Teino Evans, Staff Reporter
Bless ... is now a Blessed Son, as he has been prophetically told on several occasions.
HARDCORE GOSPEL deejay Calvin Whilby, popularly known as Prodigal Son, is no longer a prodigal, as reports from his Radikal Communications Group indicate that the gospel deejay has changed his stage name to 'Bless'.
The release said that "since he (Prodigal Son) is back in his Father's house and has received his blessing he can no longer be considered a prodigal. He is now a Blessed Son, as he has been prophetically told on several occasions."
TRANSFORMATION PROCESS
The transformation process may now be complete, as Whilby went full circle from being a 'street boy' to gang leader, before turning his eyes back to the Lord and becoming a born-again Christian.
Although Whilby had accepted Christ at five years of age he turned away from the faith at 13, immediately after his grandmother's death. This was the turning point in his life, as he moved to Kingston from St. Thomas, to live in 'Rema'.
Surrounded by negative influences, the rebellious
ghetto youth found protection and a family in his gang. "I searched everywhere to find peace, but none could be found," he said.
GAVE UP GUNS AND GIRLS
One morning, armed with guns on the way to tackle his adversaries, he was stopped by an evangelist from Church on the Rock, who ministered to him and invited him to church. He gave up his guns and girls and accepted Christ. Similar to the parable of the prodigal son, Whilby returned home to his spiritual father; what was once lost had now been found.
He got baptised on Valentine's Day 1998 and has never looked back.
This name change, however, comes on the heels of the launch of Bless' sophomore album, entitled Still Standing, scheduled for this evening at Church on the Rock.
VARIETY
The album has 16 tracks, ranging from dancehall, roots rock reggae, hip hop and R&B to classical music. According to Bless, "I'm sure every single fan will be pleased, whatever genre you fall in".
Still Standing is a true testimony to what Whilby has encountered in his Christian walk and is represented in songs like Used, Real Life, Who's That Guy and Smile a While.
His first album was the November 2001 Radikal Prodigal, with crossover chart hits like I Wish, Woe and Radikal Style. He was the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM) Best New Gospel Artiste for 2001, got the XNews award for overall gospel artiste of the same year 2001, was JFM best male gospel vocalist 2002 and got the international Marlin Awards for Outstanding Reggae Recording of the year and Outstanding DJ Vocal Performance of the year in 2003.
In 2004 he copped the Marlin Award for Best Dancehall Recording for Heathen from his first compilation project, Recharge, a production from his very own label, Radikal Records.
