- FileHundreds of persons respond to an altar call given at Back to the Basics concert held in Mandeville.
Balford Henry, Senior Staff Reporter
THE most remarkable development locally in music in 2001 was certainly Danny Browne's introduction of street gospel music.
Browne, a former superstar producer of dancehall music on his Main Street label, dropped out of secular music producing over two years ago when he became a Christian. After some 18 months of virtual isolation, during which he worked on developing his new gospel idea, he emerged with street gospel at the end of 2000 and it has turned out to be the most important new direction in local music for at least a decade.
Since then, Main Street has released a number of hot new CDs, including his two main compilations Yow! Reggae Gospel, Street Gospel chapters one and two. In addition, Main Street has released: Chevelle Franklin's Joy; Junior Tucker's Ready For The Rapture; the Rev. Errol Hall's Under The Blood; and Prodigal Son's hot Rodikal Prodigal."
Browne explained earlier this year that he had become saved a year before he stopped producing secular music but had gone through a transitional period.
"I don't think that God approved of the music I was doing and I didn't think that I was doing something righteous. I felt like I was misrepresenting myself as a Christian," he explained the torture.
He said that he felt that there was a bigger role for him in music than just making money from it, hence his decision to develop street gospel.
"The vibe is pretty much the same as dancehall music, but it is preaching a message that is relevant to today, something that will lead people to the gospel," he added.
"A lot of people were putting out songs that were not genuinely gospel and I felt that we, the true worshippers, needed to become involved."
The conservative element in the Christian community did not welcome the new development, as they felt that dancehall music, including the rhythms, was not gospel-friendly. But, as Browne and his artistes suggest, it is not the rhythms, it is the lyrics.
"God is so big it doesn't matter whether you put his words on a dancehall, hip-hop or whatever rhythm, what is important is the word. It can only get corrupted when the words get corrupted," said Chevelle Franklin, whose "Joy" has turned out to be one of the biggest sellers for the label.
Franklin thinks that it is a "honour" working on those rhythms, "young people can identify with them and that is what is important."
The tremendous influence of street gospel on young Christians is probably best explained by the success of Main Street's newest gospel star, Prodigal Son(Calvin Whilby). Prodigal's new album, "Rodikal Prodigal," the latest from Main Street, has taken off like a rocket and with it his success as a gospel deejay.
The former Wilton Gardens (Rema) street gang member, gave up his gun and his violent life to attend the Church On The Rock, like most of his labelmates, in 1998. He ventures back into Rema on a regular basis to minister to his former gangmates and he is not worried about criticisms within the church about his music.
"When people talk against me, as normal man I would feel a way, but when the spirit has come over you, you understand because Jesus was persecuted and crucified while on earth," he pointed out.
The commitment of Browne and the Main Street acts to street gospel is probably what has driven its success. Browne admits that getting the music established has been a drain on his label's finances, but he thinks that it is worth it for, at least, two reasons: The message he is getting across to young Christians; and the fact that it is winning over non-Christians, as well.
"There was a time when not many churches shared my vision. People felt we left the secular world for financial gain. We believe that God called us to use our tools and talents to communicate the gospel. Five minutes of music played on the air reaches a listener faster than a pastor who has been preaching the message for weeks."
The growing demand for street gospel CDs in the local record shops as well as on stage at important concerts like Sumfest, seems to support Browne's argument and now that the genre has been established, we can look forward to much greater successes in 2002.
