Gravity Grammy Nomination for Best Gospel Album

In less than 48 hours, we will find out whether our most recent #1 album, Lecrae's Gravity, is nominated for a(t least one) Grammy. We know that we had at least 6 first round ballot nominations, and had the biggest first week sales in Christian Hip Hop history, dominated iTunes and Billboard so thoroughly that Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines rushed to do stories on Lecrae and the album's unprecedented (within Christian music circles) success...and we know that even as I type this, 3 months after the album's Sept 4 release date, we are still #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album Chart (see screenshot below). What we DON'T know, is how the Academy will view that success and the merits of the music itself, which has pushed the negative stereotypes of the typical Christian Hip Hop album (too theological for average listeners, not enough relatability, subpar music production) off a cliff, never to return.

On Wednesday, Dec 5, beginning at 9 PM Central time, LL Cool J and Taylor Swift will host the "Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! - Countdown to Music's Biggest Night" show, during which the nominees in every major category will be announced. I'm assuming, as with the Dove Awards earlier this year (which we were blessed to win with Lecrae's Rehab: The Overdose album), the other categories' nominees will be posted on the Grammy website www.grammy.com immediately after the show. I'm believing God that our project, which has seen so much phenomenal success and touched so many lives, will be among those nominated. Stay tuned to find out with my team thebridge, our Reach Records family, and I.

S/N - WHEN (I'm "speak(ing) those things that be not as though they were" - Rom 4:17) Lecrae's Gravity album does appear in the nominee list, I will be online immediately afterwards looking at prices for plane tix, hotels, and rental cars for my wife and I, and the same I imagine for JayTel and his wife. Our other two thebridge members who will share in the nomination with us, Ty Steez and Aphillyated, already live in Cali. I've always said to JayTel and to my dad, Apostle Billy L. Dorsey, Sr., that I would never attend these types of things unless I was actually nominated for something. I missed the Stellars (which we also won) due to family obligations (baby shower for our youngest daughter, Chloe Marie), attended the Dove Awards show back in April of this year and had the time of my life, and now it looks like God may be about to give me the last promise He made to me when I was homeless years ago. You see, He spoke into my spirit during that dark time that He would bless me to have all of my dreams come true with my music (which He has done and is doing daily), that I would have #1 albums (which He has done twice, first with Rehab: The Overdose, and again now with Gravity), and that I would win Grammys, and told me that He would elevate me in influence among my peers for the expressed purpose of lifting HIM up, and not the elevation of self. Ego and pride are pointless...all good things come from the Lord anyways, not from us. And when this last promise is fulfilled, whether Wednesday or at any other point in my life, it will be because of God's Grace, and because His Word cannot return to Him void.

I've already got my tissue ready for Wednesday :-). Keep my team and I lifted up in prayer...because next up, literally the week of the 2013 Grammy Award Ceremony in LA, is the release date of my debut Christian album (both in English and in Spanish), Marathon on Feb 12, 2013. Will I have two dreams fulfilled that week? God is able. Stay tuned.

Update 12/5/12

The Grammy Awards Nomination Concert kicked off on CBS at 9 PM (Central Time), with Taylor Swift and LL Cool J as hosts.

The first category, Best Pop Vocal Album, consisted of the following nominees:

And the nominees for Best Pop Vocal Album are …
Kelly Clarkson, Stronger
Florence & The Machine, Ceremonials
Fun., Some Nights
Maroon 5, Overexposed
Pink, The Truth About Love

Songs from the nominated albums were actually sung by the announcer, talented young Country artist Hunter Hayes. I love the Maroon 5 album, which had several smash hits ("Moves Like Jagger", "Payphone"), but I think Kelly Clarkson's title song, "Stronger," was by far the most powerful song in this category, and will power her album to the Grammy. My money's on Kelly. (I must say, however, that I am very surprised that Rihanna is not nominated in this category. She had a huge year, with "We Found Love", and the album Talk That Talk. Backlash? Perhaps.)

The second category, Record of the Year, consisted of the following nominees:

The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy"
Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"
Fun. Featuring Janelle Monáe, "We Are Young"
Gotye Featuring Kimbra, "Somebody That I Used To Know"
Frank Ocean, "Thinkin Bout You"
Taylor Swift, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

As much as I love Taylor Swift and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," I just believe too strongly in Kelly Clarkson's record "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" and feel that this is the song to beat this year. I'm glad to see Frank Ocean get the nom as well, but this is Kelly's to lose.

The third category, Best New Artist, consisted of the following nominees:

Alabama Shakes
Fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

I don't know enough about all of the bands in this category to say who I feel has the best legitimate chance of winning this award. I am a fan of Frank Ocean's music and think he is a phenomenal songwriter, but can't say who would win this one.

The fourth category, Country Solo Performance, consisted of the following nominees:

Dierks Bentley, "Home"
Eric Church, "Springsteen"
Ronnie Dunn, "Cost Of Livin'"
Hunter Hayes, "Wanted"
Blake Shelton, "Over"
Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away"

If I had to guess, my money would be on Carrie Underwood. Not my primary music genre, so again, I'm not as knowledgeable as I would need to be to make an educated guess.

The fifth category, Album of the Year, consisted of the following nominees:

The Black Keys, El Camino

Fun., Some Nights

Mumford & Sons, Babel

Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

Jack White, Blunderbuss

The clear winner in this category is Mumford & Sons, in my opinion. They had a huge year, saleswise, and were commercial darlings of the industry as well. While I salute Frank Ocean's success as well, I do not believe he will pull this one out either.

With this category, the show ended. I immediately ran to grammy.com to see the full list of nominees, and, as my heart pounded in my chest, I scrolled down the list of nominees until I got to the Gospel Album of the Year category, where I saw that we GOT THE NOMINATION (see screenshot below)!!!! My hands are shaking as I type this....but I know what God spoke into my spirit, and so I am beyond excited, but not at all surprised. Faith is the substance of things, hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. I trusted God even before this announcement, and all this process is doing is strengthening my faith even more.

I'm about to start looking for plane tix and hotels in Beverly Hills now. This is going to be my first Grammys ceremony that I'll be attending, and I can't wait. I'll have my wife Shaunta' with me, and my best friend JayTel and his wife, my sister and stylist Merakal, along with our thebridge brothers Phil and Ty Steez, and be there with the entire Reach team on the biggest night in music. I can't wait to see what God does there, but regardless of an actual win on Feb 10, 2013, we have already won.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!!

Screenshot from Grammy.Com showing our Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Album. The last promise God made to me when I was homeless years ago is within my grasp. Have Your way, Lord!

The latest Billboard chart, which shows Lecrae's Gravity still at #1 on the Gospel Album chart, 3 months to the day from its release on September 4.

the-grammy-nominations-concert-live-set-for-dec-5

#IMPECCABLEGRIND

My First Music Video, "Highest Praise"

Tomorrow morning, God is blessing me to realize another lifelong dream of mine; we will be filming, with a full production, the very first video for "Highest Praise," the Contemporary Christian Music single from my debut album Marathon. The song and video will also feature the phenomenally talented Mayra V. Alvarez, who I was introduced to by Seth Perez, of rock band The White Flags (and brother of my friend Happy Perez, the Grammy Award winning producer of stars such as Kanye West, Miguel, and Frank Ocean). Seth showed me YouTube footage of Mayra singing at Lakewood Church, and I was blown away by the beauty and control of her vocals. When I reached out to her about being a part of the song, she was out of town leading worship for her church, Grace Community, but she didn't hesitate to let me know that she would love to be a part of the song and couldn't wait to hear it.

What she didn't know, was at the time I was reaching out to her about being a part of the song, we hadn't even recorded it yet. Truth be told, I hadn't even finished writing the song yet. When my team thebridge (Ty Steez, Aphillyated, JayTel) and I began working on Marathon once we'd completed our work on my big bro Lecrae's Gravity album, we started by getting all the tracks together. I had maybe 20 tracks that we'd produced that I selected initially, expecting to do a 12-13 song album. JayTel and I then went thru all the ones I'd selected, listening based on what God had said the concept for the album needed to be (see Marathon previous post), and pared it down to about 15 tracks, several of which we came up with basic melody lines for. Finally, I would sit down every morning in prayer with my Bible on the side of me, and ask God for direction, for what to write, for what to say, for what concepts to base the songs on. I then selected 11 tracks that I knew said what God had charged me to say.

But, for some reason, the track that became "Highest Praise", I wasn't sold on. I knew God had tasked me with writing a big worship song, that could cross racial and denominational divides to unite His people in praising Him, but something about this track we'd produced just didn't sit well with me. I remember when my wife Shaunta heard it the first time, she quickly said "NOPE! Next track!" (lol) Even JayTel and I, when we listened to it together again, weren't sold on it. I even told the team we needed to come up with another worship record, and we did...but for some reason I couldn't let that beat go. I prayed the next morning during my daily devotion time that if it was meant for me to write a great song to that beat, that God would give me the song. I then felt led to go to Psalms 3:3, which King David begins by saying, "You are a shield about us, O Lord..." Once I read that, the rest of the lyrics flowed thru, as though God had opened a musical spigot inside my heart..."You are the shield about us...delivering us from harm...though ten thousand fall at our right hand, we find safety in Your Arms..." Within maybe 20 minutes from the time God gave me the first line, the entire song was done, verses, chorus, core melody, everything. And I can't take credit for writing it, as I'd never written a song in this style before, ever. It was all God.

When JayTel came back to thebridge studio, I played and sang him the song, and he was tripped out that THIS song came out of THAT track. When everyone else hears the song, it sounds like the music and song were a perfect fit, but in truth, God made that all possible. We recorded my verse and all my backgrounds, and sent the rough over to Mayra, who replied that she loved the song and couldn't wait to come by to sing it. Boy, did she sing it!! When she dropped by my studio a week later with her husband Melqui and got in the booth to lay her lead vocals down, we had no idea what to expect. We knew she could sing from the YouTube videos, but had no clue as to the true depth of her talent. Once she got in the booth, JayTel hit record, and in her first take, she blew us all away. She was so humble, however, that even after leaving us with our jaws on the floor, she then came out of the booth, nervously, and asked us if we thought that was "Ok." OK? That was absolutely amazing. I'm not easily impressed when it comes to singers, as I have been around great singing most of my career and worked with some of the most gifted singers in the industry, but Mayra?? Wow.

As JayTel was the vocal producer for the session (and for all of Marathon), he had her go back in the booth to lay her adlibs. She laid 3 or 4 different comp takes (which means different feels and adlibs that we could then go back later and pick and choose from to make a final take), and it fell to me to finish my adlibs. We knocked the song out, and sent it to a few industry ears to check out, and they all unanimously loved the song and thought it had the potential to be a big record.

Tomorrow, at 7:30 AM, we begin the process of bringing this song to life visually. I am blessed to have a film director at the helm, with a full production crew, and as I type this, I am preparing my portion of the Call Sheet for the shoot tomorrow, with names and emails of every creative person involved in the video. I have spent the past couple weeks shopping with my stylist for the shoot, Merakal Birmingham, and have only last night officially decided what I will be wearing (I am passionately opposed to shopping of any kind, unless it involves bookstores lol), and am extremely excited (and, admittedly, a little nervous) about the opportunity God has blessed me to have with this project.

I'll post plenty of pics from the set tomorrow, and will likely blog details once the shoot is wrapped. Once the crew has finished the video, I'll post it on YouTube and put a link to it here on the blog for everyone to see, as we begin the promotional campaign to launch the album. Stay tuned.

Update, 12/3/12

The video shoot was an amazing experience, even better than I imagined it would be. Although I was the last one to the set Friday morning due to getting my oldest daughter on the school bus and having to fight traffic across town to get to Grace Community Church, I walked in to the crew having set up much faster than I anticipated, and already running thru the lighting sequences with Andre, Grace's lighting technician. I said my quick hellos and walked to the dressing room area, where Mayra was in the mirror applying her makeup. After a quick talk thru the plan for the beginning of the shoot, she headed out so that I could get in wardrobe. Once that was done, I walked out on set to my mark in front of the camera, and when I did, the entire cast said a collective "wow" as they saw the way the outfit my stylist, Merakal Crawford-Birmingham, popped on camera. The director, Dallas, ran up on stage and immediately commented on how much he loved the colors I was wearing, and proceeded to change the color of the lighting for the intro scene of the video from blue/green to yellow/orange, which blended even more beautifully with the colors of my wardrobe (I was initially going to wear an entirely different style of outfit, and color scheme, and the original color of the set was based upon that). Once he did that, and after Mayra's husband Melqui snapped what has to be one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever been in of me in profile from a distance on set with the yellow/orange lights beaming from behind (see below), it was time to get to work.

We began the shoot by running thru the intro sequence, which leads directly into my verse. The director was looking for me to be serious, and for the scene to be an intimate worship moment...eyes closed, non-pretentious, and wanted me to end my verse with a smile that would bring in the pre-chorus energy and showcase the warmth of the song. All this, in my first scene. It took us a while to nail the angles and for me to nail the exact range of emotion and depth of feeling he was looking for, but when we nailed it, it felt perfect. We watched the playback of the sequence on the side monitors, and it looked, unedited, every bit as beautiful and crystal clear (we shot on a Red Epic camera, a $70-100K + 5x 1080p definition camera, which was the same camera Peter Jackson shot The Hobbit on, if that tells you anything of the quality we were blessed to work with) as any video I've ever seen on MTV, BET, or VH1.

Next, it was time to do the scene leading into the first chorus, where Mayra is introduced to the camera, as we sing the choruses together on the song (each alternating leads). I had the chance to learn a few new camera tricks for the next video I direct (my last directing job was for my artist Rudy Peyrani's single "Wish You Were Here", which is up on youtube, and in which I play a small role as a military officer assigned with telling someone their loved one passed away in the line of duty), and had fun with Mayra, who has so much energy and talent that working with her is always a joy. We nailed the first prechorus, hook, and instrumental break before her verse, in fairly short order. Watching the footage back, I'd have thought we spent much more time working on it than we did.

When it was time for Mayra to do her verse and adlibs, I had to leave the church to go pick my 5 year old daughter, Taylor, up from the bus stop, and come back to the set. I anticipated the trip taking 45 minutes to an hour, tops. What I didn't anticipate, as I never drive on that side of town at all, was the traffic I'd run into off the Beltway and 45S near the church. It took us nearly 2 and a half hours to get back to the church, and the last 30 minutes of that time, we spent in non-moving traffic on the feeder directly across the freeway from the church, before we even got to the u-turn to go back to the church. Once we got back to the set, I knocked out a solo scene all the way thru, and then it was time for Mayra and I to do some shots of the "lullaby" section, as so many people call it. I call it the singalong portion of the song, which we created to be the part where everyone in the church can put their hands in the air and give God the "Highest Praise" regardless of whether they are able to sing or not, and I'd envisioned this section of the video being Mayra and I waving our hands as though we were leading worship in a packed church. We ended up shooting exactly that, and it's (without having seen the entire video) the most energetic part of the video.

The director called my 5 year old daughter Taylor up to the director's chair to take a look at a scene we'd just shot, so he could ask her if she liked it or not. Once she watched it, she cocked her head to the side (the same way my wife does when she doesn't like something but isn't sure how quite to say it without hurting someone's feelings lol), and I asked her if she liked it. She looked at me, and said "No!" When I asked her why (as the entire crew, Mayra, and her husband Melqui looked on for the reason), she smiled her big beautiful, mischievous smile, and said, "Because you're ugly!" Everyone, including me, fell out laughing! My child is a mess...and I love her little silly self. I said, still laughing, "Get your butt back over to your seat, little girl!" and she walked back to her front row seat with a big grin on her face. Score? Taylor 1, Daddy 0.

Mayra and I finished our last scene together with a laugh at the end of the video, and the director said, "That's a wrap!" to cheers from us as well as from the crew. The entire shoot, from beginning to end, took just shy of 12 hours. I should see the first rough cut of the video this Wednesday, and absolutely cannot wait. Everything about the shoot was beautiful, from the lighting, to the wardrobe, to the skill, organization, and efficiency of the crew. My last video that I shot, the camera crew showed up hours late, and didn't seem to care about protocol or professionalism. Although that video came out amazing, it was in spite of the crew, rather than because of them. I thank God that my first video shoot for my own album was nothing at all like that.

Below, I've included, as promised, pics from the set, as well as a video clip showing one of the takes of my first verse. The clip was given to me by the director Dallas, and he asked me to make sure that I state that the clip was unedited and from him. I think it's beautiful, even without any edits at this point. Definitely let me know your thoughts in the comments once you've had a chance to see it.

Unedited Clip of "Highest Praise" video (per director Dallas)

collage of pics of myself and Mayra V. Alvarez on set (pics courtesy of Mayra's husband Melqui)

Instagram photo of us ministering in the video

The original color scheme for the video prior to the director seeing my outfit on shoot day, at the beautiful Grace Community Church

...and the color the first scene was changed to based upon my wardrobe. Kudos to my stylist, Merakal Birmingham.

Stay tuned. My next update on this blog will be, Lord willing, a link to the finished video, just before the song, my first CCM single from Marathon "Highest Praise" f/Mayra V. Alvarez, is released commercially.

#IMPECCABLEGRIND

The Cypher's Den Interview

I was blessed last night to have the second radio interview last night in support of my upcoming album Marathon with The Cyphers Den, a blogtalk radio show out of Atlanta, GA, which was sent to me by my publicist Makasha. She sent over the series of questions that they would likely ask while I was on the air, and as usual, I immediately began working on going over the answers. I prefer to be prepared, and then be able to speak off the cuff if necessary beyond my written answers.

At 6 PM Central Time last night, I called in to the show, and the host Tari immediately began talking with me regarding the topic of the night, which was whether it was a good idea or not for the states who have petitioned the US to be able to leave the Union. I gave my thoughts, and then she moved on to the first guest on the show, a spoken word poet from Atlanta (who was good, by the way). Once the first guest was done, it was my turn (My interview section began at 27:00, for those who may want to hear that portion).

I had the opportunity to speak on my musical influences and people who inspired me as an artist and producer, such as Fred Hammond and Prince, Jodeci, and Marvin Sapp, and was able to speak on some of my experiences with great artists, my greatest obstacles to success, and they also played three of the songs from my debut Christian album Marathon, "Enough", the first mainstream single, "Go", the 3rd single, and "Put Up With Me", the most personal song on the album, which I wrote for my great aunt Mama Ruth (Margaret Ruth James), who passed away from cancer July 26, 2002, but was one of the major influences on my life and someone who loved, supported, and prayed for me to be in the position I'm now in and to be the man that I've finally become.

I truly enjoyed the entire show, and am grateful to the hosts Tari and Quon for their joy and hospitality. Some hosts are lifeless and dull, and that was NOT the case last night. I had fun. I've posted a link to the interview now for you guys to check it out if you like. Enjoy!!

(Note, if you just want to hear the songs from the album, they played them at the following times:
"Enough" - 34:10
"Go" - 115:50
"Put Up With Me" - 151:30)

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thecyphersden/2012/11/26/the-cyphers-den

#IMPECCABLEGRIND

Pastor Billy Dorsey, Jr.

I've known my whole life that God called me for something...for a purpose, and I knew that the gifts God gave me, including my music, were instilled in me to fulfill a higher calling. I spent my entire youth being called out by pastors and prophets in various churches, who all uniformly told me some variation of the fact that God called me to preach. I knew they were right, but I did NOT want to do it. I had in my mind that most preachers were fake and didn't live the lives they preached about, and sadly, most of them confirmed my thoughts on this during the course of my getting to know them or being around them. I knew my own flaws, and my hidden sins...the things we all have that we pray no one ever finds out about...and I knew that I didn't want to be a preacher as long as I wasn't living a life that lined up with God's Word.

However, even before JayTel, Ty, Phil and I formed thebridge and began working on Gravity, God had already begun working on ME. I first noticed it as a hunger for the Word of God...I'd wake up, spend my days, and go to sleep either reading the Word or meditating on it, and I couldn't get enough. Next, I noticed that my tastes in music changed. I still love the same music I have always loved, but I found myself wanting to hear less and less secular music, and more and more worship (Kari Jobe, etc) and spiritually uplifting music. I didn't fight it, but I made note of it. I have always been able to hear God's voice clearly, even when I was fighting like crazy to get away from my calling, but I noticed that as I began to focus more and more on consecrating myself, I could hear direction from the Holy Spirit that much more clearly.

I began asking God to show me myself, and open my eyes to who I really had become. Certain situations in my life were as negative as my music career was positive, and I knew that all blame didn't fall with the other people involved in those situations, and so I asked God to let me see me so that I knew what to pray that He would change. Boy....did He. He allowed me to see me as those around me saw me clearly for the first time, and it sickened me. I was selfish, inconsiderate and stubborn, and only acknowledged others' feelings and opinions as it related to my life when it served my purposes. I had allowed myself to become bitter and cold, whereas I had always been thoughtful and compassionate, if not overly gregarious, before. And I had allowed my attitude to be governed by how those around me treated me, rather than remaining in control of my own thoughts, my own feelings. So when God showed me my shortcomings and how they caused those around me to suffer, I asked Him to change me. To deliver me. To remake and renew me. He answered the prayer, and I started to see my attitude get better, bit by bit. People would curse, scream, and rage around me, and I began to retain my peace despite them. And past situations that once held me hostage to my own guilt and shame began to lose their hold on my joy.

All of us are imperfect. All of us have sinned. All of us have "issues". The one who tells you otherwise either is lying to you, or lying to themselves. And I saw all of my issues clearly, and because of my upbringing, I understood that I couldn't fix any one of them in my own strength. So I did the only thing I could do; I yielded my will to His. Once I did that, He began to move the things around me to fit His purposes for my life. We nailed "Higher" on Gravity, per God's instructions. We finished Marathon, per God's instructions. And once those things were done, He spoke to my spirit and said, very clearly, it's time to accept the mantle of Pastor and walk in my calling, which is to lead the lost to Him using the gifts He so graciously chose to impart upon me from birth. I immediately said yes, despite my misgivings about pastorship, because I'd always said that I would go whenever He said go, with no hesitation.

One of my musical heroes, Al Green, was also called to preach and pastor, and like me, he also ran from his calling. But he ran for too long, and God allowed a lover of his to scald him with a pot of steaming hot grits before taking her own life. He has said more than once that this horrific event was God's way of getting his attention, and needless to say, it worked. That stuck with me from a very young age once I'd read this part of his story, and I always said that I never wanted God to have to burn me with any grits for me to obey when He called me (lol)! No, no "Grits" Green for me. So when God finally said "Go", I went.

On October 14 of this year, after completing my Pastoral Training, I was appointed as an Elder, and simultaneously was appointed as Pastor, by my dad, Apostle Billy L. Dorsey, Sr. My charge is to obey God in creating Bridge of Hope in Houston, TX, which I've already begun the work of doing. The vision that God gave me for the ministry here is to not focus on building a church edifice, but to take it back to what Jesus and the disciples did. They actually went out to the people, meeting needs and performing miracles where they were, rather than sequestering themselves in sanctuaries and having people have to come to them for the deliverance they needed. My heart is open to instruction from the Lord on the way to do this, and I'm not leading as much as being led in it all. This is a new thing for me, and I have to be mindful more than ever of the things I say and do to make sure that people see and hear Christ when they see and hear me. I am thankful for the positive role models I've been blessed to have along the way, like my parents, who are both pastors, and Pastor Steve Jamison of Maranatha Faith Center in Columbus, MS, along with Elder Larry Traylor, who was our pastor when I was 7 years old in Germany. All of these people actually strive to live what they preach, and allowed me to see from a young age that, while none of them are perfect, it is possible to live a life that is pleasing to God and be a minister.

I'm on the road now. I still fight some of the same battles, and the enemy still attacks me as always. I have even more incentive to overcome now. I have the conviction of my beliefs, and the knowledge that "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me", which gives me the endurance to run on when I'm tired, and to get up when I fall. I never want to be one of those pastors or men of God who portrays that they're better than others or that they've "got it all together." The Word says "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," and I'm no different. I am just a sinner saved by Grace. I'm working to repair the damage of the past, and honestly want to be a man after God's own heart, as King David was.

Please keep my family and I lifted up in prayer as we walk down this road, striving to live for Christ in this music industry. The enemy is not pleased with this decision, but I have to do what God has decreed over my life; as such, I know he is going to work overtime to knock me off track from where God wants me to be. Not so. "Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world." Indeed.

#thebridgelife

Myself, my dad, Apostle Billy L. Dorsey, Sr, and my mom, Pastor Patricia Dorsey, at my Ordination Ceremony. We were laughing at the fact that my clergy collar was so tight I could barely breathe (lol)

My dad, Apostle Billy L. Dorsey, Sr., myself, my mom, Pastor Patricia Dorsey, and my brother, Pastor Emmanuel Williams. I'm holding my Pastoral Appointment and Ordination certificates from my Ordination ceremony.

Gravity Album Release Party

On Friday, September 28, 2012, Lecrae and the entire Reach Records family (minus Tedashii and Trip Lee) descended upon Houston for the 3rd of 3 release parties for Gravity (the first was held in Manchester, UK, and the second on September 27 in Denver, Colorado). Phillip Guillory of my production and songwriting team, thebridge, flew in from Cali to be a part of the festivities.

Phil and I got there early to make sure the tickets were squared away for the rest of the team, and waited outside until JayTel and his wife Merakal arrived. Thanks to my bro Jimmy who handles booking for Reach Records, we were squared away quickly, and once JayTel got there, we entered Warehouse Live where the concert was held. I invited OJ Toks, one of the Youth Pastors at Lakewood Church, to meet Lecrae and Street, as we are working on putting together (we being myself, Lakewood Men's Pastor John Bowman, and my agent and brother, Jesse Cooper) something wonderful thru Lakewood for the Houston youth community with Lecrae and Reach in the next few months. I went out to meet OJ and his fiancee', and got them squared away as well. Two of my voice students, Jimmy Duran, and Gracie Smith, surprised me by coming to the concert to support my team, as they knew we had a song on the album. Wonderful surprise!

Once my crew (minus my wife Shaunta, who was en route but had to drop our daughters off with her sister first) was inside, I reached out to Street and Cheese to see where they were so we could all link up. Tera, the head of booking for Reach Records, advised me after a warm greeting that the crew was all backstage in devotion, and that Street would come scoop me once they'd finished. True to his word, once the team finished praying, Street came out to the floor to grab me and show me where the rest of the team was. I got backstage, and saw Andy Mineo, Derek Minor (formerly known as PRo), Sho Baraka (who I'd just been speaking with via twitter two days earlier about thebridge doing some work with him on his album dropping in January), and my big bro Cheese, who introduced JayTel and I to the whole Reach movement. After pounds to everyone, I ran back to grab Phil, JayTel, and his wife to bring them all backstage. The food smelled wonderful, but having just had one of my wisdom teeth cut out of my mouth three days earlier, I couldn't even eat it. Sucks...but Phil didn't have the same problem and was tearing that food up lol! After a few minutes, Lecrae came out of the dressing room, somewhat subdued, and gave us all a pound. He said he was pleased with how "Higher" had come out, and said we had more work to do, to which I replied, "Yessir!" I learned a few minutes later that his father in law had just passed away earlier that day...and I'd ask that anyone who reads this post send up prayers for he and his lovely wife Darragh and their family in this time of bereavement.

Shortly after we got situated backstage and began talking with all the artists and Cheese, the show began. My wife Shaunta arrived, so I went out to see her inside safely, and we watched the beginning of the performances from within the crowd, starting with Andy and Derek Minor's. I always enjoy seeing how the young kids who attend the concerts react to the performances; they know all the songs, wear all their Rehab and 116 t-shirts, and do the "Reach Dance" (you'd have to see it to understand, but there is definitely a move that all the Reach artists do while on stage). This night was no different, although Lecrae early into the show mentioned that some of the kids in the crowd may not have been familiar with Christian Hip Hop due to the energy level flagging a bit. My observation was, due to the success of Gravity, many people may have just come out to the show due to the hype of the album, rather than actually understanding what the Reach movement is truly all about. Lecrae ended up going out on stage and letting everyone know that he doesn't care about being famous or selling a million records, but that his concern is ministry, and seeing souls come into the kingdom.

As the concert progressed, we saw Ashthon Jones from American Idol come out to sing her hook on Mayday, the third single from Gravity, and once Crae started performing the new album, the energy in the venue shot up noticeably. Backstage, I was sharing with the artists how I was brought into the Christian Hip Hop world after avoiding it for so long (because I thought the rappers who were out when I first tried to listen to it years ago all sucked lol) to laughter from Derek Minor and Sho, and was able to talk with them all about how long they'd been in the industry and what drew them to Christian Hip Hop to begin with. The answers I got from them all were illuminating, and gave me new respect for each of them. We all then laughed again, because, as we were talking backstage, "Background" by Lecrae came on, and Lecrae was on stage spitting his rhymes. The only problem was, Andy Mineo sings the hook on that song, but was still backstage talking with us, until Sho Baraka and Derek Minor pointed out to him that he might want to head out to the stage for his song! We laughed even harder as he tried to figure out at which point he'd be able to come out on stage since the song was already going on for quite a while before he noticed.

As the concert drew to a close, I noticed a commotion backstage, and saw security coming to clear the green room. As we tried to figure out what was going on, I saw former New York Knicks sensation and newest Houston Rocket, Jeremy Lin, walk in via the security entrance. Can't say I was surprised at all...Jeremy was very vocal in the media of his love for Lecrae's music and ministry prior to Gravity dropping, and since he now resides in Houston, it made sense for them to link. The Reach crew took pics with Jeremy and he and Lecrae had a warm conversation. I ran out to get OJ Toks and his fiancee' to bring them back to meet Lecrae or Street regarding the Reach/Lakewood connection, but as Crae was caught up with Jeremy and Street was helping to get the artists ready to hit the bus back to the hotel, I ended up (at the behest of Ben Washer, the pastor who created Reach Records with Lecrae 8 years ago) introducing OJ to Tera, who would have been the one we'd follow up with to secure the date more than likely anyways.  They exchanged information, and the night ended with me driving my big bro Street and his lovely wife Leilani back to their hotel.

There were some other details of the night, some of which may prove to be tremendous for my thebridge team, and for my family, but I'll keep them close to the vest until they're finalized. Just suffice it to say that God is definitely up to something amazing, and I can't wait to see how everything plays out over the next couple of weeks. I have a saying, and it's the name of this blog: "Impeccable Grind, Unstoppable Dreams"...and I do believe that at this point, with God in my corner, my dreams truly are unstoppable. Faith without works is dead, and we've been working at this a long time. I thank the Father that He has decreed our years of work to not be in vain. If God be for me, who can be against me? Stay tuned...He's not thru with me yet.

#IMPECCABLEGRIND

The Bridge Your Dreams Contest

About three days ago, God woke me up (from my GOOD sleep, nonetheless lol) just before 5 AM, and said to get up and start taking notes, as He began imparting into my spirit the next undertaking for thebridge, as we have now completed our writing, arranging, and production work on my album Marathon, which is about to begin the mixing/mastering process, and for which I have a photo shoot coming up in the next month with PDL Studios to nail down the cover and artwork for the album. I'd been praying for direction, and boy, did He give it.

From that morning of listening and taking notes, my team and I are now beginning to plan what will be called The Bridge Your Dreams Contest. Essentially, this contest will provide an opportunity for my team thebridge to extend to every talented Christian singer, rapper, and band in the country, whether CCM, Gospel, Inspirational, or Christian Hip Hop, the chance to have their recording artist dreams realized via the infrastructure that God has allowed me to put into place over the last two years, with Impeccable Music Group and thebridge music production and songwriting, as well as some of the key industry relationships I've been blessed to solidify.

I'll keep this blog updated as things progress, but I expect that we'll get the ball rolling within the next week or two, and will have information regarding details of the contest out on various social media networks, and some of the biggest Christian, Gospel, and Christian Hip Hop blogsites. For anyone who reads this and has wondered, "How do I get into the industry?" This contest will provide a definitive answer for you. In all that God has placed before my team and I to do thus far, we've striven to perform them all with a spirit of excellence; in this endeavor, we will do no less. Stay tuned.

#IMPECCABLEGRIND

Lecrae's Gravity Blasts Off

Two weeks after the Dove Awards, my team thebridge was tasked by Reach Records head of A&R Street Symphony to begin crafting records for the 6th official album coming up from Lecrae, which was a tremendous honor, because on the Dove and Stellar Award winning Rehab: The Overdose, we (JayTel and myself) were blessed to contribute writing/vocal arranging/additional vocals to the song "Strung Out" produced by our big bro John "CheeseBeats" Williams, who introduced us to the Reach movement, but this time, we had the opportunity to contribute to the production of the music as well. We got as much direction as possible as to the sound and feel that Lecrae was going for from both Crae and Street, and then got to work.

We initially started off with a very pop, Bruno Mars/One Republic-ish sound, much more reminiscent of the original Rehab album, and crafted nearly a dozen songs in that vein, but then the monster mixtape known as "Church Clothes" dropped, and gave Crae a huge boost in the mainstream due to the tremendous response to both the single's message (exposing hypocrisy both in and out of the church) and the style and quality of the music and songcraft on the mixtape. This success inadvertently changed the direction of the songs for the new album from a logical progression from Overdose/Rehab to become, as LeCrae has said in several interviews, "Church Clothes on steroids." 

LeCrae shared a "wish list" of artists that he would love to have on the album, and he and Street allowed me to help with locking in some of those artists for the project, one of the main ones being the phenomenal Contemporary Christian Music rock band Tenth Avenue North, whose manager Dave Steunebrink (head of Showdown Management) did not hesitate to facilitate lead singer Mike Donehey and I connecting (another one at the top of Crae's list, Gungor, was on tour, finishing their own album, and writing a book, and were unable to get in the lab with us in time to meet the album submission deadline to have the records done; however, a collaboration will, I'm sure, materialize at some point in the near future. Much respect to both Michael and Lisa Gungor, and their manager J.R. Montes, who all fought just as hard as I did to make the record happen in time. J.R., if you read this, thank you sir! You made my job very easy, and good looking out on the Lisa Gungor and Lecrae record!!). Mike and the rest of Tenth already had a great relationship with LeCrae and had discussed doing a collaboration while they were on tour together earlier in the year (on the Rock & Worship Roadshow Tour), so Mike, Jeff Owen (Tenth's bassist) and I immediately began bouncing ideas back and forth by phone, text, and email around the Gravity theme from a lyrical standpoint, and once we'd locked in the hottest 3 or 4 lyrical foundations, my team thebridge (JayTel, Ty Steez, and Aphillyated along with myself) began crafting a sound that we knew Crae's flow would match while supporting the sound and texture of Mike's voice. We knocked out 3 records together that Reach Records loved, but we all KNEW when we knocked out a song we entitled "Lead Me Higher" that God had blessed us to come up something that felt truly special, and I remember when I sent the song over to Street saying, "the Force is strong with this one" (I'm a Star Wars fanboy...sue me lol) and him immediately replying that he agreed and loved the song. This was in the A.M. of June 18, 2012.

Fast forward to this morning, Sept. 4th, 2012, about 1:30 AM...I was so excited to hear the finished product (the Gravity album dropped Sept 4th at 12:00AM) that I couldn't sleep. I went downstairs to my recording studio, cranked up the speakers, went to iTunes and clicked on "Higher"....and was blown away. Reach had someone (Danika Lukasiewicz) add live strings to our production which gave it an even bigger sound, and Crae killed the flow on the verses. I listened to the entire album then, and as I did, I checked the iTunes Charts, where I discovered that we held both the #1 (Deluxe version) and #2 spots (standard version) on the Rap charts, and at that time #9 on the overall Top Album Chart (currently in #2 and rising; UPDATE #1 - the album just hit #1 on the Top Album Chart as well later in the day on Sept 4) (see screenshots below; UPDATE #2 - the album not only topped the charts here in the US, but also topped the charts in Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands...see screenshot below courtesy of Street Symphony's instagram post on twitter) (UPDATE #3 - our song "Higher" f/Tenth Ave North, hit the top 20 of the Top Hip-Hop/Rap Songs Chart on Sept 6, ultimately topping out at #6, while "Fuego" f/K.B. and Suzy Rock, also a bonus song on the Deluxe Edition of Gravity, holds currently at #5. This is the first time in history that a Christian rapper has had 1, much less 2, songs in the top 10 of the Top Hip - Hop/Rap Songs Chart. See screenshot below).

Next week will be the album's debut on the Billboard Charts, where we are expected to, as with Overdose last year, top both the Christian and Gospel charts, and judging from the overwhelming response to the album, have a legitimate chance to top both the Billboard Rap Charts (Overdose topped out at #5) and the top 3 of the Billboard 200 (Overdose hit #17) (Update #4: Per an article on Billboard.com and one found on SOHH.com, it appears that we will indeed hit #2 or 3 on the overall Billboard 200, as well as being a lock for the #1 slot on the Billboard Rap Chart, Billboard Christian Chart, and Billboard Gospel Chart. This will be the first time in history that a Christian Hip Hop Artist topped the Billboard Rap Charts, and the first time that a Christian Hip Hop album hit the top 10 of the Billboard 200. See the articles below) (Update #5, 9/11/12 - the album sold 70,490 copies the first week, which is more than his previous three albums' first week sales COMBINED. With these first week #s, we will officially appear on tomorrow's Billboard 200 at #3, and #1 on the Rap, Gospel, and Christian charts, in addition to still being #1 on the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap Albums chart. See link for first week sales below via Rapzilla.com, and stay tuned for screenshots of Lecrae's album Gravity's first week sales the Billboard charts once Billboard updates their site). I am spending most of today working on locking in some of the next few projects we are slated to work on now that Gravity is out and doing extremely well and our production/writing work on my album Marathon is done, and will keep this post updated with both the movement on the iTunes overall chart and the Billboard charts next week. We will also this week be finalizing the last couple of features on and marketing plan for my Christian debut album, Marathon, set to be released later this year/early 2013.

(Update #6, 9/13/12)

Billboard.com updated the charts today around 10 AM, at which point we learned that Gravity topped 4 charts (instead of the expected 3), the Christian, Gospel, Rap, and Independent Album Charts, and hit #3 on both the Billboard 200 and the Digital Albums Charts (see screenshot below). This is historic for two reasons: 1) No Christian Hip Hop album has ever topped the Billboard Rap Album Chart, and 2) No Christian Hip Hop album has ever debuted inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200. The team at Reach was aware from the beginning of creating Gravity of the potential of this album to change the culture and have an impact beyond just the Christian Hip Hop community, but I wonder if even they knew it would be this big. I think I can speak for my team in saying that we are beyond blessed just to be a part of the Reach family and to have been able to play a part in the creation of this album. In two weeks, on Sept 28, 2012, there will be a huge album release party here in Houston with Lecrae, Street, and the entire Reach team, celebrating what God has done and is doing thru this album. Will Gravity be the first Christian Hip Hop album to go Gold, selling more than 500,000 copies (most likely, at the current rate of sales)? Will it reach the vaunted plateau of Platinum sales, crossing the million sold threshold (provided that one or more of the future singles, possibly even including our song "Higher", can reach a broader audience via radio, video, etc, it is certainly possible)? Regardless of those worldly indicators of "success", the impact that this album has had on the culture, and on the scores of those who would not normally listen to the Word but have been devouring the Word via this album, is immeasurable. My prayer is that Gravity brings about a paradigm shift, both from those who are a part of the Christian Hip Hop community to step up their craft and to learn how to better engage the culture, and from the outside, broader musical community, to understand and accept that being a "Christian rapper" does not mean that the quality of our music is inferior or that our message is any less viable; Only time will tell if this album's success is an anomaly or a new norm for CHH. Either way, to God be all the glory!!!

Update #7, 9/24/12

As Gravity enters its second week on the Billboard Charts, we retain the #1 spot on both the Gospel and Christian Album Charts, are now at #2 on the Billboard Rap Chart (second only to 2 Chainz), and we fall to #14 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 25,225 in the second week. That puts the album at just shy of 100,000 records sold in two weeks, which is also unprecedented for a Christian Hip Hop album within that same time frame, and is solid even compared to many mainstream releases.

Our song, "Higher" f/Tenth Avenue North is going to CCM radio this week, and I expect that we'll see this song and the others Reach plans to release at radio for the album drive sales for the long haul. While it is amazing that the album has done as well as it has with no radio or video airplay, having these elements in place will only add to what has already been a phenomenally successful album for the genre. Upon checking the newest Billboard Magazine (Sept 22 issue with Jason Aldean on the cover) last night during a meeting with my agent and brother, Jesse Cooper, I saw that "Higher" is currently the #2 Gospel Song in the country, which is awesome. I'm curious and excited to see what happens once that song becomes the mainstream CCM success God promised me it would be when He gave me the vision to create it with Tenth and my team thebridge. I claim scores of souls saved, hearts changed, and that this song will become an anthem for the Unashamed; every bit of earthly success the song achieves is just the icing on the cake. See the screenshots below for the current week's Billboard rankings of Gravity, the current week's sales of Gravity, and the #2 Billboard Gospel Songs debut of our song, "Higher" f/Tenth Ave North.

Update #8, 10/4/12 (one month after release)

The new Billboard charts for the week were just uploaded on the site, and we are going into our fifth week at #1 on the Gospel Album chart, while remaining at #3 on the Christian Album chart, #5 on the Rap Album chart, and #9 on the Independent Album chart. At this point, Gravity is outpacing the original Rehab album in sales and chart position, which is amazing considering that Rehab was Grammy nominated and stayed on the charts for nearly a year 2 years ago. Lecrae is in the new XXL Magazine that was released today talking about the phenomenal success of the album, and the Unashamed Tour just began in Nashville this past Monday to support the album, so sales will likely remain constant or increase for the next three months while the team is on the road. I expect to see sales top 200,000 by the end of 2012, if not 250-300K with the holiday season approaching, and am trusting God for a Grammy nomination for the album as well. God is truly doing something amazing with this project, and I am more than grateful that my team and I were blessed to be a part of its success. See screenshots below of the album at #1 on the Gospel chart and the overall chart rankings on Billboard of Gravity in its 4th week since release.

My team thebridge and I are in the lab over the next few days (10/4-10/5) to finish an extended version of our #2 Billboard Gospel charting song "Higher" f/ additional vocals by #1 selling Christian rock band Tenth Ave North, which we anticipate will be used for the video/radio version of the song. I believe it is easier to go back to something you've created that has already been successful, because you know what you wish you COULD have done the first time around, and are being handed an opportunity to make those changes/improvements the second go round. Ty Steez of thebridge and I had a great conversation about his idea to revisit the song and the possible impact, and so we are making the completion of this remix our highest priority. I'm excited about the song impacting at CCM radio around the world in the coming weeks, and the video that will surely accompany such a successful song. Feels good to know that when you follow God's plan, the end result is victory. Stay tuned.

Final Update #9,  11/23/12 (nearly 3 months after release)

Gravity ultimately spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album Chart during its run (as of 1/21/13), and even now, nearly 3 months after release, is still #2 on the same chart (behind Tamela Mann's Best Days album). We're now working on records for Tedashii and Andy Mineo's upcoming albums, and are looking forward to the next wave of releases from Reach Records. The album garnered so much success upon its release that Lecrae and Gravity were featured in Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines, and we recently learned that we have (at least) 6 first ballot Grammy nominations, which is beyond amazing, but hardly surprising considering the success God has blessed the album to have. We're now waiting for the official Grammy nominee show on Dec 5, which will confirm for us which nominations God has blessed us to have for Gravity, and are already planning to attend the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in Feb 2013. JayTel and I have won every other award we've been nominated for to this point (Dove & Stellar Awards, which we won earlier this year for Lecrae's previous album Rehab: The Overdose), and so I have no reason to doubt that God is able to bless us with this most prestigious honor of becoming Grammy Award winning producers and songwriters, along with our brothers and thebridge teammates Phil and Ty Steez. We'll see His perfect Will in action on Dec 5th. Stay tuned!

I read a great article the morning of 9/4/12 that I wanted to attach to this post, because people who don't know the movement and the meaning behind what thebridge means and what Lecrae is all about, just see success, #1s, and awards, but none of this is about us, and none of it is bragging. It's a testimony of what God is able to do when you "seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all His Righteousness....all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). This album is ALL about bringing souls to Christ, and not for any of our individual glory, not even Lecrae's. The article talks about the importance of making sure that in all of our successes and Crae's, that we continue to point all eyes to Christ and refrain from allowing pride to creep in and poison what God is so powerfully using for the good of the Kingdom. Enjoy, and keep us lifted up in prayer as we move forward and the album does what it looks like it is going to do for the Glory of the Most High God.

http://www.dasouth.com/features/columns/9999-getting-ready-for-gravity?fb_action_ids=341601489262480&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22341601489262480%22%3A397977990257768%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22341601489262480%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]

Gravity holding down the #1 (Deluxe Edition) and #2 (Standard Edition) spots on the iTunes Hip Hop/Rap Album chart

The Gravity album song credits for our song "Higher" f/Tenth Avenue North

Gravity (Deluxe Edition) at #1 on the Overall Top Albums chart, while the Standard Edition sits at #14

Our song "Higher" f/Tenth Ave North at #20 on the Top Hip-Hop/Rap Songs Chart; "Fuego" f/KB & Suzy Rock holds at #5. First time in history a Christian rapper hit the top 10 on this chart.

Gravity's first week impact on the Billboard charts, #1 on 4 Charts and #3 on Billboard 200 & Digital Album Charts

Gravity's second week impact on the Billboard charts,  retaining #1 placement on both the Gospel and Christian Album Charts

Gravity's second week sales numbers per Rapzilla

The song "Higher" f/Tenth Avenue North, co-written and produced by my team thebridge, at #2 on the Billboard Gospel Songs chart (based on digital sales)

Gravity still at #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album chart, one full month after release. Rehab did 7 weeks at #1 initially.

Gravity's overall album rankings on Billboard in its 4th week of sales, remaining in the top 5 on 3 charts and top 10 on 4. At this point, Gravity is outselling and outcharting the mega-successful Lecrae album Rehab, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2010. I am believing God for a Grammy win this time around.

SOHH article about Gravity's first week sales and poss chart placement next week on Billboard

Billboard article regarding the projected top 10 of Billboard 200 for sales week beginning Sept 4

Gravity's first week sales numbers

#IMPECCABLEGRIND

Finishing up Marathon

I've spent the past two months working non-stop on finishing up my debut Christian album Marathon since the day we ("we" being my music production and songwriting team known as "thebridge") wrapped up our production work on Lecrae's Gravity album (props to Lecrae, Street Symphony and the whole Reach Records team), dropping September 4th, on which God blessed us to write and produce the song "Higher" featuring the phenomenal Contemporary Christian Music rock band Tenth Avenue North. The songs on my album have all been written, arranged, and produced by thebridge, which for the purposes of Marathon consisted of myself, JayTel, Ty Steez, and Aphillyated, (but also includes my sis, award winning rock singer Sheila Swift and big bro, decorated piano virtuoso Jodi Mayfield) who between us handled the gamut of engineering, writing, vocal arranging, producing, and live musicianship necessary to consistently deliver quality music, and are every bit as sonically diverse as I always envisioned my solo album being.

The album creation process began with a song called "More Like You", a pop/R&B ballad which I envisioned originally as being the first single from the album, but quickly expanded to cover musical ground such as huge praise songs ("Chasing After You") to swagged out ("All You Want Is You") and soulful ballads ("Enough" and "Put Up With Me"). When God gave me the initial vision for the album, it was to cover as much ground as possible, writing songs that were all rooted in the Word of God lyrically, that were irrespective of race, denomination, or musical genre, and sonically and melodically were able to appeal to even those who do not normally listen to Christian based music. The album has become all of that, and so much more than I even forsaw.

As I type this, I am today finishing recording on the last two written songs for Marathon. This has been the culmination of a lifelong dream, one that God did not allow to come true until I got my head together, accepted my call to Pastorship, and realigned my priorities as He always intended (God, Family, Everything Else). I'm thankful for that, because if God had allowed me to achieve this level of success and opportunity back when I signed my first record deal, I would not be here now, but would have followed my own way into what I'm pretty sure would have been destruction and shame. Now, I am not moving until God says move, and am focused on doing only what He would have me to do, and He has been allowing me to find favor with many in positions to help me to accomplish the task He placed before me when He promised years ago to lift me up so that I would be in a better position to lift Him up. I worship God for all that He has done....and I patiently rest in the knowledge that my best, and that of thebridge, is yet to come.

Lecrae's album Gravity drops September 4th, and then the multimedia campaign will begin to launch Marathon, which I anticipate will now drop either 4th quarter 2012 or (most likely) early January to allow us time to effectively market the album and movement. The phenomenal photo and graphic design company PDL Studios is about to begin work on the artwork for the album cover and booklet after our conference call earlier this week, and I'm meeting with video directors now to determine who will shoot the first official video from the album (which I still at this point don't know which song it will be for due to the number of awesome songs on the album to choose from; a wonderful dilemna!)...it doesn't matter how impactful or powerful your music is if noone knows about it, and so we're putting together plans to launch the album first in the public consciousness, and THEN on shelves, iTunes, etc. I can't wait until the totality of the vision God has given us is able to be revealed to everyone, and to have a chance to get out on tour and see the impact that the songs will by then have had on the lives of those who enjoy them, and I give my sincere thanks to all who those have musically contributed to this incredible body of work for the Kingdom....Stay tuned!

#IMPECCABLEGRINDUNSTOPPABLEDREAMS

Scriptwriters 10x10 in Houston

After the shoot concluded on my first film, Chance 27, I had the opportunity to ask the more seasoned actors on the film for advise regarding polishing my acting skills. With anything that I willingly devote time to, I want to be the best at it, and acting was no different, so I asked the other actors what they recommended I do to become better. The #1 answer I got was to do stage acting as a way to perfect my craft. This made perfect sense...kind of like the difference between singing live versus studio singing. On stage, you have no do-overs...no retakes or chances to edit. No film tricks or camera techniques...it's just you and your fellow actors, the set, the stage, your voice, and the audience. You have to convey everything with just your words, actions, and expressions.

I immediately began looking into ways to get on stage, and found the Scriptwriters 10x10s at the behest of my good friend Hector Luna, who introduced me to the Houston film community to begin with. I found out when the auditions were going to be held at the Country Playhouse, and after setting up an audition time with Christine Weems, I began looking up notes for effective cold readings of scripts in preparation.

Once the day came for auditions, it was a round-robin of going in the theater before the various directors and reading a variety of parts for a variety of plays with a plethora of actors and actresses, many of whom were very, very good. I enjoyed the interplay between them and myself during the auditions and made sure to apply what I'd learned from watching Lee and Lawrence in my interactions with each, so that my performances were subtly different based on who I was playing against. Once I'd read for several parts, Christine said that I was done for the day, and that she would be emailing me to let me know if I was chosen for any of the parts. I felt confident that I'd done my absolute best, and had a wonderful time in the process, so I said "Thank you" and headed out.

Within days, I received two emails for parts I was selected for, one being Bobby Ackerman in the play "Waiting in the Lost and Found", and Nerve in the play "Body Politics". I began reading over the scripts and loved both of them, and more than anything loved the fact that both parts were completely opposite from each other, which meant that two different directors saw me being capable of playing two completely different parts. I relished the opportunity to show that I could do both, and do them both very well.

The first day of rehearsals for both was a conflict, because they were both being held within two hours of each other and were on different sides of Houston, so I got to the "Waiting..." rehearsal wayyy late after leaving the "Body Politics" rehearsal. My fellow actors Erin and Marc were gracious, but I knew they had to be miffed at having to wait so long for me, so I wanted to make sure I went above and beyond in the rehearsal to make up for it. The rehearsal went well, and the future rehearsals, I made sure to be on time, if not early (as much as my music schedule allowed, that is).

Finally, came Tech Week (which is where the crew at the theater has all the plays go thru their entire shows, while the crew works out the lighting, curtains, timing of each show, etc) and the chance to really run thru our shows on the main stage where we'd soon be performing for audiences. I have never been shy or afraid of the stage due to growing up singing in churches, talent shows, malls, and pretty much just about anywhere else I could find an audience, so I welcomed the opportunity. Due to the awesome work of Christine Weems and the entire team, Tech Week ran smoothly.

The shows opened Thursday, August 2, 2012, to a nice sized audience at 8 PM, and ran without a hitch. In my first play, we had to slide our props out from behind the curtain in the dark, and carry them offstage the same way. Because of how dark it was, we nearly fell over the edge of the stage trying to walk off after our bow, but otherwise the show was wonderful. My fellow actors in "Waiting", Erin, and Marc, are both stage veterans and are both phenomenal actors. I learn more about the craft during every show watching their interactions before I walk out on stage to join them. Erin has a natural poise and grace...e'lan...about her that draws all eyes to her while on stage. Marc has the ability to disappear into his character and BECOME whoever he's playing. I intend to harness both of these abilities in myself, and am fully confident that I will, with more time spent learning characters and reviewing my performances on tape.

My second play, "Body Politics", is so funny that even my fellow castmates and I have a difficult time not laughing while onstage. My character, Nerve, is supposed to be the "enforcer", and is supposed to be brawny, but not brainy, and was described to me by the director, Elvin, as being a big guy with a little voice, so I broke out my Mike Tyson voice for the character, and am blessed that the crowd reacts to it every single time I speak on stage. They laugh so hard that I often have to bite the inside of my jaws to keep from cracking up myself. All the other characters have their humorous aspects to them, and the play is just a blast to perform.

The cast of my second play, "Body Politics"

Every night of the play has been wonderful, and has gotten better each time, as most things do. I type this before leaving to head to the last showing of the play, today (Sunday, Aug 5) at 2:00 PM at the Country Playhouse in City Centre, and am excited to knock these last performances out. I'll miss the interaction with the other actors and getting to be a part of the entire production, and have had a wonderful time, but God is calling me to finish my album Marathon, and I can't allow anything else to come between me and that goal. Lord willing, once the album is out and successful, then maybe next year I can come back and be a part of the entire experience again. Either way, this has been an experience I'll never forget, full of working with people I'd gladly work with again in a heartbeat.

Below is a link to the Houston Chronicle Blog review of the Scriptwriters 10x10s, with my play Body Politics highlighted as one of the reviewer's favorites. This is my first write up in the Chronicle, and I am excited to share it. A wonderful, wonderful experience!! #IMPECCABLEGRIND

http://blog.chron.com/criticscritic/2012/08/scriptwritershouston-presents-captivating-22nd-10x10-festival-at-country-playhouse/

My First Movie Role

Yesterday, God blessed me to fulfill yet another childhood dream, which was to act in a film. The film, entitled CHANCE 27, is a small film, and I had a small speaking role (as a minister, go figure lol), but I believe that acting is every bit as intensive as music, and I am grateful for the chance to begin studying the craft.

Because the film has not yet been edited or released, I'll refrain from sharing any of the details of the film itself..(UPDATE: the film has now been edited, released, and won the Audience Favorite Award at the 2012 48 Hour Film Festival screening in June 2012 at Studio Movie Grill. Here is the link to the movie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t98YCwubzY&feature=youtu.be)
I'll just share my experience from my perspective. I got on set yesterday at 8 AM after 4 hours of sleep, and due to the level of excitement I felt, I was wired up as though I'd slept a full 8 hours. I came dressed in wardrobe, but forgot to eat breakfast...big mistake. Since lunch didn't come until after 2 PM, I starved the whole day on set (NOTE TO SELF: make sure you eat a big breakfast early the morning of filming days to make it thru) and devoured the Pizza Hut pizza like a starving rancor when it arrived.

When I arrived on set, the director gave me a copy of the script and explained to me more in depth the role he wanted me to play. The film is a comedy, and since I'd never acted in a comedy before, I wanted to be mindful of comedic timing, something I'd been cognizant of for as long as I'd been looking to act. Jokes only work if delivered with the right timing and right emphasis, and so as I looked over the script, I mentally worked thru inhabiting my character, and the right timing for delivering my lines. Remembering lines is much easier than I would have thought, but after all the years memorizing songs, perhaps I shouldn't have been too surprised. Before long, I knew all the lines for my scenes for both my character and those interacting with me, in case someone went off script/improvised at all.

As the other actors and crew trickled in, I introduced myself to them all, and took their measure...I was by far the least experienced actor on set. I'd figured as much, and wanted to make sure that I asked questions and paid attention to the others as they went over their lines and read with each other prior to filming their scenes so I could pick up on their preparation methods and techniques for effortless acting. When the two lead actors, Lawrence (a tall, athletic Wesley Snipes-esque guy playing the lothario) and Lee (a younger, every bit as hilarious Jim Carrey-esque character) walked in, the energy in the room changed, and everyone stepped their game up to another level. The other actors' body language subtly changed as well once Lee and Lawrence walked on set, and it was definitely interesting to see.

Filming began with the director and crew laying out each scene, and the actors falling quickly into place and into character. I observed every detail of the preparations that the director and crew undertook as well, because one day, I want to be able to create my own films. Trust me, I've seen Ice Cube's Behind The Music about the way he transitioned from NWA to Boyz In The Hood to the Friday movies and beyond...I plan to be able to make that same transition as well. I don't believe in doing anything just for the sake of doing it; if I do it, there is a purpose and thought behind it. This definitely fell under that category.

As the day progressed, I noticed two things I lacked:

1. ease of movement in front of the camera...Lawrence seemed so smooth and comfortable in front of the camera, and even was able to help the director by offering different variations on his scenes, and Lee had his sense of humor in overdrive, always seeming ready to deliver a joke, and always in control. I didn't quite feel that. As an actor, you have to be mindful of so many things; how wide the framing is on your shot so you don't step out of the frame, the direction of the camera on you and how you turn or gesture relative to that camera, the interpretation of your character as written in the script, the interaction with your fellow actors, etc...so I was working to transcend all of that and lock into the character, but at times FELT like I was "working" and not "acting"...and,

2. the ability to control my smile. I can't help it...unless I'm angry, I smile when I look at people, and when I speak to them. But in my scene, as the minister at a wake, smiling was not quite appropriate for my role. I asked a couple of the actors after the shoot what they do to control their smiling, and they said that in acting classes, there is actually a segment where the instructor and other students get in their faces for a certain period of time and do things to try to make them laugh, all while the student has to maintain a straight face. Poker face training, if you will. I will have to do that.

Having said that, I'm used to being in front of crowds, so nervousness was not a factor for me, and I am used to public speaking as well, so I was able to deliver my lines clearly and solidly, and even got in a couple of improvisational jokes with Lawrence in the last scene of the film that had everyone on set rolling with laughter when we were done. For my first ever film role, I can honestly say it wasn't bad at all, and if you know me, you know I'm an extremely rough critic, especially when it comes to myself. My performance was not good or great in my opinion, but not bad, and that was what I expected for my first acting role. My job now is to study, take courses, and  jump on every film that I can to build my acting chops and develop my own style of acting, so that I can earn the same type of respect that Lee and Lawrence and the rest of the cast had on the film. I loved the experience, and can't wait to see the movie. Stay tuned...I'll update this blog once the film is released! (Update: the movie CHANCE 27 will be screened in Houston on June 19 @ Studio Movie Grill City Centre at 7:30 PM and again at 9:00 PM. I've seen the finished movie now, and it is funny! Can't wait to see the audience response!)

God has been doing so many amazing things in my life, and this opportunity falling into my lap was but another one of them. After the shoot, the director invited me to collaborate with him on more projects to build my skills and exposure, and also wants to work with me and my team thebridge to score some of his other film works. I can't wait. To God be all the glory for yet another opportunity to grow and strive for greatness.

(For pictures from the set, follow me on instagram at billydproductions)

#IMPECCABLEGRINDUNSTOPPABLEDREAMS