

7.     Michael W. Smith is to appear in a new movie "Beautifully Broken". See the Instagram photo he posted here.

8.     4th April, 2016: A one-year divorced Israel Houghton was seen with Adrienne Bailon (an actress, singer, dancer etc) where she exclusively confirmed that she was dating him and that he was no longer married.

9.     4th April, 2016: The hymn ‘Great Is They Faithfulness’ done by The Voice winner Jordan Smith knocked Adele’s ‘Hello’ out of the top spot on iTunes.

10. Friday, 8th April, 2016: Back in November 2015, Reach Records came under fire for removing the original “116” statement from their website’s bio and replacing it with one that was deemed “more safe.” However, Lecrae said that the change is based on the growing artistry of the talent on the label. Reach Records wants their artists to be able to grow and go further with their craft. In support to this, later on in the month, Andy Mineo said "Christian label harms more than it helps" by quoting his wife: Idealism is corny. Always keep it real.

11. 21st March 21, 2016 (night): Newsboys and Audio Adrenaline shined at 'God's Not Dead 2' Hollywood Premiere. Both bands have songs featured in sequel to smash hit 'God's Not Dead'.

12. Bahati (Mtoto wa Mama) news: Bahati publicly announced that he was in love with Tanzanian actress Elizabeth Michael (aka Lulu) and would be privileged to date her. Two weeks later, the sultry actress replied and said that she ain't interested for now.

13. 29th March: In a recent interview with ChristianityToday, Darlene Zschech spoke with their assistant editor Morgan Lee about leading worship in jeans, handling fame, and her new book, Worship Changes Everything: Experiencing God’s Presence in Every Moment. She reiterated that “If I ever see it about myself I make sure it’s changed,” said Zschech, who now pastors Hope Unlimited Church in New South Wales, Australia, with her husband, Mark. “I’m not a worship artist; I’m a worshiper. Yes, I’m a musician, but that comes first.”

14. 30^th March, 2016: Renowned gospel singer, Emmy Kosgei revealed that she married her husband, Apostle Anselm Madubuko because he is a man who understands her music and respects the people’s love for her. In addition, she says that he is forever supportive of what she does. Emmy is the recently appointed Kenya’s National and Global Ambassador for Culture and Tourism and at the time of the interview, she had been nominated for Redeemed International Gospel Awards (RIGA) in South Africa.

15. 21^st February, 2016:  Anthony Brown and group theAPY were nominated in 10 Stellar Awards categoties and they ended up winning all of them. They thanked God and their faithful fans in their "Miss You" video released at the end of February.

16. I hear that J Blessing had been contracted to shoot the video for the collabo between Christina Shusho and Don Moen. I haven’t gotten more news on this yet.

17. Makers of God's Not Dead are doing a musical: In a statement subsequently released by PureFlix Live - the new live entertainment wing of the Christian film studio - God's Not Dead: The Musical will follow the storyline of the original God's Not Dead film, and will even feature one of its stars: Shane Harper, who portrayed protagonist Josh Wheaton.

18. Friday, 1^st April, 2016: One of the most interesting news on this day was that the face of pop music had collaborated with the face of Christian hip hop through an unreleased Justin Bieber song featuring Lecrae titled "Bigger Than Satan".

19. Saturday, 2^nd April, 2016: Gospel singer Daddy Owen married his fiancée Farida Wambui on Saturday at an invite-only, black tie event in Nairobi’s Buruburu estate and later hosted their family and friends to a reception at Upper Hill.

20. 3^rd April, 2016: The Gospel community came together to memorialize the late great Daryl Coley in Los Angeles. Coley died at the age of 60 after complications with diabetes. Singers like Yolanda Adams, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and Earnest Pugh sung some of Coley’s hit songs in remembrance of him.

21. 7^th April, 2016: In a lengthy post, DJ Soxxy described the pain he felt as his wife went through the pain of giving birth one and a half years ago. Read it here. 

22. 7^th April, 2016:  Carrie Underwood, arguably the most successful winner in the history of American Idol, sung Something in the Water on the fifteenth and last show of American Idol.

23. 11^th April, 2016: Billboard Music Awards announce nominees for top Christian artist, song & album.

24.  26^th January, 2016: Benachi, the "Mwanake" hit maker had had quite a stay in the US. Rumor had it that he had gotten a US chiq. Yeah people, he said it himself in some interview somewhere on the webosphere: "Okay I now have a special lady in my life. But also I miss my Kenyan fans more than ever” and it may have been proven right through a wedding song he did in late December. If the lady is Kenyan or American, it ain't confirmed yet.

25. Award season started early for newcomer Lauren Daigle as “How Can It Be" won Worship Song of the Year at the 2015 K-LOVE Fan Awards. The honors continued to roll in at the 46th Annual GMA Dove Awards where Daigle won Song of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year and New Artist of the Year. And there's no signs of stopping this incredibly inspiring new face of Christian music as she also grabbed the Best Contemporary Christian Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards later on in the year.

26. Colton Dixon married his sweetheart Annie Coggeshall in January, 2016 whom he got engaged to in late 2015.

27. Lecrae's new book "Unashamed" hit shelves on May 3, 2016.

28. Earlier on in January 2016, this is what Reagan Sarkozy had to say: “Akothee owes me, she is not a millionaire.” I never verified this info to be true or not.

29. Early February 2016: Chris August got married.

30. 18^th February, 2016: ​Kari Jobe and her husband Cody Carnes welcome first child.

31. 2016 Grammys (Monday, 22^nd February, 2016): tobyMac won GRAMMY for The Best Christian Album and Francesca Battistelli Scored the Best Christian Song.

32. 25^th February, 2016: Some guy called Sadat defended the reason as to why he has put Sh100 million on gospel singer Papa Dennis. Read the full article here. 

33. This Easter You Can’t Miss : ‘HE IS ALIVE’ Worship Experience At Kasarani Stadium » This Easter the Universal Church Kingdom of GOD brings you a must attend Worship Experience. Lead pastor Gerald Nkayi will lead fellow worshipers at the Worship experience that will feature Christina Shusho, Willy Paul and Gloria Muliro.

34. February 2016 gossip: Gospel musician Papa Dennis' girlfriend hanged out with Huddah Monroe.

35. February 2016: Christina Shusho congratulated Churchill for being one of a kind here. Read the full article here.

36. 26^th February, 2016: Selena Gomez made an appearance at the Hillsong Young and Free release of their second album. After her performance, she said that “relationship with God is greater than anything.”

37. March 2016: I confirmed that Mercy Masika had an upcoming album in the course of the year called "Hope". I haven’t put my eyes on it yet.

38. 3^rd March, 2016: Justin Bieber's mother prays that the singer will encounter God. The pop star's mother said: "22 years ago I was 18 years old, pregnant and scared. But God," she wrote on Twitter. "Lord encounter @justinbieber for his bday! Give him all I couldn't in Jesus name." And yes, Bieber was quite religious last year. Read Jarrid Wilson's open letter to him about his faith here.

39. 5^th March, 2016: Lecrae announced that film 'Unashamed World' will hit theaters on June 1 » A 17-year project spanning ten countries and 37 cities while capturing over 10,000 hours of footage, Unashamed World is the high-energy, deeply personal story of Lecrae's Cinderella rise from a garage start-up artist to a global phenomenon.

40. Early February 2016, just before Valentine's Day, I heard that Victor Mbuvi is going to be re-branding. That he will be singing more Swahili and English songs. He released a Swahili song by the title U Moyoni. Mbuvi's artistic capability is really something else nowadays. I mean, you hear his songs today and you just can't imagine that he's the same guy who gave us "Dua" and "Sweet Ndwale". Anyways, let's wait and see.

41. February 2016: Gloria Muliro's former husband Eric Omba was still denying that he ever was unfaithful. It seems the guy still needs Gloria back.

42. Vioja za 2016: So Bahati disappeared, claimed that he was quitting Gospel music only to reappear with a new music video, apologies and claims that he had gone out for a one month break. Dush!! Dude seems to be playing us.

43. First week of March: Jubilee Christian Church, home to Rev. Allan and Kathy Kiuna, held a prayer and healing program dubbed #WordFest2016. The invited guest was the one and only London based, Ghanian pastor/worship leader Sonnie Badu.

44. March 5, 2016: Hillsong UNITED announces their third leg of empires tour with Lauren Daigle.

45. March 14, 2016: news that Hillsong Church is getting its own 24-hour TV network (Hillsong Channel) in conjunction with Trinity Broadcasting Network emerge. It was launched to a global audience on June 1 and it features worship performances, messages from Christian leaders, conferences, documentaries, kids programs, talk shows and more.

46. On March 14 2016, music pastors Brian and Jenn Johnson from Bethel Music offered a live stream Q&A dubbed "'Have It All' Video Q&A". It was a studio Q&A where they offered to answer listeners' questions about the album "Have It All." Anyone interested was to submit their question(s) via Twitter using the hashtag #HIALiveStream while tagging @bethelmusic in the post.

47. Second week of March 2016: As wife-beating scandal raged, gospel singer James Fortune thought of taking 'whole bottle of Xanax'. Embattled gospel singer James Fortune who had previously pleaded guilty to a bone-breaking assault on his now estranged wife, Cheryl, said he thought of taking a "whole bottle of Xanax" at one point but was "saved" by a conference for worship leaders organized by fellow gospel artist Tasha Cobbs. He was sentenced to five years of probation along with five days in jail. He is also required to complete 175 hours of community service as well as a "batterer's intervention" program and stay away from his wife. Read full article here. 

48. March 17, 2016: Derek Minor says people want him to be the 'Reach Records Police'. Derek Minor spoke to the Bad Christian Podcast where he spoke about fighting with people on Twitter, cursing in music, and systematic racism.

49. Derek Minor won Rap/Hip-Hop Gospel CD of the Year for 'Empire' at 2016 Stellar Awards. Empire is Minor’s fifth studio album.

50. Willy Paul news: After a successful concert in Ghana where he attended a State function, gospel singer Willy Paul lied to us that he was getting married to a Luhya lady. Huyu kijana anahitaji viboko.

51. March 18, 2016: Marvin Winans on NTV (The Trend). He said he was in Kenya under the invitation of JCC. On the Larry Madowo interview, he talked about a perfect church, perfecting church, pastors and pop culture, his divorce, Christians and judging others and gave advice to young people on how to approach life today. Pastor Donnie McKlurkin was in Kenya around the same week too.

52. April 2016: Gospel musician Betty Bayo spoke about music career, her new-born baby, rumours of a plastic surgery and divorce. She said that her recent body transformation came as a result of having peace of mind. Read the full interview here. 

53. There is now a Spanish version of Danny Gokey's "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again". Watch it here. 

54. Monday, 16^th May, 2016 (NTV News): MCSK, Safaricom etc agree to pay musicians their dues through a free and fair platform.

55. May 17, 2016: Lauren Daigle released the Deluxe Edition of her debut album "How Can It Be?"

56. Christian Hip-Hop Responds to Mainstream Music'sNew Gospel.

57. Here is the Full List of 2016 Groove AwardsWinners.

58. Here is the full message Reuben Kigame put across to CORD and Raila Odinga on June 2, 2016 in response to their mass action. 

59. Lauren Daigle was named Artist of the Year At 2016 K-LOVE Fan Awards.

Get the whole list of K-LOVE Awards Winners here:

60. "I backslid and got a child out of wedlock,” BMF member exclusively shares. Read full story here. 

61. Here are Stellar Awards Gospel Music winners for2016.

62. Once A Street Boy; male artist of the year nominee (Guardian Angel) starts his own record label. Read full article here. 

63. Gospel singer Ringtone was in court over a theft case. Read full article here. 

64. Video director J Blessing landed a deal on Churchill comedy show. Read full article here. 

65. Last Sunday of July 2016: NTV presenter (Faith Muturi of Crossover 101) quits and in came the beautiful Grace Ekirapa from Angaza TV Show (KBC). Read full story here. 

66. August 19, 2016: DJ Official’s death. Official was one of the best producers, mentors and emcees in the Gospel Hip-Hop music industry in the US. He’ll be greatly missed.

67. There was a rumor that Gospel musician Q-tasi hit the bottle hard. Read the whole gossip here. 

68. Jamie Grace is no longer with Gotee Records. Read full story here. 

69. Gospel singer Weezdom left Bahati’s EMB Records record label.

70. Bethel Music with Brian and Jenn Johnson will be joining Jesus Culture for their 2017 Sacramento Conference.

71. John Lisu launched his album "Mtakatifu" on October 2, 2016. He invited Mercy Masika and Angel Benard to the launch in TZ. I haven’t had to listen in to the tracks on the album but I bet it is something good.

72. GRAMMY-nominated and renowned worship leader Kari Jobe will release her third studio album titled The Garden on February 3, 2017.

73. We lost Achieng Abura, one of Kenya's best songstresses October 20, 2016. May her soul rest in peace.

74. Matthew West was spotted dishing out free copies of his Christmas record "Unto Us: A Christmas Collection" in his hometown Franklin, Tennessee somewhere in mid-October.

75. Sinach's 5th live album WAY MAKER was released on 20^th November, 2016 and was available for pre-order as early as 13th November.

76. A new Anthem Lights album "Painted Skies" is coming up in 2017.

77. Sinach was in Kenya in late November for a Praise Fest at CITAM Caren and even appeared on K24 and JKL for interviews.

78. GRAMMY-nominated and renowned worship leader Kari Jobe will release her third studio album titled The Garden on February 3, 2017.

79. Billboard had this to say about last year's Christian charts > Lauren Daigle as Top Christian Artist, "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong UNITED as Top Christian Song and for KING & COUNTRY as Top Christian Airplay Artist. Read more here.

80. KJ 52 will be having a new album out (JONAH) this January.


Bonface Morris.