Praise Cleveland is reporting that Shirley Murdock is returning to secular music. You can define secular any way you want to. The bottom line is that she won’t be singing Gospel.

GospelPundit.com is reporting that Kim Burrell is also making changes in her music. It is still a little unclear to me exactly what type of music she will be singing. I do know that it won’t be the same type of Gospel music that we are all accustomed to hearing. I’m assuming it will be more like a combination of Inspirational and R&B.

This news may come as a shock to some, but in reality artists switch genres all of the time. When people leave

Gospel it is usually because they weren’t well received by the industry or they have a desire to reach a wider audience. This does not mean that these ladies aren’t following Christ any longer. I’m assuming that they consulted with God before making these moves.

I have never been a big fan of artists saying “I wanted to reach a wider audience”, and using that as an excuse to switch genres. To any artists or potential artist that reads this, I have the formula for reaching a broader audience. Make better records. That is the first part. After that, find ways to be more creative in branding yourself. The internet allows you to reach tons of people very inexpensively. Switching genres isn’t always the answer.

I have a great deal of respect for Kim Burrell as an artist. She is a phenomenal singer. However,  I was not a fan of her last album, No Ways Tired.

I just wonder if she would be looking to make these changes if that album had gone double platinum. I don’t know why she is doing this. She has every right to sing a different type of music, but this decision has me scratching my lead a little.

Let’s Not Judge Them
As Christians, we really need to get over this double standard that we have. While I would love all Christian singers to sing Gospel and Christian music, that’s probably not a fair expectation. We don’t get all bent out of shape when a Christian actor or actress does non-Christian movies and TV shows. Is there a reason that music should be treated any differently?

Success and happiness have different meanings for all of us. I pray that Kim Burrell and Shirley Murdock both find success and happiness with the new changes in their lives. Let’s keep them both in our prayers.

During the event, TV host and entrepreneur B. Smith hosted the Bounty Soul Food Cook-off, a competition between three of America’s top gospel choirs.  Participating choirs included the Wilbur Belton & LADWEC Choir of Forestville, MD, Bishop Hezekiah Walker & the Love Fellowship of New York City and the Ricky Dillard and New Generation Chorale of Chicago. Each group prepared their individual dish, allowing attendees and fellow participants to taste and vote on their favorite recipes. The winning recipe went to the Wilbur Benton & LADWEC Choir.

Here are a couple of pics from the event.

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