After sowing her debut album God’s Project (Book I), with the single “Holy Groove,” Coppe Cantrell garnered the attention of the community.  Coppe was invited to perform at Knott’s Berry Farm’s (Gospel Showcase in 2011), and has shared the stage with Michelle Bonilla, Jessica Reedy, The Neville Sisters and P-Dub to name a few.  Now Coppe is back with the upcoming release of her sophomore CD God’s Project (Book II). 

Already getting airplay the hot single “True Riches” will surely give fans what they’ve bargained for.  The song features veteran Christian/Gospel rap artist Shames Worthy.

“True Riches” is about not allowing the lust and material things of this world to rule your life.  True riches are allowing God to overrule your life by having faith in his goodness, grace and mercy.

The new album is set for release on the newly formed Gospel label VOW ENTERTAINMENT GOSPEL.  Look for the sophomore release of this talented singer/songwriter Coppe Cantrell June 26th.

Preview and Purchase Coppe Cantrell’s single ‘True Riches’ by clicking here. 

This past weekend in Fayetteville, NC, Festival Park was filled with 5,800 people uniformed in simple T-shirts that read “God Belongs In My City”. They were all gathered for the city’s first community Prayer Walk. God Belongs in My City is a national movement which started in New York City with a small group of believers. The movement has now grown to several cities across the nation with Fayetteville marking its largest participation log to date. “On behalf of our national office, this walk has been one of the greatest epic prayer walks we have ever experienced,” states Alan Diaz, Co-Chairman of God Belongs In My City – National Office.

Fayetteville’s God Belongs In My City Prayer Walk was organized by Anthony O’Neal, Youth Pastor at Simon Temple AME Zion Church. The goal of the event was accomplished – to bring every religious denomination, all races, nationalities and ages of people in the community together in a day of communal unity and proclamation that God does belong in Fayetteville. With the up rise in recent violent acts and homicides, O’Neal was compelled to create an event that brought awareness to the concerns in the community and the solutions to which everyone could contribute.

Lead by Fayetteville Mayor Anthony Chavonne, local pastors and community leaders, a sea of walkers took to the streets of downtown stopping at Veterans Park and Airborne Museum, City Hall, the Market House and the Public Library to pray. After the mile and a half prayer walk, the crowd was enthusiastically engaged in a live worship concert that featured Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Myron Butler from The Potter’s House, Dallas, TX. To top off the afternoon, walkers were treated to lunch sponsored by Chick-fila.

“To see my pastor who has a small ministry walk next to the pastors who have a larger ministries and they not treat him any differently blessed my heart,” a participating walker shared. “Our pastor preached ‘As One’ for his sermon topic on Sunday morning.” “As One” was an inspiring short message by Pastor Fletcher who spoke to the crowd at Festival Park.

The overwhelming response and community support has lead O’Neal to confirm the now annual event with next year’s date set for April 20. O’Neal humbly, yet confidently proclaims – “This is just the beginning!”

About The God Belongs In My City National Movement: New York City youth group passionate for God saw an Atheist Advertisement campaign in the subway system which stated, “A Million New Yorkers Are Good Without God. Are You?” They were so stirred up by this they went to their Youth Pastor who then went to his network of Youth Pastors and leaders to ask, “What are we, as the body of Christ going to do about this?” They prayed and decided to take action and have Youth Ministries from all around the 5 boroughs hold a prayer walk wearing a simple T-shirt which stated “God Belongs in My City”.

Modern rockers Canopy Red are back in the spotlight with their upcoming release, Wake Up, to be released on June 5th. Produced by Dove Award winning producer Rusty Varenkamp (Michael W. Smith, Sanctus Real, Tenth Avenue North), Wake Up is the band’s first full-length album, and the long-awaited follow-up to their 2009 self-titled EP from Creative Soul Records. Their 2011 digital single “Here to Stay” reached #21 on Billboard’s Christian Rock Chart. 

“It was totally a God thing with Rusty where he was surfing the internet, our name caught his eye, he started listening to our stuff and felt for some reason he could help us out,” says frontman Forrest Krazit of their collaborator and newfound friend. “It started out as a trip to his studio to record and co-write a couple of songs, but it turned out God led us to work together on a full record. Rusty is a genius at coming up with melodies. We wound up co-writing ten songs with him- and he was very reassuring in not only the musical direction of our band, but our lifelong calling as well.” 

Armed with a moniker that references the fact that all believers are sheltered by Christ’s blood, Canopy Red blends alternative rock, pop and worship with the intention of delivering a message of hope and encouragement. 

“Wake Up has a lot to do with the idea of not just being stagnant in your faith or getting stuck in the rut of class, homework, eat, sleep and repeat,” explains guitarist Josh Schmidt. “It’s about shaking off complacency and reminding ourselves that being a Christian is more than something for just Sundays and Wednesdays.” 

“We’re definitely targeting our generation,” adds Krazit, “but we’re not pointing any fingers because we need to hear this message just as much as anybody else. We go to school, have our jobs and live the way we live, but that’s not why we were created. We were created to glorify God and He has a plan for our life. Wake Up is all about knowing we’re not just stuck here doing work, but we have a purpose and the ability to change people’s lives.” 

Canopy Red’s message can be heard loud and clear on Wake Up, such as the encouraging reminder that everyone has a divine destiny (“What I’m Waiting For”), the guys’ quest to live authentically (“Disguise”) and the bold challenge to take a stand (“Wasting Time”). The album also includes Christ-seeking battle cries like “Running After You” and “Sink Or Swim,” the empathetic “Won’t Let Go” and the worshipful “Forever.” 

The band has already made a splash all across America thanks to constant touring, performing more than 120 concerts each year for the past 4 years, including dates on the increasingly popular Extreme Tour. This summer, the band will spend 8 weeks as the artist-in-residence for Centrifuge Camp in Panama City, Florida, followed by an appearance at Rock the Universe at Universal Studios in Orlando. 

Fans can pre-order Wake Up for a discounted price of $7 until June 5th atwww.canopyred.com.

“It’s always difficult to find artists who know how to blend a high level of creativity with a high level of work ethic,” explains John Mays, Vice President of A&R, Centricity Music.  “As we got to know the guys from Unspoken, we realized God had led us to just such a band. These guys have been pounding the pavement for years, sometimes at great personal sacrifice, and all for the sake of and strong belief in what God has called them to do. We love their hearts and their story,  and we can’t wait to help share their music with the world.”

“We are genuinely excited to join the Centricity team,” says Chad Mattson, Vocalist for Unspoken. “We share the same passion for making great music and encouraging people to live for Jesus. We love the fact that Centricity has a mentoring heart, and it shows that they really care and want to see their artists reach their highest goals. To have the Centricity staff champion our project is both humbling and exciting.”

Unspoken is a multi-cultural band comprised of four members that includes; Mattson and Jon Lowry (bass) who are both from Maine, Mike Gomez (electric guitar) from the Dominican Republic, and Ariel Munoz (drums) who hails from Puerto Rico.  The group was initially formed in the Dominican Republic when Mattson went on a missionary trip to the country and began playing and songwriting with Gomez.  Gomez came back to the states with Mattson when Lowry, a childhood friend of Mattson’s, added his talents to the group.  Munoz joined the band when he met Unspoken at Nashville talent contest.  The group has made great strides as an independent artist, playing with such high-profile acts as Third Day, David Crowder, Casting Crowns, TobyMac, and Pillar. Their live performances are electrifying because they are a band who loves to worship, with the belief that as we seek to know the fullness of Christ personally, worship is freely and passionately given.  The eclectic blend of ethnicity and musical backgrounds among the members of the group has led to one of the most unique and exciting sounds in Christian music today.

For more updates on Unspoken and their touring schedule please visit online at www.centricitymusic.com.

About Centricity Music

Centricity Music is an independent recording and publishing company based in Bellevue, Washington and Nashville, Tennessee.  The company’s mission is to enable our artists to create life-changing experiences for the world. Centricity Music’s artist roster includes; Aaron Shust, Andrew Peterson, Downhere, Jaime Jamgochian, Jason Gray, Me In Motion, Remedy Drive,  Sixteen Cities, and Unspoken.

This week in the Top 10 Marvin Sapp debuts his new CD ‘I Win’ at #1.  Sapp’s album also debuted at #9 on the Billboard Top 200, and #12 among top digital albums.

Coming in second this week after debuting at #1 last week is J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise with ‘After This.’  Gospel star Smokie Norful returns with his latest CD ‘Once in a Lifetime’ debuting the first week at #4.  

See below for the rest of the Top 10:

1 | Marvin Sapp – I Win
2 | JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise – After This
3 | WOW Gospel 2012
4 | Smokie Norful – Once In A Lifetime
5 | Fred Hammond – God, Love & Romance
6 | James Fortune & FIYA – Identity
7 | Le’Andria Johnson – The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson…
8 | Kirk Franklin – Hello Fear
9 | Maranatha! Gospel – 2012 Top Gospel Songs
10 | William McDowell – Arise 

Deitrick Haddon is back starring in another faith-based film.  “A Beautiful Soul” is a modern, urban tale loosely based on the popular Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol”, which stars the multi-talented Deitrick Haddon in his second major lead role. The film tells the story of a cynical R&B star whose life’s path leads him back to his Gospel roots.

The new movie is independently produced by Tyscot/ManHaddon Films.  The production company was able to secure distribution at select AMC theaters across the country.

“A Beautiful Soul’s” AMC Theatre opening is a huge milestone for Tyscot ManHaddon Films and an impressive follow up to its first film, “Blessed & Cursed”.

The film’s leading man, Deitrick Haddon expressed his heart about the new venture and God’s promises,

“I’m humbled to be able to bring this ground breaking movie to the theatres. It’s simply a promise from God manifested. I’m so excited, that you will most likely run into me @ the theatre!-Lol. I’m going to see the movie in each city-Lol!”

Tyscot President, Bryant Scott shared thoughts about initial goals and the future of Tyscot ManHaddon Films,

“Tyscot ManHaddon Films was launched with the expectation of selling 20,000 DVDs of our first film ‘Blessed & Cursed.’  We have far surpassed that goal, not only in explosive DVD sales, but also various broadcast and VOD exhibition. We are blessed to have our second film, A Beautiful Soul, open in AMC Theaters around the country.”

The film hits theaters May 4th.  Check out the trailer for ‘A Beautiful Soul’ below.  

FANetwork presents the launch of the inspirational concert series Global Sounds on May 9 featuring GRAMMY Award nominated Jeremy Camp. This first ever satellite television F-broadcast concert series delivered within the Facebook platform will air live on multiple Facebook pages and will feature six episodes connecting artists with their Facebook fans from all over the world. Each Global Sounds concert event will be a part of a month-long engaging experience providing the opportunity to share, encourage, and unify on a global platform in real time.

Jeremy Camp will be the first in this series from his home in Tennessee. He will host his family and friends along with Facebook fans, churches and youth groups from everywhere for a night of stories behind the songs that he has written. Fans will be able to interactively take part before, during and after the live event, gaining access through the “Global Sounds Live” application featured on multiple Facebook pages.

“I am really excited about this new opportunity with FANetwork,” shares Camp. “I love that through Facebook and social media we can now broadcast around the world and allow people a chance to experience all the stories behind the songs that may not typically get to come to a show.”

“With the launch of FANetwork.TV’s live events and original programming in combination with Facebook’s 850 million subscribers around the world, every fan is immediately granted all-access to their favorite artists,” says Charlie Stuart Gay, President of FANetwork. “It’s great that we can express ourselves connecting through the premiere of Global Sounds featuring inspirational mega artists starting with Jeremy Camp. He is an extraordinary performer and by broadcasting this concert live from his home in Tennessee, it is unique. It also gives his million plus fans the chance to engage in the heart of his authentic expression, interact and share Global Sounds with their friends.”

Prior to the event Jeremy will be engaging fans throughout social media outlets encouraging them to express themselves through contests beginning in April leading up to the live event on May 9. Contest winners and the most popular fan questions will be announced during the event. These contests promote fan expressions through video and photos, allowing fans to spread the word about the event through social media outlets.

To view Global Sounds, there will be a “pledge” option for fans as opposed to purchasing a ticket. By encouraging people to pledge a suggested amount, the Global Sounds event is empowered to support Camp’s non-profit Speaking Louder Ministries and the collective Global Sounds community. Those who cannot pledge at this time are still able to enjoy the concert.

“Majority of the proceeds go to our non profit called Speaking Louder Ministries, which allows us to do free evangelistic outreaches all around the world,” states Camp.

About Jeremy Camp:
Over his stellar 10 year career, BEC Recordings’ artist Camp has established himself with these landmark accolades: over three million albums sold, Four RIAA Gold-selling studio albums including his debut album; One RIAA Multi-Platinum long-form video; 26 No. 1 Radio Hits across all formats; GRAMMY® nominated project for his album Speaking Louder Than Before; Billboard’s No. 3 Christian Artist of the Decade including five songs in the Top 50 Billboard Christian Songs of the Decade; Four ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards; ASCAP Song of the Year award; Five Dove awards including two-time Male Vocalist of the Year. Jeremy is a Compassion International artist.

About FANetwork:
FANetwork, is both a broadcaster of live events and a distributor of music and film within the delivery ecosystem of Facebook and beyond. This growing media group with offices in London and Los Angeles is managed by media investors and entertainment producers, providing immediate investment, innovative delivery-platforms and distribution to major artists and entertainment properties. FANetwork has grouped pioneering digital delivery companies from Europe and US to support it’s launch of theatrical quality programming through social medias. In the past its President, Charlie Stuart Gay has been used to producing large Christian assemblies including being Arrangements Chair for the final Billy Graham Crusade at the Rose Bowl.

Marvin Sapp’s highly anticipated new CD & DVD lands at the top of the Billboard charts. Released last Tuesday, the CD debuted at #1 on the Gospel sales chart, and #9 on the Billboard Top-200. Additionally, the live recording DVD debuted at #2 on the Christian Music Video chart.

The first single, “My Testimony,” is currently #2 at Gospel radio. “It is a transparent, introspective look at what I came through and how, in the midst of it all, I still maintained and am maintaining my faith,” Sapp says of the single, which he co-wrote with Aaron Lindsey. “The song’ is about me sharing how I got through it, not just that I got through it.” 

Recorded live at Evangel Cathedral just outside of Washington, D.C., I WIN is Sapp’s first CD since the passing of his wife and manager MaLinda, and it is the first live CD recorded outside of Sapp’s Grand Rapids, Michigan, hometown. Still, I WIN is indeed a musical triumph, with 10 brilliant tracks that reinforce Sapp’s sentiment that “because I endured, I won.”

Marvin Sapp first hit the national stage in 1990 as a member of the groundbreaking group Commissioned. The group disbanded around 1996 and Sapp launched his solo career. After a string of Top-Ten radio hits and a considerable following in Gospel music, Sapp saw unprecedented mainstream success in 2007 when a song that started out as a spontaneous moment of worship became a runaway hit at radio. The song, “Never Would Have Made It,” went on to become the #1 most played song of any genre at radio, and was the first Gospel song to sell 1 million ringtones. The rest, as they say, is history.

Stellar and Dove Award winner and Grammy nominated Dottie Peoples has announced that Alan Freeman, former head of Atlanta International Records is President of DP Muzik Group effective immediately. Peoples made the announcement Thursday, April 12. DP Muzik Group is the Atlanta based record label that she founded and launched in 2008 and Peoples serves as CEO.

“Joining forces with Alan again feels great” said Peoples. “We had tremendous success together for many years at Atlanta International Records, and I am confident that Alan is the right person to lead DP Muzik Group into our future. His valuable experience and strong leadership will help DP Muzik Group chart our God given course as we plan ahead for the years to come.”

Peoples’ was signed to Freeman’s Atlanta International Records in 1992 and enjoyed tremendous success. Her hits included “On Time God” and “Testify,” which she recorded with The Peoples Choice Chorale.

She went on to receive numerous awards and accolades throughout the years, and Freeman stood at the helm of her professional recording career. Freeman sold Atlanta International Records to Jackson, MS based Malaco Records in 2005.

“Dottie and I spent over 14 years together at Atlanta International Records, and developed a great working relationship and a wonderful friendship,” said Freeman. “I admire Dottie as an artist, a successful business woman and a humble person that represents the essence of Gospel music. It is my goal to assist her in continuing her tradition as one of the top female Gospel artists and to develop her label, DP Muzik Group, into a nationally recognized Atlanta based Gospel label with other artists that share her passion for Gospel music.”

Peoples is gearing up for live recording at Siloam Church International in Atlanta, GA on Saturday April 21, 2012. The project will be her sophomore release recorded on the DP Muzik Group label.