The Gospel Blog » Marvin Sapp

Malinda Sapp, wife of Marvin Sapp passes

Cliff — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:49:45 +0000

I regret to inform you that Malinda Sapp, wife of multiple award wining Gospel artist Marvin Sapp, has died today. Her death was the result of complications she suffered from colon cancer.

Please keep the entire Sapp family and the Lighthouse Full Life Center Church family in your prayers as they endure this difficult time.

Here is a video of Pastor Malinda Sapp in ministry.

My take on Gospel at the 2010 BET Awards

Cliff — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:36:24 +0000

The BET Awards aired last night and the Gospel music community was well represented.

It wasn’t announced on air, but Marvin Sapp won the award for Best Gospel Artist. Nominees in the category included Tamela Mann, Vicki Winans, The Annointed Pace Sisters and Kirk Franklin presents Artists United (Are You Listening).

I must admit that I am a little disappointed, because I’m probably one of the few people that watches awards shows to actually see people receive awards. I know that most people watch for the performances.

Alicia Keys performed a medley featuring a number of the songs that she made popular. The big shock came is when she started singing If I Ain’t Got You and Kim Burrell came out and joined her on stage. Kim gave us what I call the Christian version of this song by replacing the word “baby” with “Jesus”.

In true Kim Burrell fashion, she delivered an outstanding vocal performance. The crowd definitely responded positively to Kim’s presence.

The main Gospel music moment came when Kirk Franklin performed Are You Listening: A Song 4 Haiti. Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell and Karen Clark-Sheard joined him on stage to perform the song.

I would argue that during this song, five of the top 20 singers in the theater were all on stage together. I thought their performance was great. Karen Clark-Sheard was absolutely amazing with the ad-libs. Even Prince seemed to love by her singing.

If you missed the performance you can view it below.

Did you see the BET Awards? Post a comment and share your opinion.

“Here I Am” by Marvin Sapp Debuts #2 on Billboard Charts

Cliff — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:25:23 +0000

Take a good look at the picture below, because it doesn’t happen often. Marvin Sapp’s latest CD Here I Am debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts. This is an extremely unique for a Gospel album. A big congratulations to Marvin Sapp. This is truly amazing!

Did you listen to the album? What do you think about it?

Review: “Here I Am” by Marvin Sapp

Cliff — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:27:02 +0000

I recently checked out Marvin Sapp’s new album entitled Here I Am. You won’t hear earth shattering instrumental performances. You also won’t hear music production that will change the face of Gospel music. When you listen to this album, you will hear music that will encourage, inspire and uplift you.

We all go through different struggles in our life. This album can serve as the sound track for a given season. When you need encouragement to hold on and make it through, you’ll want to listen to Here I Am.

There are a number of quality songs on this album. I am fairly confident that we will be hearing I Came a lot. People will be using it to open up their prayer breakfasts, praise parties or any other types of services.

The Best In Me has been on heavy rotation for the last couple of weeks. The album version is longer than the version we have been hearing on the radio. This version absolutely delivers! I love it!

Praise You Forever and More Than A Conqueror are also quality songs. They make this a very well rounded album.

I am convinced that Here I Am is an album that will absolutely bless your soul. You won’t find many tracks to play at skating rinks or blast in your car. However, this album will minister to you in a way that few albums do.

Go get your copy of Here I Am by Marvin Sapp on Amazon.com or iTunes.

Donald Lawrence and Marvin Sapp Team Up For “Chicago’s Hope For Haiti” Benefit Concert

Cliff — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:52:20 +0000

The Gospel music community in Chicago has decided to do their part to benefit Haiti. Donald Lawrence and Marvin Sapp will be joined by a roster of artists that includes John P. Kee, Byron Cage, Karen Clark-Sheard, Ricky Dillard, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and many more for a benefit concert.

“Chicago’s Hope for Haiti” benefit concert will take place on February 8, 2010 @ 7:00 PM at the 10,000 seat House of Hope, 752 E. 114th Street in Chicago.

Other confirmed artists also include Maurette Brown Clark, Mark Hubbard & the Voices, The Sweet Holy Spirit Choir , Percy & Gerald Gray featuring (New Direction, Chicago Mass Choir and Joshua’s Troop), DeAndre Patterson and Dr. Bobby Jones. The program will be emceed by WGRB 1390 AM on-air personalities Pastor John Hannah and Angela Martin.

The proceeds of the concert will go directly to Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org) and Hospitals for Humanity (www.hospitalsforhumanity.org). Both organizations are currently on the ground in Haiti providing immediate relief (ranging from food and water to medical care) to the survivors of this horrific earthquake.

Reflections on BET’s Celebration of Gospel 10

Cliff — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:08:14 +0000

I can’t believe that Celebration of Gospel has been on the air for 10 years. Over that time BET has given us a prime time view of some of Gospel music’s finest artists. So, last night, I sat and watched the broadcast with great anticipation. Here are some of my thoughts on the show.

The Music
Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that there was a time when Celebration of Gospel was used as a showcase to display artists that have released recorded music at least within the last two years. It didn’t seem like that was the case this year. I think the BET producers got together and said “who do we want on the show this year”.

They have every right to include whomever they want on the show. I wonder if they attempted to book artists like Israel Houghton, J. Moss and Smokie Norful. All of these artists released albums within the last year. Instead, they decided to go with Rance Allen, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia who all sung older songs.

The Best Moment of the Night
Generally BET does tributes very well. They honored Steve Harvey since he has been the only host is the history of the show. This was an extremely touching moment. What was really great was how Steve seemed to be really blessed by the words and music from Donnie McClurkin and Marvin Sapp. Seeing Steve get blessed in that way made the whole night worth if for me.

A Few Surprises
We really didn’t hear a lot from Steve Harvey throughout the night. I’m sure some of that was due to the tribute. Editing could also be a factor. Overall, it seemed that his role as the host was slightly diminished compared to previous years.

I was a little surprised to see Tye Tribbett there. Usually when an artist experiences challenges in their personal life they stay away from public appearances for a while. I understand that we all handle things differently. Let’s continue to keep him and his family in our prayers.

On another note…by all accounts, Celebration of Gospel 10 was the last time we will ever see Greater Annointing minister. It has been widely reported that Tye has decided to break the group up.

Where Was God
A lot of people that I am connected to on Twitter and Facebook were disappointed about the editing job that BET did. By many accounts, there were many time where you could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the theatre. However, we never saw those moments. This caused one of my friends to make the following statement, “Where was God? Did I miss Him? I think He showed up for a few minutes then left, came back, left and then left for good!”

The Bottom Line
Over the last couple of years BET has been getting a lot of criticism for their programming, but Celebration of Gospel is one of the shows that the network does very well for the most part. Donald Lawrence, Fred Hammond and Tye Tribbett all gave very good performances. I walked away from the broadcast feeling encouraged and uplifted.

Did you see Celebration of Gospel? What did you think about it? What was your favorite performance?

The Gospel Blog » Marvin Sapp

Malinda Sapp, wife of Marvin Sapp passes

Related Posts:

My take on Gospel at the 2010 BET Awards

Related Posts:

“Here I Am” by Marvin Sapp Debuts #2 on Billboard Charts

Related Posts:

Review: “Here I Am” by Marvin Sapp

Related Posts:

Donald Lawrence and Marvin Sapp Team Up For “Chicago’s Hope For Haiti” Benefit Concert

Related Posts:

Reflections on BET’s Celebration of Gospel 10

Related Posts: