Root Magazine: 10th Anniversary Special Edition

Issue 30

Apr/May 2019

EXTRA! EXTRA! MY BLOCK INC. IS ON FIRE! FEATURING

LENA BYRD MILES TINA CAMPBELL JASON MCGEE WARRYN CAMPBELL ERICA CAMPBELL JASON CHAMPION & MARY MARY

+PLUS

KORYN HAWTHORNE SENSERE KIRK FRANKLIN JJ HAIRSTON JONATHAN SLOCUMB DEVON FRANKLIN AND MORE!

THE GIFT OF GOSPEL A RETHA FRA NK L I N – A M A Z I N G G R A C E : T H E C O M P L E T E R E C O R D IN G S O N LP FO R T H E FI R S T T IM E // 2-CD // 4-LP // D IG ITAL // AVAILAB LE N O W

! 2019 Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.

album, Laws of Confession, Volume 1. That album release literally change my life and my perspective on what I wanted to do with my life, which was be the owner of this magazine that you’re holding.

Thank you to My Block Inc, DeVon Franklin, JJ Hairston, Koryn Hawthorne, VaShawn Mitchell, Jor’dan Armstrong, Jonathan Slocumb, Sensere, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Kirk Franklin for helping us make history with the unveiling of 10 exclusive covers to commemorate our 10th anniversary.

Editor's Note Greetings, This year marks the 10th Anniversary of Root Magazine, but this journey actually started way before 2009.

I remember when I began working at UniWorld Group, Inc. in 1999. UWG was an African American owned advertising agency in New York City founded by legendary visionary, Byron Lewis. I had never been exposed to that type of culture at the workplace before, so I instantly fell in love. To see a bunch of people of color changing the world one commercial at a time was a sight to behold and it was from that interaction that my creative juices began to flow. I witnessed first hand how commercials were made, who the writers were and how said commercials made it on air.

From a print perspective, I started to see how the ads looked in magazines and just like that, a spark went off! I started thinking, “Maybe I can make a magazine that speaks directly to me,” thus Root Magazine was born.

Welcome to Issue #30 of Root Magazine, our 10th Anniversary edition. We are doing it big this year with 10 different covers of some of the cultures biggest and brightest stars!

It amazes me that it has been 10 years since we released the inaugural edition of Root featuring musical genius, Donald Lawrence. Donald may not know this, but I remember going to my first ever Stellar Awards and he did a full concert at the then, Verity Records post party for his 4 | ROOT

Thank you to all the writers and contributors who have written and contributed to Root Magazine down through the years. Thank you to my boy John Manley for introducing me to my Art Director, Fatima Burke!

Fatima, you are not only one of the best Art Directors in this game, you’re an all around dope human being! Some of the things that come up in my head, only YOU can convey, through your amazing eye. When we first started this journey 10 years ago, we had no idea how to put together a magazine, but you would never know it by looking at what Root has become. We The Best!

To my manager Shawn Gibbs, we started on this journey together and you have shown yourself consistent as not only a manager, but a true friend and that is rare in this day and age.

To our amazing sponsors and charity partners, Tyscot Records, RCA Inspiration, D3 Entertainment Group, Lookup Radio, IndieGo Worship, Motown Gospel and St. Jude Children’s Hospital, thank you for always seeing and supporting the vision.

To Bobby, Racquelle, Jackie, Samantha, Larif, Roudy and the rest of the Root 10 team, you guys are simply amazing!

To Devin, the band and our amazing background vocalists, you rock!

To all the amazing artists who have graced the covers of Root over these past ten years, thank you for trusting us with your brand and image. Without you, Root would’ve been just a mere thought.

To my pastor, Bishop Hezekiah Walker and my LFT church family, you all have been pushing me since I wrote an article in “Get On Up” Magazine entitled “Man Up.” Thank you Bishop Walker for your encouragement, teachings and for sowing into Root Magazine.

To my mom, Chery Moore, from whom I got my sense of style and hustle, to my grandmother for being the glue for our family and for rearing us all in the church, to my late grandfather for being an example of what a real man should be, to my aunt for teaching me how to write, to my cousins for always pushing me and being proud, to my mother and sister inlaw for loving me as your own. Thank you for the continued support and for being my biggest cheerleaders.

And last but not least, to my wife Kimberly and my daughter, Kennedy, I could not do any of this without you.

These past ten years have not always been easy but y’all stuck by me and made my dream, OUR dream and for that I’m grateful! I love you more than life itself.

Love, Live, Life!

Hasan E-mail: Hasan@RootMagazineOnline.com Instagram & Twitter: @ROOTMAGAZINE Facebook: ROOT MAGAZINE

IN THIS ISSUE MY BLOCK ........................................................................06 SHINE: DANA SOREY .................................................09 TONYA LEWIS TAYLOR ...........................................10 FLIP SIDE:

SENSERE ..............................................................................27 VASHAWN MITCHELL ..............................................31 KIRK FRANKLIN ...........................................................33 JOR’DAN ARMSTRONG ............................................35 JJ HAIRSTON ...................................................................37 JONOTHAN SLOCUMB .............................................39 KORYN HAWTHORNE ..............................................41 DEVON FRANKLIN .....................................................43

Editor-In-Chief: Hasan James Senior Art Director Fatima Burke www.fatimaburke.com Contributors Michael Gordon Shadé Newkirk Chloe Vanderpoole Meta Washington David Williams J.S. Williams Jr Editors Kayla Johnson Amari Smith Jya Turner Photography Steve Ackerman Allen Cooley Jackie Hicks

Photography (cont’d) Alexander Lejo Simon Muchnik Stephen Reid DeWayne Rogers Jeremiah Sabado Alan Silfen ShotbySed Management Shawn Gibbs for The Firm Artist Management Sales & Marketing Ricardo Cantrell Kenneth Boyd Printing Shweiki Media

Visit Us On The Web at: www.rootmagazineonline.com

THE BLOCK IS HOT! As Told To Hasan James

Warryn Campbell has always been a man with a plan and he singlehandedly created a sound for his musical child, Mary Mary, that will go down in music history.

Stephen Reid

As he prepares to present the My Block Inc. Family together on stage at the same time during Root’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, Baby Dub wants us to get to know the entire My Block family and some new additions to the family too.

ON JASON MCGEE & THE CHOIR I saw Jason & The Choir do a concert at his church and the way he handled the choir was amazing. He had complete control and although they did some old school stuff, the sound was fresh. Jason loves choirs, it’s his art. We’re really trying to reinvest in choir music because I’ve noticed that there’s been a serious decline, especially amongst young people.

I think we have an opportunity to fill that void and at the same time bring something that still represents what choirs do, but in a cool way. I love what young choirs like Vincent Bohanan and SOV are doing and Jason McGee and the Choir are what I like to call My Block friendly.

ON LENA BYRD MILES She’s one of the most amazing singers I’ve ever heard. I first saw Lena on Instagram and I was blown away by her voice so I just DM’ed her and that is something that I’ve never done. Once we connected, I told her on the spot that I wanted her to be apart of My Block.

Lena is a traditional artist but with her, I want to make the type of traditional music that we don’t hear right now, which is a mixture of Aretha from the sixties with a Jill Scott/Saturday morning beauty salon feel. When you listen to Jill Scott, most of the time she’s talking to her girls and Lena is no different. She’s an entrepreneur, she’s an artist, she’s a hard working woman, she’s a wife. So she’s gonna bring you all her experiences as it relates to what she’s been through

in her life being from Oakland, California ON JASON CHAMPION Jason is so versatile. When we did the song, “Are You Ready”, it didn’t really reflect the collection of songs that we had already written and produced, but it just stood out and I said to Jason, “You know what? Let’s just put this out.” And Jason said, “Well man, most labels don’t put out songs that don’t reflect exactly what the album sounds like.” I said, “Well I’m not most labels, man. I’m just gonna go with what I feel.” How I feel is how I feel, let’s push it. And we take it to radio and they say, “This sounds different.” I’m like, “Oh good, so I’ll just keep pushing that.” I’ve always been the type that when everyone else is going right, I go left.

ON JOISTARR NOT BEING APART OF THE ROOT/MY BLOCK SHOOT I perceived Root Magazine to be a predominantly gospel music publication and I didn’t realize you guys had other genres tucked in there every once in a while. I know that you had the artist, Major, on the cover and Joi’s style is like Major’s in a sense that she sings R&B but she’s still a believer. She’s actually the praise and worship leader at our church, so she has the heart of a worshiper, but Gospel music is just not the music that she’s been mandated to do. She does R&B and music that’s inspirational. So at the time I didn’t think she would be a good fit for the shoot but you will see her with the rest of the My Block family in Vegas!

ON MARY MARY It’s all about 2020! The year 2020 will be two things, my 20th anniversary in music, and also the 20th anniversary of Mary Mary. At My Block, we’re always recording, so whether you see Mary Mary on reality television and they’re not doing records together one day or they might be broken up the next day, the reality is, they never stop writing or recording. If I wanted to put out a Mary Mary album tomorrow, I could go in the studio, go to the catalog and put one out; it’s just that easy because we’re constantly making records. But this next one is gonna be special because we’re all in a different place. Tina is the songwriter of the group and Erica is my vibe partner. So Erica will come up with a vibe and the tone will be set, but as far as sitting down and

working the lyrics out and making sure everything fits, that’s Tina all day long.

So now, Tina’s ready to write. I’m like, “Okay, let’s do this!”

ON THE MY BLOCK FORMULA Although we are talking about and talking to God the Father, our music is not necessarily made strictly for church.

And when I say “church”, I mean the four walls of the church. You’ll hear Mary Mary’s music on some Gospel or Christian stations, but you will mostly hear them on R&B radio because that’s where the word needs to be. And then you have some music that is simply made for the four walls of the church to edify the body and that’s what its supposed to do. The two don’t have anything to do with each other. It’s not a right or wrong thing, it’s just different assignments. For me, it’s all about the heart. On My Block, we have rappers, R&B artists and Gospel artists, but I can’t even work with you unless we agree on the fact, that Jesus is Lord.

ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY A&R is missing big time because people are now doing A&R from their IG page and looking solely at numbers. It’s no longer about what the person sounds like, it’s about how many views they have on YouTube.It’s like “Oh wow, they have 400 million views, we’ve gotta sign this person.” As opposed to, “The music is amazing, we’ve gotta sign this person.”

PHOTOGRAPHED AT ECLIPSE THEATERS, LAS VEGAS ON MARCH 23, 2018 www.eclipsetheaters.com

ON THE ART OF SONGWRITING I wrote a song with a guy named Harold Lilly for Brandy entitled “He Is”. We actually wrote a lot of songs together, but like I said before, I just think there are no genres in my mind. There are just good songs and there are bad songs. Sometimes, I may write a song and I don’t know what they’re gonna be, you know what I mean? We were basically writing a gospel song at the time and then we started tailoring it for Brandy and said, “Okay, we’ve gotta take this out, take that out and make it an R&B song.” I said, “She’s gonna sing about Jesus, she just don’t know it.” My mindset is always worship, so no matter what kind of music I’m doing, there’s always a little bit of that in it. The content always comes from my heart and you’ll never hear me do anything contrary to what I believe. I did a lot of that when I was starting out because back then I had no control over the concept. I controlled what the music sounded like, but I couldn’t control what Tupac, Kanye, Mos Def or Snoop said on the record. But as I got older, I started saying, “Okay, you know what? I don’t wanna be a part of this particular record if you’re gonna say that.” I’ve got family members who I love, who I look up to and some younger ones that look up to me. I don’t want to have my name on something that basically calls women out of their name and distorts what love really is, and that doesn’t glorify God at all. I still think there are some records

that are not Christian based that can still glorify God. ON WHAT ARTISTS HE WOULD LOVE TO WORK WITH? There are a lot of older artists that I didn’t get a chance to work with like Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross. I’ve worked with Mary J. Blige, but I would love to do an entire project with Mary, just me and her in the room. I’ve also worked with Beyoncé before, but I would love to just sit with her for two months and see what we could create.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR MY BLOCK? There’s a lot on the horizon. We are in the middle of negotiating deals for new artists to come and really break open 2020 for us. One of the groups that we are looking at right now is The Walls Group. I fell in love with them from the first time I saw them. I produced their last album, The Other Side and that experience made me say, “You know what? These are My Block artists.” So I went to my good friend Kirk Franklin and said, “Man, I don’t know how long you plan on working with these kids or how long their contract is, but I’m not asking your permission, I’m telling you when you’re done with them, I’m definitely gonna sign these kids.” So it’s looking like my dream is getting ready to come true. It’s a dream come true for me to have the Walls Group on My Block.

SHINE Dana Sorey SONGWRITER & PRODUCER

Dana Soréy is a musician, arranger, composer and most sought after songwriter, who has produced and written for some of today’s top Gospel artists. Dana got his start as a member of one of the best bands in the industry, Tye Tribbett and GA’s, Soundcheck! His experience as a musician and co-producer with the group catapulted his musical ability to a distinguished level beyond simply playing, and was the impetus that enabled him to segue from musician to arranger to producer.

The Stellar and Grammy® nominated writer and producer is one of Gospel music’s best kept secrets and you would agree once you see his pedigree, as he has written and produced for the likes of Marvin Sapp, Jason Nelson, Anthony Brown and Group TherAPy, Lexi, and Maranda Curtis, whose Open Heaven, received an impressive seven Stellar Award nominations. And that’s just what he’s done for Gospel music.

Dana’s C Bazz Entertainment, has also worked with Christian artists, Francesca Battistelli, Love and the Outcome, and About a Mile. While his mainstream offering consisted of production work with multi-platinum trio Boyz II Men on the song “Bounce, Shake, Move, Swing”, the theme song for the first season of America’s Next Top Model.

ROOT | 9

RESET After being on the Festival of Praise Tour with Fred Hammond and two Top 20 singles under her belt, is Tonya Lewis Taylor done before she even gets started?

By J.S. Williams Many people have heard your music but don’t know the person behind the music? Who is Tonya Lewis-Taylor?

I’m a wife, mother, pastor and businesswoman who loves God. I’m a very straight up person, what you see is what you get. And, yes I’ve been told more times than I’d like to admit that people don’t know me yet. Unfortunately, I wish I could be a full time musician and tour more but, I run a Youth Development Agency in NYC entitled I WILL GRADUATE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM and we serve over 12,000 students a week. I love music but music doesn’t pay the bills. I have four children and

two in college, so I have to be very selective with my time. However, I try to put as much time and effort as humanly possible, to make sure that I connect with people who love what I do.

Who or what are you inspired by?

I’m inspired by life, people who flow in excellence, my family and my friends. I’m inspired by the possibility of taking nothing and turning it into something.

So you have a new project coming out soon entitled: “I am More Than a Conqueror,” What was your inspiration for this project?

To tell you the truth, I really didn’t want to do music anymore. I really didn’t want to deal with all of the politics of the Gospel Music Industry and the unscrupulous people that give Christians a bad reputation. I just wanted to release what God gave me, into the world. I’ve dealt with many situations where prominent people in the Gospel industry made me question my purpose. Some people are mean and if you don’t come through them, they will try to block you. So, God gave me these songs to encourage myself and to encourage people who, like me, felt like giving up.

What is your songwriting process?

This may sound weird but I don’t have a process. God literally downloads full songs in my mind. I can hear every instrument, note and sound. It’s a true gift and I thank God for it!

What is your favorite part about music?

I love to use my gifts to minister. I’ve been involved in music since I was 12 years old and I love to see how music blesses people. I love to see people inspired and set free.

What are you afraid of?

I’m afraid of not using every gift that God placed inside of me to my fullest potential. I’m also afraid of letting God down, which is why I strive for excellence, so that I can represent his Kingdom in excellence.

What can fans expect from Tonya Lewis Taylor?

They can expect music that will encourage and speak to that inner person that refuses to give up. I also have a new book and tour coming this year, so I’m very excited about what’s to come.

I have a friend that always says, “What’s coming is better than what’s been” and I concur!

ROOT | 11

Nick’s Song David Williams

He was a quiet kid with a gift for basketball – and a cancer diagnosis. Now, he’s a teenager transformed, rapping his story with heart and hard truths.

Nick London was telling his St. Jude story on Atlanta’s Praise 102.5 FM when DJ Willie Moore Jr. had a better idea — he should rap it.

Because Moore knew the story. He knew how London wasn’t just healed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, but transformed. How the quiet kid turned to writing to cope with his feelings during two-and-ahalf years of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. How the words burst from him, in the form of music. How he went from shy to dynamic.

That’s why Moore, speaking to 1.3 million listeners across the country during the 2018 Radio Cares for St. Jude Kids® national radio event that day, decided to “accelerate the story a little bit.”

Because, as he said, “I didn’t get a Nick that was down and out when I had the opportunity to be at St. Jude. I got rapper Nick. So Nick, this is what I want …”

And so, as his survivor anthem “I Do This 4 The Jude” played onair, Nick filled the room with his raps, captivating the phone bank of volunteers, station staff and team members from Moore’s show with his impromptu performance.

12 | ROOT

I do this for The Jude Fight after fight They’re saving lives at The Jude It’s not just a soundtrack for the St. Jude journeys of Nick and other patients. It’s a fitting theme song for Radio Cares, which began in 2008 through a partnership between St. Jude and Radio One’s Gospel/Inspiration format and the nationally syndicated Yolanda Adams Morning Show.

Since 2008, the program has grown to include many of the major radio ownership groups — Radio One, iHeart Media, Cumulus Media and Townsquare Media. The program currently includes 80 stations in 52 markets ranging from Gospel and R&B to Hip-Hop. More than a decade on, the Radio Cares program has raised more than $25 million for St. Jude.

And it’s not just the radio stations and on-air personalities that have supported St. Jude. Dozens of artists have joined St. Jude in its “This Shirt Saves Lives” movement to spread awareness for the lifesaving mission of the hospital, and to encourage others to support St. Jude through the Partners in Hope® program.

Just me and my beanie / let the story begin Chemo was taking my hair / like a blow in the wind

decided to allow him to play with other competitive teams, and Nicholas thrived. He put up really good numbers. He put himself in position to be recruited.”

Nick London battled cancer and lived to rap about it – survivor songs full of rhyme and raw emotion, a soundtrack to a teenager’s two-and-a-half year journey through darkness to light.

But as the summer wore on, as Nick traveled the country for tournaments and an elite camp affiliated with NBA star Chris Paul, something was happening.

Performing as St. Nick, and on his recently released album, he raps about facemasks and sanitizers, fear and recovery.

He couldn’t eat. His hips ached.

He lagged behind teammates in drills and his game performances were wildly inconsistent.

He raps about the beanie that once covered his bald head but worn now only “when it’s cold / not when I’m hurting.”

He played on, because that’s what athletes are taught. That, and he was a quiet kid, not given to complaint.

And he raps about the place that saved his life: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“But you could tell when you looked at me,” he said, “that I wasn’t the same Nick that I was at the beginning of the summer.”

I do this for The Jude Fight after fight They’re saving lives at The Jude ‘I wasn’t the same Nick’ “First it was fatigue,” he said, “which I tried to tough through, because I thought it was just because some of the snacks I was eating.”

His parents grasped for explanations. When Nick’s coach called to say he was barely eating on the road, Tangela, Nick’s mom, thought maybe he just missed her cooking.

But it was no better once he was back home.

home to play for me in some local events, and we noticed that the energy level wasn’t there. He wasn’t hustling the way that he normally did. So of course we thought it was him kind of getting the big head.”

The summer slog continued.

Symptoms mounted – nausea, dizziness, bloating. “My body was slowly starting to break down,” Nick said. “And through all this I was still playing basketball. I was still trying to play.”

He knew something was wrong.

They all did. They just didn’t know it had a name. Cancer was unthinkable. Who wants to think the unthinkable?

“I knew how to push his buttons, and that wasn’t working,” Paris said. “I didn’t know if it was him just really going off and becoming a teenager …

“Because I didn’t think he was sick. But I did know something was going on. It took his mom

“I had all these emotions that were bottled up,” he said, “and I needed a way to get them out.” stepping in and kind of telling me, like, ‘You have to realize, Nicholas is not a complainer.’

Because he started to complain.

“When she said that, it made a lot of sense. That’s when she first scheduled that appointment.”

Then dark circles began forming around his eyes. Then came knots in his stomach, knots so hard that friends thought he’d been working out on the sly. “No,” he said. “I don’t know what it is. I take the compliment, but I don’t know where these abs came from.”

“I was fixing his favorite dishes and he would usually eat seconds, but (now) he was eating just enough,” she said. “He would just say he was full, and didn’t know how to put his symptoms into words.”

It was the summer of 2014 and Nick was beginning to look like an elite basketball prospect.

Already 6-foot-6 entering high school, he had game and good genes – his father, Paris, was one of nation’s most-heralded recruits of the mid-1990s.

Paris, a 6-foot-8 former player at the University of Memphis and Arkansas State, sought a basketball explanation. After all, this was the summer the father set the son free, to make his own name among the young phenoms.

Heady stuff, for a teenager who had yet to play a tick of high school ball.

On Aug. 19, two weeks after school started, Nick’s pediatrician ran a complete blood count, and then another. Then they waited – it was Nick and Tangela and her parents. They waited an hour, two. Then the doctor called Tangela and her mother out of the room, to deliver the diagnosis, and to say St. Jude was expecting them that day.

“When we started to notice the change was after he came back from a trip with a team that he was playing with, out of Arkansas,” Paris said. “He came

Tangela remembers when they first arrived at St. Jude, awaiting confirmation of the pediatrician’s diagnosis. She remembers Nick’s question.

It was shaping up as “a breakout summer for Nicholas,” Paris said.

“Because up to that point, I was the only one who had coached him. He was getting better and better. That summer is when I

“We were sitting there, and he goes, ‘This is the hospital for cancer, isn’t it?’ ” ‘She lit the flame’ Now I was barely 14 / when my life flipped around Was making my name / in this hooping game around the town He’d gone from a teenage version of having it all, to having acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer.

From a dream of playing in the NBA, to facing a foe that didn’t play games.

From cheers, to stares.

So the quiet kid wrote to cope. It was his mother’s idea.

“For me it was like, write every day,” Tangela said. “I don’t care if today was hellish, you know.

Or today was awesome. Or, ‘I felt like crap.’

“Even if you don’t talk about it, write about it. … It’ll turn into a story.”

Nick took naturally to writing.

Like a lot of quiet kids, he had a reflective nature, depths beneath the surface. He kept a journal called “Nick’s Story.” “I had all these emotions that were bottled up,” he said, “and I needed a way to get them out.”

In one entry, he wrote: My body was falling apart and I didn’t know how to express it so I pushed through. It wasn’t until we started to get on planes that the effects really hit me. My brother and I took a trip to Las Vegas for a tournament and I’ll never know how I made it. It was extremely hot and my stomach hurt the whole trip. My teammates constantly asked, was I OK and was I feeling fine and were very supportive. So I toughed it out …

It turned into a story, as Tangela said it would. It was a story about feeling scarred and scared. A story Cont’d on p22

ROOT | 13

Our Unique Mission Finding cures. Saving children.® St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has a mission like no other – to discover how to save the lives of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. We freely share our discoveries to help doctors and scientists at local hospitals, clinics and cancer centers around the world treat childhood cancer. So when you support St. Jude, you help improve the quality of care for children everywhere.

St. Jude patient Rylee | osteosarcoma

• St. Jude has helped push the overall childhood

cancer survival rate from 20% to 80%. We won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.

• Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for

treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

• Doctors from all 50 states and around the world

refer their patients to St. Jude because we have the best survival rates for some of the most aggressive childhood cancers.

• St. Jude provides thousands of free consultations

for doctors treating children worldwide, including kids in your community.

• St. Jude creates more clinical trials for childhood cancer than anyone else, turning laboratory

discoveries into lifesaving treatments — every day.

stjude.org © 2018 ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (33528)

• St. Jude was the first children’s hospital to make a major investment in pediatric cancer genome sequencing. The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has resulted in ground-breaking discoveries in several childhood cancers. Before this project, not even one pediatric cancer genome had been sequenced.

• St. Jude leads the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), a collaboration of more than

30 U.S. and Canadian institutions that includes more than 20,000 childhood cancer survivors.

Facts at a Glance

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Our mission is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.®

St. Jude patient Dallas

• Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for

treatment, travel, housing or food—because all

• St. Jude is where doctors often send their toughest cases, because St. Jude has the

a family should worry about is helping their

world’s best survival rates for some of the

child live.

most aggressive forms of childhood cancer.

• Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped

increase the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since we opened more than 50 years ago. We won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.

• Because St. Jude freely shares our discoveries,

• St. Jude treats children from all 50 states and around the world.

• Because a majority of St. Jude funding

comes from generous donors, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most— saving kids regardless of their financial situation.

every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that

knowledge to save thousands more children.

• St. Jude conducts more clinical trials for childhood cancer than anyone else.

stjude.org ©2019 ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (33545)

ROOT | 15

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Cont’d from p13

about “flipping out,” Nick said, because it’s Tuesday night and your mom just reminded you of something you couldn’t forget if you wanted: Wednesday’s chemo day.

“Because I knew what it was going to do to me,” he said, “knew how it was going to break me down.”

Nick’s St. Jude story is a bravely told tale of a bared soul. A story with big scary words, like Methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug whose side effects include hair loss. A story about those times when the cure seems crueler than the disease.

“For babies and younger children, it’s a thing of, maybe they won’t remember that part,” Tangela said. “It’s so different when you have a teenager going through it.

Because not only are they going to remember everything, they understand what they’re going through.”

But if teenage cancer is a curse, there are blessings, too. St. Jude has child-life specialists who work solely with teens.

There’s a Teen Room with video game systems – no adults allowed. There’s a private social networking site just for teens, a Teen Art Show, a Teen Formal.

“The next day, I was going to St. Jude to get fitted for my tux for the St. Jude prom,” Nick said.

“They asked me was I going to do anything for the Teen Art Show. I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’

“Hannah came in there and said, ‘He’s going to rap.’ ” ‘You’re not the only one’ Watch your back / he might touch you Watch your back / he might bump you Watch your back / he might hug you So he rapped. And, in time, the quiet kid with the reflective nature gave way to an alter ego named St. Nick, a born showman who recently brought a ballroom filled with 700 people, most of them St. Jude volunteers from across the country, to their feet with his rata-tat rhymes.

“I realized after going through what I went through that life’s too short to be like that,” he said of his shy, pre-cancer self. “You have plenty of time to be by yourself nowadays – go mingle with people. Have fun. Sing a couple songs.”

So he sings to heal.

And there are – blessing beyond blessings – other teenagers, fighting the same fights, facing the same fears.

He sings to spread the word about a hometown hospital that has increased survival rates for ALL from 4 percent before opening in 1962 to 94 percent today.

For Nick, there was Hannah, “so vibrant, full of energy all the time.”

He sings to tell the world how it feels to be on the sick side of the mask.

“She lit the flame,” he said. “She inspired me to do a song for the Teen Art Show at St. Jude.

That’s a really big thing, because that’s the day where you get to showcase your art, showcase what you’re good at.

“She inspired me to do a rap.”

By “inspired,” he means “insisted.” That was Hannah.

After hearing Nick freestyle over rap beats at a party she’d invited him to at Ronald McDonald House, Hannah pushed him to pursue his music.

“You think because I’ve got the mask, I’m the one who could get you sick,” he said, remembering the days that inspired his song “Tag You’re It.” “But in reality, my ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count, a reflection of the body’s ability to fight infections) is so low, if you touch me, you’re going to get me sick. I could die.

22 | ROOT

“So it was like a game of tag.

You think I’m trying to get you, but I’m trying to stay away from you.”

Tangela remembers one particular day. She and Nick were taking his little brother to school. Nick’s ANC had plummeted.

“He got out of the car, and we were about to walk the baby boy in, and I was like, ‘Get your mask.’ He was like, ‘Aw, I don’t really want to wear it.’ I’m like, ‘You do really want to wear it.’

“I could tell, when people were walking by, they were kind of looking at him. When we got back to the car, I told him, I said, ‘I don’t care what people think, or what they say, how they look at you. They’re more of a threat to you than you are to them. You have to realize that.’ ” Nick didn’t say anything that day. But later, as journal entries became the raw material for rap lyrics, he wrote “Tag You’re It,” a song both fierce and poignant.

“To hear him express it in ‘Tag,’ ” Tangela said. “ ‘Watch your back / he might touch you’ … You know what I mean? That’s how he really felt. That was his truth.

“That one actually brought tears to my eyes.”

“Tag You’re It” has moments of true anger (“I’m not even hungry / I can’t even eat / This for all the folks / that quit on me”). But there also are shout-outs to fellow patients like Hannah, “who went on home to glory.”

In the end, it’s a song about coming through cancer, stronger than before – not just healed but transformed: “Yeah, I’m the living proof / St. Nick is the truth.”

In “I Do This 4 The Jude,” Nick is on a first-name basis, one saint to another, with the place that saved him. It’s a celebration song, a survivor’s anthem – and crowds love it when he throws dollars in the air at the lines “Stayed at The Jude for a bit / and didn’t have to pay a cent.”

“Beanie” is a song about losing your hair – and your sense of self. It’s a song about wanting to vanish.

Hide me from the people, please Hide me from myself, please “Every time I heard a laugh or something, I felt like they were laughing at me,” he said. “I didn’t really have anybody. So it was like, me and my beanie.”

What better friend, after all, than one that can help with that whole vanishing thing. Bald head? Take that.

“For us, him losing his hair was a really, really tough time,” Tangela said. “I think that’s kind of the time where it solidifies, we’re now a cancer family. … You know what I mean? Everybody knows now.”

“Beanie” is also a song about getting your life back.

Now the story continues / and my life is heading up No more sanitizers, face visors / and separate cups Nick is more than a year removed from treatment. He’s in his senior year of high school. His ambition hasn’t dimmed; he’s become a double-threat, training for a basketball comeback while releasing an album of songs about his St. Jude story, titled “14” – because he was diagnosed in 2014, at age 14, and 14 was his uniform number. A portion of the proceeds will go to St. Jude.

Asked what he’ll be doing in five years, he paused to consider the delicious possibilities.

“Have on a Memphis Grizzlies jersey,” he said, in a nod to the hometown NBA team, “and have the No. 1 album in the country.”

That’s life now for the formerly quiet kid who survived cancer to become a deeper, bolder version of his old self. Now anything’s possible. That’s the ultimate message of his songs, for anyone who is where he has been.

“You’re not the only one,” Nick said. “I’ve been through it. I’m going to put it out there, so you know I’ve been through it.”

Marleigh | acute lymphoblastic leukemia, pictured with her mom, Tanekka, and sister, Aubree

Marleigh’s Story In December 2015, Marleigh was found to suffer from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, she started chemotherapy and her cancer went into remission, where it remains today.

Her treatment will last two-and-a-half years. Marleigh’s favorite thing about St. Jude is her Child Life specialist, who has helped her understand what she’s going through.

stjude.org

Five-year cancer survival rates* thanks in part to work at St. Jude

St. Jude patient Caleb, blood cancer

in 1962

4%

50% 7%

75% 10% 50% 20% 5%

10%

acute lymphoblastic leukemia** Hodgkin lymphoma non-Hodgkin lymphoma

blood cancer lymph system cancer

solid tumor

neuroblastoma

eye cancer

retinoblastoma

Wilms tumor

osteosarcoma Ewing sarcoma

medulloblastoma***

kidney cancer bone cancer brain tumor

Today

94% 95% 80%

95% 75% 90% 70% 65%

85%

*** Based on national averages from 2001-2007. *** Reflects survival rate at St. Jude, the highest worldwide for ALL. *** Reflects survival rate at St. Jude, standard-risk and high-risk, the highest among national cooperative groups for medulloblastoma.

stjude.org Š2019 ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (35727)

full page for sale

and financial obligations, whether it be for promotional gigs, radio tours, video shoots, photo shoots and travel expenses, 95% of the time we split the costs evenly between each member of the group to meet the total expense. Particularly for independent artists, most of the costs (if not all) fall on the artists.

So for a 10 member band, you can imagine how things can start to add up very quickly. Honestly, there are times when we simply can’t move the same way other artists do because of the size of our group. It is a real sacrifice for all of us to be apart of Sensere, but we love what we do and we know God brought us together for a reason. There are definitely times when it gets real tight for us financially but we make it work!

Root: Who are some of your favorite bands?

Dwayne: Being that I am a connoisseur of many genres of music, there are

26 | ROOT quite a few groups and bands that influenced me musically, such as The Winans, Commissioned, Boys to Men, Jodeci, Mint Condition, and The Mighty Clouds of Joy. These groups stood out to me because of their ability to capture the ear of their audience through their unique sound, appearance, and creative way of delivering the message in their music. These groups influenced Sensere as a whole.

Root: How has the journey been from when you guys first formed the band to now? What is the most rewarding part of the journey?

James: The journey has definitely been a huge learning experience and also a humbling one. I remember a time when the whole band quit with the exception of three people. I literally had to depend on God to rebuild what you now see as Sensere. It was beyond discouraging at that time, but I knew the dream and the vision God had placed within me.

One of the most rewarding parts of this journey for me is attached to a very specific incident. We had just taped Bobby Jones Gospel and we were headed back to Miami.

We stopped somewhere around Pittsburgh at a truck stop to get some food and while we were at the truck stop, we tried to sell some CD’s and came across this young lady. As we approached her to see if she wanted to buy a CD, she just started pouring her heart out to us and began talking about how she had been contemplating suicide all day. So we prayed with her and gave her our CD, and even gave her our number to keep in touch. We never heard from her again but she thanked us for praying for her and I really believe we made a difference in that woman’s life that night. That for me is greater than any award or accolade I could ever receive.

Root: How do you effectively balance God, Family and The Band?

James: For me its simple; my family time is my family time, my band time is my band time and my time with God is my time with God. The only one that can intervene in my family and band time is God.

Simon Muchnik

ROOT | 26

MAKING THE BAND!

BY MICHAEL GORDON

Root: Your latest album God. Family.

The Band. is so refreshing and is what’s lacking in Gospel Music. How do you think it will fit in Gospel Music’s current landscape?

Brian: I think our latest album God. Family. The Band. fits into the current landscape of Gospel Music very well, just like all the other artists in the genre. Our music is different yet the same. Gospel music has become so traditionalized & somewhat formulaic until anything other than what we’re accustomed to hearing seems strange. But once you hear the music, and a refreshing sound that feels familiar but also new, that’s when you realize just how good, different can be.

Root: If you could chop it up with one of the great bands like Earth, Wind and Fire or Mint Condition, what would that conversation be like?

Brian: If I had the opportunity to chop it up with groups like Earth, Wind, and Fire or Commissioned, the conversation for me would be filled with questions like,“How the group got started, the sacrifices they’ve had to make, as well as the experiences that taught them or gave them the tools to be the iconic legendary groups that they are today.” I really feel that’s essential information for a group like Sensere, who is traveling the

GOSPEL MUSIC’S NEWEST BAND, SENSERE, HAS STYLE, A DISTINCT SOUND AND PERSEVERANCE, BUT DO THEY HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT IN A PRAISE & WORSHIP WORLD OF MUSIC?

same road. There aren’t many full fledged bands in Gospel music, so it would be beneficial for us to hear them drop some gems of wisdom on us.

Root: What are some of the challenges of being in a big band and how do you overcome those challenges?

Darryl: Communication and getting the group moving together as a unit are key to gaining success as a large group. Whenever you think you’re communicating enough, you need to communicate more. Groups have to come together to listen, talk and engage. There will always be situations that arise in large groups like ours but what’s essential is that we can come together and handle anything that comes our way. We have to share the vision to walk in the same direction the group is going. If the vision isn’t the same, we cannot share the same purpose. Clarity in the vision and purpose moves us together as a unit. This clarity provides a framework for the group to build upon.

same time. When we leave the stage, we want you to remember that Sensere was there. God is life and that means we want to have fun and bring that same energy to our audience. Bands aren’t super popular in Gospel music right now, but we’re hoping to change that. We would love to leave a legacy one day just like some of our favorite bands like; Commissioned, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Parliament-Funkadelic, and so many others. And we want to perform everywhere, from to jazz festivals, Gospel events, mainstream award shows, schools, after school programs...we honestly want to go wherever we can spread a positive message. Naturally, we want our music to have a major impact around the world, but more importantly, the lives we change when we’re not singing and playing.

Dwayne: When it comes to Sensere absorbing costs

Darryl: We want to bring showmanship back to Gospel music. We love to minister and put on a good show at the

Root: Although you guys have been on the scene for awhile, you’re technically still looked at as new artists and with that comes promotional gigs and absorbing a lot of the costs on your end. How do you guys navigate that?

Root: What kind of impact is Sensere trying to make on the gospel music industry?

recognized by the industry that you are a part of and I would love to have a Grammy® but at the end of the day, being more mature in the industry, I understand that my success is not defined by awards or by the perception of what success is. I define success by continuing to do my assignment and as long as I continue to do my assignment, if the awards come, great and if they don’t it’s still great because success has a different definition today then the perception of what we think it is.

Over the years you have been a songwriter, also a worship leader as well as a recording artist. Is there any one of those roles that you prefer now more than another?

VM: You know each role has its own place so I can’t say I prefer on over the other because God gave them all to me simultaneously. Writing songs is definitely my passion and dissecting those songs and watching how they evolve and continue to encourage, inspire and uplift even beyond when I’m not here anymore is probably on top of the list but being able to do what I was called to do and be who I am accomplishes all of the above.

Have you ever written a song for another artist that you wished you kept for yourself?

VM: Not at all! That’s not in my design or make up. Any song I’ve written for another artist was either for that artist or I possibly had already recorded it and they recorded it over. It may not have been the right song for me and it’s ok as long as the talent God gives me for writing, singing and producing continues to filtrate the earth, I believe it will continue to build a legacy for years to come. It’s really not about being selfish with this, I think if we are strong in our mindset, then we can all record the same song as long as it is birthed out of a true place then God will be glorified. There’s nothing that I write or produce that I can harness and say, “it’s mine,” I just want it to be pleasing to God. You hold a degree in Psychology. Did you ever think about doing something other than being an artist or a songwriter?

VM: It was more social work than psychology. Before becoming a full-time minister of music and then artist and producer, I was one of those people that could not get hired in Walgreen’s or McDonald’s like my friends which was so funny because I applied for those jobs but they wouldn’t hire me. Back then, Walgreen’s paid the most money so everybody wanted to work at Walgreen’s but they wouldn’t hire me. So I joined a youth service and became a youth worker and from there I continued to build a career in youth work and became the Deputy Director of Youth Services at the age of 19 or 20 years old for the Chicago area projects.

I was building youth services, leading independent living programs, mentorship programs and rites of passage programs before becoming fulltime in the ministry. I still do a bit of that today but its more so with music instead of independent living. Many people don’t know that’s where I got my start.

Even though you are still young, you are considered a seasoned professional in the industry. What do you want to pass on to those who are coming up in the Kingdom and in music ministry?

VM: I appreciate being a bridge. As someone who sees where we are and has a vision of where we are going as ministers of the gospel in industry, I would love to continue to pass on the lessons I have learned. I now oversee the conference as President for Gospel Heritage Foundation where praise and worship and choirs and ministry leaders from around the world come together once per year to receive information, education and inspiration.

30 | ROOT summer. I plan to release one element either the fire, the wind or the rain before the release month for streaming purposes so people can link up to the actual product.

ROOT ! Time Capsule

2016 - 2019

2016 • Minister Daryl Coley died while in hospice care at age 60 The Grammy-nominated musician was known for many songs including “He’s Preparing Me” and “When Sunday Comes” • Anthony Brown & Group theAPy scored a perfect 10 during the 31st Annual Stellar Awards winning all 10 awards for each category they were nominated in for sophomore project “Everyday Jesus” • Joe Ligon, lead singer of The Mighty Clouds of Joy died age 80. As the front man in 1975 they performed crossover disco hit “Mighty High” on Soul Train making them the first gospel group to ever appear on the show • Tyscot Records Celebrates 40 Years • Root Magazine makes history as the first Gospel publication to produce an All-Star photo shoot, entitled Leaders of the New School, with 45 of the top Gospel artists, including: Tasha Cobbs- Leonard, Jonathan McReynolds, Jason Nelson, Travis Greene, Casey J, a plethora of Sunday Best alum and many more 2017 • “A Question of Faith” produced by Angela White becomes the first African American woman to release a faith-based film in theaters • Travis Greene and Tamela Mann tied the evening at the 32nd Annual Stellar Awards with six wins a piece • Minister Shea Norman gospel artist and Memphis native died at age 45 due to complications from diabetes 2018 • Donald Lawrence reunites with the Tri-City Singers for their 25th Anniversary • Grammy award winning gospel trailblazer Edwin Hawkins best known for crossover hit “Oh Happy Day” died at 74 • “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin died in her hometown of Detroit. Double platinum “Amazing Grace” recorded by Franklin in 1972 remains the highest selling live gospel album with over 2 million copies sold • Gospel pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame • Malaco Records Celebrates 50 Years in Mississippi 2019• Root Magazine celebrates its 10th year anniversary as the premier publication and source for news and info for the gospel industry • Jonathan McReynolds leads the 34th Annual Stellar Awards with nine nominations • Pop star Tori Kelly swept the 61st Grammys winning both top honors in the gospel category • Sunday Best returns for Season 9 after a four-year hiatus

As part of my assignment, I help develop and train this generation of leaders in ministry through my experiences and my failures and by being honest about successes and how we really have nothing to do with it. It’s really all part of God’s plans as we continue to walk out and be who we were assigned to be.

So when can we expect to hear the rest of the “Elements” project?

VM: The “Elements” is coming this

Allen Cooley

ROOT | 30

ELEMENTS of SUCCESS aShawn Mitchell is a singer, songwriter and producer who has been a consummate hitmaker, and is celebrating 20 years in the gospel music industry. From the first moment he took to the center stage, there was no turning back. Even as he searched all over and looked high and low and still couldn’t find “Nobody Greater,” VaShawn continued to evolve. As the newly appointed President of the Gospel Heritage Foundation, VaShawn is now shepherding the next generation of songwriters, choir directors and industry leaders to the next level, and he’s back once again with a new single “God Can Do Anything” from his upcoming project Elements.

What birthed your new song “God Can Do Anything,” from the upcoming project Elements?

VM: I recently celebrated 20 years in the music industry and by being around for a long time and traveling the world, I’ve seen some ups and downs and watching the state of the world right now, I felt it was time to bring our focus back to God and put Him back in his rightful place as being in control of everything. During a crisis we get depressed and discouraged and we tend to let the world around us get us down with what is going on politically and even in our personal lives.

God is bigger than anything we see and the thing about saying, “God Can Do Anything” is that it doesn’t really matter if it’s bad or not. The scripture says, “Eyes has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man” that means there’s something out there so much bigger than you can even imagine that God ‘s about to do for you. There are things that are impossible for man that are possible with God. You can be having an amazing life right now and still put God in His place of power. Put God in first place and know that anything can be done.

A META WASHINGTON INTERVIEW

How did you come up with the concept of Elements?

VM: It’s the inspiration of nature’s basic elements like the wind, the fire and the rain as it pertains to the gospel and understanding the fundamental principles of the believer’s walk. In every season of our lives and with our walk with God, those elements play a big part in the move of God. God always moves in elements and all of those elements have played a part in our lives.

As I celebrate 20 years in the music industry, I wanted to explore how elements played a part in this project, in addition to all the things it took for me to get to where I am today. We all talk about,“Open the floodgates of heaven, let it rain” or the wind God is blowing. It’s really a collaboration of work and songs that come from watching the earth’s elements and how it shapes things. It’s about putting God back in His rightful place, knowing He is in control of everything.

In terms of style, what can we can expect from Elements?

VM: This project is going to encompass a lot of the sounds I’ve been known for over the years. From inspiration and encouragement to true praise and worship and some heartfelt songs that just bring you closer and closer to God and will inspire and encourage and uplift you. It’s about being true to my assignment but hearing the sound that is supposed to be relevant right now.

Did you ever think that you would be still doing what you are doing today 20 years ago? What is one the most important lessons that you’ve learned since coming into the industry?

let alone 20 years (Laughter). I was one of those people who worked behind the scenes and I was content until I came up to the forefront with the song “Nobody Greater.” That song opened up so many doors for me. Soon after came the song “Joy” and it was then that I realized, first who I am in God, and second, who I am in my assignment on the earth. As long as I’m walking in my assignment, God will continue to open doors and make ways for me to evolve in an industry that is changing rapidly; yet still remaining relevant to the sound that is needed for this and seasons to come.

It’s no secret that you have received countless awards including multiple Stellar awards, Dove awards and have been nominated twice for a Grammy®.

Is there something you would still like to achieve that you’ve got your eye on?

VM: You know if you would have asked me this maybe five or six years ago I would’ve said yes.

Today, I believe that the awards are great and it’s always great to be

VM: You know what? I never thought I’d be doing this for a year

abused by a man. At the same time, I don’t believe in just throwing anyone away, so I will continue to pray for Robert.

Root: If you ask your average person who does not know many gospel artists to name the ones they do know, nine times out of ten, they will say Kirk Franklin; which kinda makes you the face of Gospel music. Do you feel the weight of that?

Kirk Franklin: I think it’s rather funny because there are so many great gospel artists out there that are better than me. I think that my job in life is to point people to those people. I’m like the usher at the doors of the church because I want people to know about all of the greatness we have in Gospel music and the body of Christ.

Root: You have the Exodus conference coming up.

Kirk Franklin: Yeah man, last year we had a SOLD OUT crowd and it was incredible.

Root: What made you wanna do something of this caliber?

Kirk Franklin: When you look at the platforms in our genre, there’s just not that many. But when you look at popular music, they have Coachella, The Governors Ball, Lalapalooza and others.

We need more platforms in gospel music to celebrate the community that we all love. It’s been a dream of mine to do something like this for a long time and we have and incredible partner with Live Nation and they’re excited about partnering with us as well.

Root: You have your own label imprint, Fo Yo Soul. Is it difficult being artist and executive?

Kirk Franklin: It’s very hard but that’s what we’re called to, right? Even you, as an entrepreneur and a journalist, we’re called to that tension, right? We’re called to exist within the tension and if we don’t live within the tension, than we are not being used, active or focused. We’re not being pulled to the best of our ability.

Root: The Grammys® just passed and you won another Grammy, along with Tori Kelly. This now makes you the Gospel artist with the most Grammys, with 13. As you know, Tori got a lot of heat for winning in both gospel categories and other gospel artists like Smokie Norful, expressed their disdain on social media.

What are your thoughts on that?

Kirk Franklin: You know man, I would love to have a moment where we celebrate the totality of my journey, because there are some people who didn’t even know me until God’s Property, so we also have to acknowledge that moment in time. There wouldn’t have been a Kirk Franklin without The Family, DFW Mass Choir or even Georgia Mass Choir. Some people fell in love with Kirk Franklin again after Rebirth. All of these incredible nor I have ever earned. It blows me away that he would be kind enough to allow me to be part of his narrative in some way. I would love to be able to celebrate all of that because they all deserve to be celebrated. I stand on all the shoulders of The Family, I stand on the shoulders of God’s Property, I stand on the shoulders of Milton Brunson, Georgia Mass, 1NC, DFW Mass Choir, V. Michael Mckay, The Gospel Music Workshop of America.

So I would really want to celebrate everybody who was apart of my journey, because everybody deserves it. I just gotta figure out how to do it.

Kirk Franklin: I don’t know about all that but I hope y’all enjoy.

Root: Will there ever be a Kirk Franklin & The Family reunion?

Root: Well if anybody can pull that off, you can.

Kirk Franklin: I totally understand and empathize with a lot of frustration that people in our community have. That’s why I think it’s very important for people to be involved and continue to make quality content, while at the same time being attentive and let your voice be heard. Ultimately, I hope that it bring more attention to voting. I never do an album to win a Grammy®.

That’s not my heart’s intent, nor is that Tori’s. We had no idea what was going to happen and I think that if that was our intent, we would have failed God. I don’t think that it would’ve been an album that people would’ve responded to.

With that being said, I just think that it is very important that the gospel community’s grievances are heard and a bigger conversation needs to be had regarding more awards being added in the Gospel category.

Root: What can we expect from your new album when it comes out. Any hot features?

ROOT ! Time Capsule

2010 - 2015

2010 • The Mighty Clouds of Joy celebrate their 50th year anniversary • Albertina Walker, “Queen of Gospel Music” and founder of the legendary Caravans dies at 81 • Bishop Walter Hawkins, legendary singer, songwriter and Pastor of Love Center Church in Oakland, CA died after a long battle with cancer at 61 • Marvin Sapp’s Here I Am is the highest charted Gospel album in history, charting at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 76,000 copies in the first week • Bishop Kenneth H. Moales dies just one day shy of his 65th Birthday; Creator of the “War Cry” 2011 • Grammy award-winning gospel singer and songwriter Jessy Dixon whose career spanned more than 50 years died at 73 • Sunday Best season 3 winner Le’Andria Johnson’s debut album “The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson” tops the charts as Billboard’s #1 gospel album • Jekalyn Carr 14- year old gospel prodigy, debuts her independently released CD “Promise” 2012 • President Barak Obama wins a second term • Mary Mary reality TV show debuts on WeTV • Inez Andrews member of the Caravans and lead for popular songs “I’m Not Tired Yet” and “Mary Don’t You Weep” died at 83 • Whitney Houston pop icon, movie star and daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston dies at 48. The singer produced countless hit songs and appear in films in memorable roles including “The Preacher’s Wife” where she appeared alongside Denzel Washington.

2013 • Motown Gospel record label debuts • Donald Lawrence award winning singer, songwriter and producer celebrates his 20 years in the gospel music industry with the release of “Vol. I: Best for Last” • Cleotha Staples, eldest sibling of the family group The Staple Singers known for the early contemporary gospel hit “I’ll Take You There” dies at 78 2014 • Tamela Mann sweeps the 29th Annual Stellar Awards with seven wins during the first ever live broadcast of program at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Tennessee • 10-year old Willie Myrick of Atlanta was kidnapped and later released after a 3-hour ordeal he unwittingly ended by frustrating his kidnapper and refusing to stop singing Bishop Hezekiah Walker’s “Every Praise” • Rapper Lecrae leads Billboard’s list of Top Gospel Artists 2015 • The Stellar Awards moves to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in celebration of its 30th Anniversary milestone • Andrae Crouch legendary gospel singer known as “The Father of Modern Gospel” known for songs like “Soon and Very Soon” and “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” has died at 72. He received an Oscar nomination for his composition work on “The Color Purple • Erica Campbell of duo Mary Mary becomes the first gospel artist to reach 1 million Instagram followers

Kirk Franklin: No features.

Not one!

Root: What?

Kirk Franklin: Not one feature.

Root: Wow. Kirk Franklin: The features are the songs.

ROOT | 32

GUESS WHO’S BACK ?

A ROOT Magazine Exclusive

He is one of the greatest Gospel artists of all time - if not thee greatest - and the irony of it all is that he rarely sings. He is the only Gospel artist to grace the cover of Vibe Magazine, and as the young kids say, He stay drippin!

Kirk Dewayne Franklin is back with new music, but even when he is between albums, he’s still winning Grammys and staying relevant.

In our first interview in nine years, we discuss the pressure of being the G.O.A.T., a “Family” Reunion, Songwriting and Kelly, both Tori and R. Root: You have new song out entitled “Love Theory” and we have been waiting. Your songwriting is impeccable and I love the part where it says, “I don’t want to love nobody but you” and of course it’s not literal. We love our family.

We love our kids but…

Kirk Franklin: Yeah, what I’m trying to say is that if there was a beauty contest and everybody was lined up in the line, Mamma, Daddy, Grandma, Cousins, Sisters, and God was in the lineup too; the song is just saying that there’s no way that I’m going to be able to successfully love anybody else in this line if I don’t love God first. My love for Him is far greater than life itself because that’s the fuel that gives me the ability to love everybody else in the line. It’s not loving him and despising everyone

else. It’s just that when it comes to the list, when you put it in order, my love for Jesus Christ is number one.

Root: It is very hard to pick one Kirk Franklin album as a favorite but I gotta say Hero is my all time favorite. The songwriting on that album is just amazing. Considering you write these great songs, could you write anything other than gospel if you wanted to?

Kirk Franklin: You know man, I don’t know how good it would be. I think that songwriting has to come from an authentic place, and you know my faith is a very real thing for me in my life, so that’s the well in which I pull from. So, because that’s my well, that’s who I speak from.

If it’s something that’s organic and that naturally flows, I would try it.

Root: Over the years, you have worked with many artists, one of them being Kanye West. There’s a resurgence of sorts with him having church services on Sunday and it has since gone viral. What are your thoughts on that?

Kirk Franklin: I don’t think I would call what he is doing a church service. I just believe that in his own way he’s having these moments that inspire him, and if that is the case then he’s not doing harm to anyone. If this is part of his journey, so be it. He’s not trying to open up a church building; he’s just taking songs and flipping them. I like to pray for people before I condemn them because that’s what Jesus did. Whenever you ever saw Christ and he was really pissed off with somebody, it would always be with those that knew better;

Jeremiah Sabado

the leaders in the church. He was patient with the woman at the well and even with people who doubted him. I just think it’s very important to pray for people when they’re in their process, rather than kill them before they get to their destination.

Root: R. Kelly is another artist who you’ve collaborated with. What are your thoughts on all that he’s facing right now?

Kirk Franklin: Let me first say, I think that this is a very powerful and beautiful time for women. Women across the world have a voice.

Think of all the years that our mothers and other women in our lives had to go through years of abuse and nobody believed them. They didn’t have a voice because they were either women of color or just a woman in general. So, I stand and support women to have their voice be heard. If there is any prayer in his life that he is not guilty, that will come out in the courts but for right now, my voice stands with those that are voiceless.

I stand in support of any women who has ever been

33 | ROOT

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR DEAR FRIEND, HASAN AND THE ENTIRE ROOT MAGAZINE FAMILY ON 10 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE WE SALUTE YOU! RAY & VIVIAN CHEW

2

10

QUESTIONS WITH

JOR’DAN ARMSTRONG 1

What is your favorite sneaker of all time? Jordan 1’s

3

5

What was your last purchase? Versace Chain Reaction

What music are you listening to heavy right now?

I’m listening to PJ Morton at the moment!

Favorite scripture?

Philippians 4:13! I literally live by that scripture.

4

What’s on your bucket list? I would love to meet Quincy Jones; he’s the G.O.A.T. to me.

What do you love about being married?

I love that fact that I’m never alone in this! I’ve been doing music for so many years as a single man and now that God gave me a plus one, the favor of God has almost tripled in my life and I can’t thank God enough!

8

6

7

Who are your Top 5 preachers? My Grandfather, Bishop Joseph Armstrong, Bishop Calvin Emory, Bishop TD Jakes, Pastor Dennis Rouse, and the late great Bishop Eddie Long.

Dream collaboration?

Pharrell Williams

9

Top 10 Rappers, dead or alive? Jay Z, Meek Mill, Notorious BIG, P Diddy, Drake, Outkast, T.I., Lil Wayne, Boosie and Cam’Ron Favorite album of all-time?

10 The Winans Return album.

- H. JAMES ShotbySed

35 | ROOT

with the culture.

Root: Let’s talk about this success of “You Deserve It”. I was fortunate to be in the room when you recorded it a few years back and everyone around me knew that it was going to be a hit. What did it feel like to get your first Grammy® nomination and winning all of those Stellar Awards?

JJ Hairston: It was incredible! I knew that it was gonna be a song that would resonate with people but we had no idea that it would reach people the way it did. An awesome guy out of North Carolina by the name of David Bloom wrote the song but I initially heard Cortez Vaughn sing it and at the time it was just a chant. So we changed the instrumentation a little bit and added a few parts, but again, it wasn’t like we thought it was gonna be the next thing. I just thought it would be a great worship song that was easy to translate. It’s no doubt the biggest song we’ve ever released and we’re extremely grateful for that song. Even to this day, it’s doing things that we never expected.

Root: I love the relationship you and your wife Trina have and you’re one of those couples that many people look up to, but it wasn’t always nice in the Hairston household. I remember you saying there were times when you guys wanted to call it quits.

JJ Hairston: My wife and I have been married going on 25 years.

Root: Oh my Gosh.

JJ Hairston: Yeah.

Root: Y’all were babies.

JJ Hairston: We were literally kids who got married right out of High School.

My son will be 23 years old this year.

It’s crazy because when we first got married, we didn’t go through any premarital counseling or anything, we just went to the Justice of the Peace. We didn’t even tell our parents that we were getting married. We just got married, spent the weekend together and she went to her house and I went to mine.

We really did’t realize what commitment was and for the first ten years we had no idea what we were doing. We were singing, directing and living any old kinda way. But one day God spoke to

me and told me to rectify my marriage and with my son on my chest, I made a vow to him that I don’t care what I do musically, if my house is not right, all of this is in vain. I believe once I made that vow, things begin to soar for us both musically and personally.

Root: I find it very ironic that some of our greatest Gospel artists, are not known for their singing ability. Artists like Kirk Franklin and Donald Lawrence are amazing songwriters but they’re no crooners. I remember people had a lot of mean things to say about your voice during the My Space days and you were not necessarily comfortable with your voice. How did you eventually embrace your voice?

JJ Hairston: It’s so funny. The first time I actually sung in the microphone was during one of our album release concerts at Love Fellowship Tabernacle in Bensalem, Pa. Root: Are you serious?

JJ Hairston: Yes! We did a CD release concert for the Thank You For The Change record. It was us and Ricky Dillard and I sang a song I wrote called I Feel the Presence. At the time, I was so nervous, but I remember James Robinson pushing me and saying,“People need to hear you.” So I sung, and I was totally uncomfortable, but then I became comfortable with what my role was. I became comfortable with my gift and what my grace is and it’s not to be such a great singer but to lift up the name of Jesus during corporate worship. So now when we sing, it’s never to be impressive, but it’s to lead people to sing with me and now that I’m comfortable with that, I could come after Karen Clark Sheard, Kim Burrell and Maranda Curtis and never feel nervous because I know what their lane is and what mine is. So I say to all aspiring artists, don’t ever get intimidated because you’re trying to get in someone else’s lane. As long as you stay focused, you will be successful. But as soon as you try to do what everybody else is doing, you’ll find yourself inadequate.

Root: One thing that impressed me about you was that for years you were recording album and traveling across the world with YP, yet you still held down a 9 to 5 job.

JJ Hairston: I started at Hubbell Wiring in 1994 and retired in 2014. I literally worked there for 20 years and it got to a point where I just couldn’t be two places at the same time. There were times when I would literally be at the Stellar Awards with my laptop working. When we would go on these choir engagements, I would just use my vacation days and do my work from my hotel room. For me, it was always important that my family came first, and I didn’t want to sacrifice my family for a dream. I had a great job as a computer programmer and I was doing well, so it took a step of faith for me to move out. We saved money and never lived beyond our means, so when I first retired from my job, I had already bought a house and we were doing well, but we waited for the right time to do full fledged ministry.

Root: What can we expect from your upcoming project?

JJ Hairston: The new project will be released on June 7th and we’re really excited about it. This will actually be our ninth album!

Root: Wow! JJ Hairston: We’ve released a lot of music over the years, and what we wanted to do now was release something that was consistent with who we are, but a little different. So we recorded a few songs with some African artists which we’re really excited about. Our following in Nigeria has grown tremendously. So we recorded two songs with a few African artists over there. As well as we recorded a song with Benita Jones and Darryl Walls and it’s really dope, I’m really proud of it.

The best test for me is I can listen to a record and enjoy it myself. And not listen to it for production, but listen to it just to be ministered to. And this record really ministers to me. I’m looking forward, I’m excited, that everyone will be able to hear it soon.

ROOT ! Time Capsule

2009

• Fans across the world mourn the sudden death of music superstar Michael Jackson age 50 was known as “The King of Pop” • President Barack Obama first elected African-American takes the oath of office as the 44th U.S. president during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. • Rev. Timothy Wright best known for “Who’s On The Lord’s Side” died at age 61 after succumbing to injuries sustained during a tragic head on collision with a wrong way driver. The accident previously claimed the lives of his wife and grandson.

• David “Pop” Winans, patriarch of the Winans gospel dynasty died at 74

ROOT | 36

Jackie Hicks

Just James JJ Hairston talks new single, upcoming project and finding his voice.

JUST JAMES

by Hasan James Root: Let’s talk about this new single you’ve got dropping tomorrow, “Miracle Worker”. Talk a bit about how it came to be.

JJ Hairston: Miracle Worker was actually written by a young man named Rich Tolbert and what I love about Rich is he’s a vibrant young man who knows how to incorporate the new style of worship with the traditional style of worship, so it’s a perfect fit with YP. The first time I heard him sing the song, I knew it was something special, and once I heard his testimony behind it, I knew I had to release this song to the world. We actually recorded the song in both Nigeria and in Maryland.

I’m just really excited about it and I think the world’s gonna really embrace this message. People are in need of a miracle right now.

Root: I see so many artists going to different parts of Africa to record. What do you think it is about Africa? Is the worship there different then it is here in the states?

JJ Hairston: The culture of worshipping is just incredible. When you start a song, they just sing it like they’ve known it for years! What I love about the people over there is that they’re so expressive and the talent over there is just incredible.

Everything they do, they do it on another level, whether it’s singing, dancing or writing and the perception that the media paints about Africa is definitely inaccurate.

They’re so advanced when it comes to worship and presentation and I fell in love

37 | ROOT

David Slocumb

of stuff that other comedians went through. I rarely did comedy clubs because I carved out my own niche in the gospel comedy arena, and I was always around positive people of faith. Dark? No, but I have gone through depressing moments, I think we all have, but my comedy never came from that place.I have never been strung out on drugs or anything like that.

Root: What was it like working with Tyler Perry?

Slocumb: First of all, my whole career has been nothing but favor because I did not go through the regular road. I saw Tyler Perry at the NAACP Awards one year when I was doing audience hosting. I introduced myself and said, “Tyler Perry, my name is Jonathan Slocumb.” He was like, “I know who you are. You’re one of my favorite comedians” and I was like, “Really?”

Root: Wow! Slocumb: He said, “Yeah.” I said, “Man, I want my first movie ever to be with Tyler Perry.” He was like, “Man, get out of here.

You’ve already done how many movies?” I said, “I’ve never done any movies and I want my first one to be documented as a Tyler Perry movie.” He looked at me right in my eyes, and said, “I’ll be right back.” He went on stage, made his presentation and when he came back he said, “I’m writing this movie called Meet the Brown’s from the TV show and I have a part that I’m going to write you in.” I said, “What do I have to do?” He said, “Just be you and be good.” Two weeks later, a script showed up my front door.

Root: That’s crazy!

Slocumb: So I ended up playing the role of the pastor and ever since then he would always call me to do different things. It’s been such a blessing.

Root: Who are some of your favorite comedians?

Slocumb: People get a little nervous when I say these names because they’re the total opposite of me. Bill Cosby is one, regardless of what they’re trying to do to him, he’s my mentor. Sinbad will always be my big brother and we talk often. I think Katt Williams, Dave Chapelle and Wanda Sykes are brilliant! There’s also a very funny comedian by the name of Corey Holcomb who is just hilarious.

Root: You have a keen sense of style. Have you always been into fashion?

Slocumb: Way back in the day when I was a little slimmer, I wanted to be a fashion model so I can get the girls but back then girls didn’t really like skinny men so that really didn’t work. So when everyone was doing the baggy suits with the shoulder pads, I wanted to do something different, so I started wearing European cut suits. It got to a point where people would come to one of my shows and before they would talk about the performance, they talked about what I had on. I’m old-school so I believe that if people are paying to come see me, I should look my best at all times. So double-breasted suits have become my trademark, along with my platinum beard that I stopped dying black!

Root: You recently turned the big 6-0! How does it feel?

Slocumb: Yes I turned 60 years old in February and the funny thing is I feel like I’m just starting. I’m about to be on the list of people who achieved great wealth of success after the age of 60.

Root: I love that.

Slocumb: I’m gonna come on and just buy Root Magazine in cash!

Root: (Laughter) Slocumb: I have a lot of things in the works regarding fashion, television and comedy. I received a call the other day about doing another comedy recording. They wanted to give me a whole comedy album on this label. I used to get embarrassed when people called me old school or a legend but I receive it now. I opened a lot of doors for other comedians, so now I’m going to open more doors and be able to provide content that shows that we’re taking it to another level. To be honest, I’m tired of traditional church and church people. I want people to see the balanced life of people of faith. Yes, we go to church and we love God but we’re also into fashion, go to the movies and some of us may even have a cocktail.

We don’t just go to church and go home, we have lives outside of church. I also want people to see the beauty of maturing. I found an amazing woman and I even plan on getting married again.

Root: That’s great man! How do you like living in LA? Slocumb: LA is good place. I live here, my son is here but I hardly work here. I’m basically here to be closer to my 15 year old son who lives near by in Pasadena.The weather is great but the people are different. I’m from the South where everyone speaks to each other no matter who you are. Out here it depends on your status, and once they think that you’re somebody, then you get all the love in the world. Recently, I went to Essence Black Women in Hollywood event and I walked the red carpet and I was right behind Jennifer Lewis and all the cameras were flashing and then it was my turn and I was like, “Hello?”

They were like, “Who are you?” I’m like, “Girl, I’ve got on a pink suit. That means something.”

ROOT | 38

Faithfully &

Fashionably Funny

As told to Hasan James

JONATHAN SLOCUMB IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST COMEDIANS AROUND AND HE IS CLEAN, BOTH IN COMEDY AND IN FASHION! Root: How did you get your start in comedy?

Slocumb: I’ll give you the short version. At every level of education; elementary, high school, and college - I was voted most humorous. Not class clown. I was in the top 10% of my class and I was always Student Body President. I was a leader, smart, funny and I loved gospel music. I was a choir director even before Ricky Dillard came on the scene, I had that same style.

Root: That’s pretty awesome!

Slocumb: I was very animated and comical as a choir director.

I would also emcee the concerts as well, just being myself and I always had the ability to make people laugh. Word begin to get around that I was funny and the next thing you know I’m opening up for the group Take 6 in Chicago. I knew a couple of those guys from college and their manager says, “We should take Jonathan with us on the road as our opening act.” I never even thought about doing comedy full time but I did it and got my first big break. They had such a diverse audience, that their audience ultimately became my audience and it kind of went from there. Soon after that I did a clean set on Def Comedy Jam with a suit and tie on and everything and ended up getting a standing ovation. My man Russell Simmons really pushed for me and made that happen. Then when they were about to go out on tour, I didn’t really fit in with the Def Jam tour, so I came up with the idea to do gospel comedy and that’s how it all started. I’m a pioneer. I’m a legend!

Root: I must say, you had to already be hilarious to get on Def Jam Comedy, but to get on there, do clean comedy and get a standing ovation is unheard of.

Slocumb: I may have been one of the first, if not the first to do it. I know that the reason I got on Def Comedy Jam was because I did a few shows with Martin Lawrence and by the second season, people were writing letters about having more clean comedians on the show. Martin said, “I know this one cat who I was out on the road with and he is clean and funny.” Bob Sumner came out to Atlanta, saw me and booked me on the spot!

Root: I always hear that comedians are introverts, have a darkness about them and have the most pain. Do you find that to be true?

Slocumb: No, that isn’t applicable to all comedians. I didn’t go through the same kind

39 | ROOT

G E N E R ATI O N

NEXT KORYN HAWTHORNE

by J.S. Williams Every few years there is an act that comes along and takes the Gospel world by storm. In 2000, Mary Mary brought us “Shackles” and the rest is Contemporary Gospel history. A little over a decade later, the likes of Jonathan McReynolds, Anthony Brown, Travis Greene and Tasha Cobbs-Leonard, hit the scene and changed the landscape of Gospel music with their own unique sound. 2018 just so happened to be the year of Koryn Hawthorne, and her hit song “Won’t He Do It” (which at Root press time had spent consecutive 38 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel chart). Her debut album Unstoppable proved to be just that, debuting at the top spot on Billboard’s Top Gospel Album chart last July. Couple that with a Grammy® nomination and multiple Stellar Award nods and Koryn Hawthorne’s story is something dreams are made of.

“You have something that’s different then probably the rest of your friends. You’re not cocky and you stand there with humility. People will line up to see that for the rest of your life,” said super producer Pharrell Williams after hearing her sing Emeli Sande’s, “My Kind of Love” on her blind audition for NBC’s The Voice.

Root: You have had a very exciting year with the release of your debut album “Unstoppable” and your hit single “Won’t He Do It” made history spending 35 weeks at #1. What do you make of all of this success so early in your career?

Koryn: All Glory to God! I honestly didn’t expect everything to happen the way it did, or as quickly as it did, but this is what happens when you give your life to God… I am so grateful and blessed for all of the opportunities!

Root: Many people may look at you like an overnight success because you’re only 21 years old, but even before you were on #TeamPharrell on The Voice, you tried out for shows like America’s Got Talent and American Idol. How has your journey helped you prepare as an artist?

Koryn: Those moments prepared me tremendously… It helped give me confidence, so when I did finally sign to a record deal, I already knew exactly what I wanted to do musically.

Root: Remember you were supposed to be a member of Mary Mary? Whatever ever happened with that?

Koryn: (Laughter) Well, unfortunately, that never happened… I don’t think I could have ever replaced any member of the legendary Mary Mary. I am so grateful that they had me on the show though!

Root: One thing I love about your story is that you did not compromise your gospel roots for any of these competition shows that you tried out for. Why was that

important for you?

Koryn: I was born and raised in Church, and really love Jesus. So, I would never compromise my love or my relationship with him for a TV show. It just would not happen.

Root: Many gospel artists do not get the opportunity to be nominated for Grammy® and Stellar Awards on their first album. How does it feel?

Koryn: It feels amazing and I am blessed and honored. All of this makes me excited for the future and makes me want to work even harder.

DeWayne Rogers

41 | ROOT

with a tremendous amount of partnership and support from 20th Century Fox. Root: I remember seeing a Facebook LIVE and a lady in the audience tried to chastise your wife (Meagan Good) for wearing a sexy dress on an award show and you politely checked her. Tell us the truth about being married, not only being married to someone in Hollywood, but being married, period.

DF: The truth about marriage is that nobody can really tell you what it is until you’re in it. It definitely takes commitment every day, you know, to become our best selves within marriage. I think that video you’re referencing, for me it’s just about protection. It’s like look, some people bring their own judgment and their own feelings and they want to use those feelings and judgments sometimes as a way to attack.

In that scenario, I was like I’m just gonna protect my wife and do it in love ... But it’s really important, I think, especially as a husband to do your best to provide a safe environment for your spouse.

Root: How do you balance being a husband, son, minister and Hollywood?

DF: I balance it by not balancing. Right now I’m on my book tour, and so I’ve been traveling the country talking about The Truth about Men and there is no balance because I have to put the majority of my focus into this book and doing interviews.

So part of the balance is to recognize there will be a period of time where you don’t have balance and that’s okay. I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing right in this moment. Once the tour is over, I’ll get back to a place where things can be evened out a little bit more.

Root: That actually makes perfect sense.

Tell us a bit about your company, Franklin Entertainment, and the direction the company is going as far upcoming projects.

DF: I’m doing the story of the creator of Flaming Hot Cheetos, who was Mexican janitor that worked for Frito Lay. I’m really, really excited about that.

really excited about as well.

Root: I never knew that story about the creator of Flaming Hot Cheetos, so I’m looking forward to that.

DF: I love telling inspirational stories that can bring hope and motivation.

Root: Naturally when you come out with a movie you want it to do well at the box office, but what is your biggest hope for the film Breakthrough?

DF: My hope is that it will inspire everybody who sees it, and also remind people that we’re not in this life alone. We have a God that loves and cares for us, and even if every prayer doesn’t get answered in the way we would like, that doesn’t take away from the fact that prayer works!

Root: Oh, wow!

DF: I am very excited about that film. I’m looking at going into production on that this summer. I have a whole host of other projects that I’m working on, which I’m

Steve Ackerman

do, and it gives women information along the way. This certainly isn’t a book about what women have to do better, you know, and I think it’s really about what we as men have to do. I think when you look at the success of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, I think it was so successful for a reason.

My hope is just to add a book into the culture that can help point us men in the right direction, so that we get motivated and feel compelled to do the work that is capable for us to do, which is to lead, to learn to love and also make sure women are no longer in the dark about who we are and what our intentions are.

Breakthrough The Truth About Men with DeVon Franklin

By Hasan James

e’s smart, charismatic and a brother with a vision. DeVon Franklin is one of Hollywood’s most sought after producers and although he is married to one of Tinseltown’s most beautiful and talented actresses, Meagan Good, he hasn’t let that define him. Franklin, whose Franklin Entertainment, along with Fox, produced the critically acclaimed film Breakthrough, is not just a film producer but also an author. His latest book, The Truth About Men, teaches men how to master the “dog” within and all we need to learn about lust and love.

Root: I got a chance to see the movie Breakthrough last night, and I’ve gotta say from the moment the ice broke, I was literally on the edge of my chair. I mean, such a riveting story. I hadn’t heard anything about the story, so it was great to see how everything unfolded. It was a great film that had great acting, was well written and well produced. Tell us a bit about how you found out about this story and why you decided to make it a film?

DF: First of all, thank you for watching it.

I’m so glad you enjoyed it. The movie, in my estimation is powerful, it’s a Kleenex and popcorn movie. I found this story years ago when I was working on my other film, Miracles from Heaven. I was on the promotional trail promoting that film, and I was on a TV program, and the real family was there telling their story. When I heard it, I was like, “Oh my goodness, I’ve got to tell this story, it is just unbelievable”.

Root: Amazing story!

DF: And so I told them in the greenroom who I was and I’d love to tell their story, and they agreed. That was just a few years ago, and here we are getting ready to release the film.

Root: What’s the response been like across the country as people are screening the film?

DF: You know, it’s very similar to your reaction. People are inspired, they’re blown away, they’re on the edge of their seat, they laugh, they cry. It’s just one of those movies that cuts across race, gender, age and life experience. It just brings everybody together and brings everyone into the human experience.

Root: Let’s talk about your latest book, The Truth About Men. I got a chance to hear you speak at the Merge Summit last October and when I went LIVE on Facebook, so many women, in particular, were so intrigued by the conversation. Is this book along the same lines as Steve Harvey’s Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man or does it come from a more spiritual aspect?

DF: You know, I think that book in essence, even from the title, was geared towards women. You know, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. Whereas this would probably be more Act like a Man, Think Like a Man. You know, it’s really more about ... to men, here’s what we have to do to become better. Here’s the work that we have to

Root: Considering your book is already somewhat of a conversation piece, as you boldly address The Truth about Men, tell us a bit of the truth about DeVon Franklin, the man.

DF: I am a man and I am a person.

Whatever people think of the persona, I am a person and that truth is I have struggles like everybody else and I work every day to become the best person that I can be. Some days are better than others, but God’s grace is sufficient for me.

Root: What is the truth about working as an executive in Hollywood from an African American male perspective?

DF: The truth is that from a perspective of a person of color, Hollywood is definitely harder than you may suspect.

You can definitely find success, but it takes time and persistence and quite frankly, people of color in the entertainment business still have a long way to go. Progress at times seems much slower than it should, but we have to stay in it, keep progressing and keep pushing as much as we can.

Root: As you mentioned, the movie Breakthrough is a movie that speaks to all people. That being said, was it a hard sell to studios?

DF: Believe it or not, it wasn’t a hard sell. The moment that I started talking about the story and I went to Fox and told them that this is what I want to do, they were immediately on board. I think it helped that they really connected to the story, and so the making of the film and the opportunity to bring this film to the world has come

43 | ROOT

THE BENEDICTION The Hymn Book

By Michael Gordon

It was hard losing my Grandmother last October. I always thought she would be here forever, but one of her famous lines was,“We are not wood and stone, at some point we all are going home.”

I remember her singing in the church choir and teaching all of her grandchildren the great hymns of the church. Hymns like Great is thy faithfulness, Under His Wings, Amazing Grace and the list goes on.

Today’s generation focuses more on worship medleys and praise and worship songs, but when I need that alone time with God, it’s the hymns that my grandmother taught me that come to my remembrance.

Let’s face it, music in the African American church is going through a transformation. There is a need to want to increase the size of membership by catering

to music and preaching styles to attract more people. The traditions of the church that not only included hymns, but also anthems, often associated more with English and AngloAmerican worship styles, and are being forsaken for styles that appeal to a younger generation.

I remember the deacon-led devotionals, that have now been replaced by praise and worship teams. Trained musicians are being replaced by younger contemporary ones with little to no musical training. But there was a point in time, however, when the hymn book was all we had. Its rich history is deteriorating because in a sense, we’ve traded that history for a more contemporary sound.

Ironically enough, one of the architects of contemporary gospel, the late Andrae Crouch, penned a classic song entitled:

The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power, which could actually be found in the AME Hymn book.

Crouch, a prolific composer, performer and arranger, is one of only a handful of gospel performers to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Yet despite his secular success, he was always revered in the church. Very few musicians can claim to have the respect of Billy Graham, be credited as a songwriter on Michael Jackson’s Bad album and be inducted into hymnals across denominations.

With songs like Soon and Very Soon, Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul and To God Be The Glory, we not only salute Andrae Crouch, we also salute my late grandmother, Lucilda Thomas, and last but not least, the Hymn Book.

47 | ROOT

10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION

Issue 30

Apr/May 2019

FASHIONABLY & FAITHFULLY FUNNY

JONATHAN SLOCUMB KORYN HAWTHORNE IS UNSTOPPABLE!

THE BENEDICTION

DEVON FRANKLIN TALKS

THE TRUTH ABOUT MEN, HOLLYWOOD, MEAGAN & HIS LATEST FILM

WE REMEMBER THE HYMN BOOK

SHINE

DANA SOREY

+PLUS

VASHAWN MITCHELL SENSERE KIRK FRANKLIN JOR’DAN ARMSTRONG JJ HAIRSTON TONYA LEWIS TAYLOR AND MORE!