ArtSoul Spotlight

The Rise of Maverick City Music

Published

5 days ago

July 21, 2021

Leah Gullet

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A collaborative group of worship singers come together to write and create songs to show their hearts for God and ended up making history.

Maverick City Music has reached listeners from the church to some of the biggest entertainers today. Their music has millions of listens and views on every music streaming platform and YouTube. This year they have won awards such as Billboard’s Top Gospel Album and The Stellar’s New Artist of the Year and Album of the Year.

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A post shared by Naomi Raine (@naomiraine)

The group was originally started in 2019 to just write songs. Tony Brown, the founder of Maverick City Music, reached out to artist like Naomi Raine to come along and collaborate to write songs for artist. The singers and artist eventually were asked to sing and preform them. After releasing these songs, it turned into to something that none of them would have ever expected. Maverick ended up breaking the record for the most streams in the Christian genre in one day. When asked did they plan for it to be as big as it is Naomi expressed, “To me it was just going to be something fun that we did with friends, that no one really knew about. I couldn’t have expected what has happened with it.”

“I think going into it with no expectations was probably the best thing to do because it gave room for the Lord to surprise us along the way” said Maryanne George, a Maverick City singer and worship leader. Major recording artist outside of the Christian genre have mentioned how they have been impacted by Maverick City Music. Just recently, national recording pop artist, Shawn Mendes, mentioned in an interview while talking about the power of music, that he encountered Jesus through Maverick City Music, even though he grew up having Atheistic beliefs.

“I use to think, oh we’re called to the church. Now it’s like I got to say no because God is showing us something else! The facts are the facts, like SZA is playing us in the background on her live” says Maverick City and solo singer and songwriter Dante Bowe. Maverick currently has over 2 million listeners monthly on Spotify, with their most popular song being “Promises” sung by Joe L. Barnes and Naomi Raine at almost 25 million streams.

This collective of artist has released 11 music projects over the span of 3 years and with their most recent releases this year being the albums “Old Church Basement” and “Jubilee: The Juneteenth Edition.” Some of the artist have released their own projects recently such as Joe L. Barnes’ single “Come Back Home,” Dante Bowe’s sophomore album “circles,” Naomi Raine’s “Back to Eden, Part II,” and Maverick’s joint album with Elevation Worship.

Maverick City Music will be going on tour starting this fall to cities near you. To find out more information, visit their website and follow them on social media.

Maverick City Music latest release, “Joy of the Lord”

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ArtSoul Spotlight

Join The ArtSoul Insider Text Club for Special “Membership Only” Benefits!

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3 days ago

July 23, 2021

Art Soul

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ArtSoul Radio released a brand new text club in 2020 and now it’s back better than ever! Members will receive special Membership Only benefits that will only get better over time! Sign up today:

Joining is easy! Simply text the word “ArtSoul” to this number and you’re in!! You’ll receive your next steps from there.

ArtSoul Spotlight

The Icho Group & Agency 22 Music & Entertainment Merge to Form New Music Industry Firm, UNDIVIDED

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2 weeks ago

July 10, 2021

Art Soul

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On-the-rise Faith Based Agencies Combine Brand Marketing, Management and Consultation Resources to Create a Powerful Entertainment Concern

Norman Gyamfi of The Icho Group (Columbia, SC), andWalter Thomas of Agency22 Music & Entertainment(Chicago, IL), have merged their respective enterprises to create a dynamic new entertainment firm, Undivided. The novel union now represents some of the biggest headliners in the Christian-Gospel music genre such as GRAMMY® Award winner, Jonathan McReynolds; worship leader, Todd Dulaney; platinum-selling recording artist, Erica Campbell of Mary Mary fame and Chandler Moore of the Gen Z worship collective, Maverick City, among others.

Undivided will provide its clients with management, marketplace branding and long-term strategic career consultation and planning services. “The primary objective in our coming together as a unified front is to merge our respective visions, resources and expertise’s to offer our clientele a unique and differentiated presence in the marketplace,” said Thomas. His erstwhile agency managed the careers of Jonathan McReynolds, worship leader Bri Babineaux, and singer-songwriter, DOE. He adds that, “Pooling our missions expands our market share, increases profits, and extends the reach of our artists, whereby pushing the genre forward as a whole.”

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A post shared by We Are Undivided (@undividedent)

“We want to become a case study on what it’s like when you partner versus when you compete,” said Gyamfi who managed and provided business direction for Billboard No. 1 recording artists such as Travis Greene, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, and JJ Hairston. “We want people to look back and say that was the moment when they put their pride aside and decided that us coming together was the best thing that could happen for a genre –not for Walter, not for Norman; but for Christian-Gospel music in general.”

Aside from its faith-based endeavors, Undivided is also actively broadening its roster and developing relationships with R&B acts and sports figures as well. They recently promoted the Checking In book tour for Destiny’s Child alum, Michelle Williams. They are currently working with singer and television personality, Tamar Braxton, on her Under Constructionpodcast, and with professional baseball player, Mark Kemp, onhis annual youth music festival.

ArtSoul Spotlight

Wande & Lecrae Perform “Blessed Up” Remix For Grammy’s Positive Vibes Only Show

Published

4 weeks ago

June 28, 2021

Tamara Young

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In the latest episode of Grammy’s “Positive Vibes Only” show, Christian rappers Wande and Lecrae come together for a performance of their recent remix of “Blessed Up.” Wande originally released “Blessed Up” in 2019 after making history as the first female rapper signed to Lecrae’s label Reach Records. The single was her break out song as an official artist on the label.

This year, Wande enlisted the help of Lecrae and Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church for a special remix the single. The same chemistry that is heard the song can be seen in their recent performance below. Scroll down and press play!

WATCH FULL PERFORMANCE HERE: