James “Jazzy” Jordan, executive vice president, Verity Gospel Music Group, today announced that the label has added Latice Crawford-Spain to its roster. Crawford-Spain is perhaps best known as a finalist in the second season of BET’s highly successful gospel music talent search, Sunday Best. A crowd favorite with a small frame and a big voice, Crawford-Spain left an indelible mark in the Gospel music industry since being introduced to the nation as a contestant on the show in 2009. About her new deal with Verity, Crawford-Spain says “I’ve waited to be here for three years, Verity was always the place that I wanted to be once I accepted the whole singing as a career thing…I’m super excited.”
“We’re looking forward to great things from Latice,” says Jordan. “She is the total package, she has an outstanding voice, she is a true worshipper, and she is a gifted writer. Latice has a clear vision for where she wants her music ministry to go, and we look forward to working with her to get there.”
In this picture, finalizing Crawford-Spain’s Recording Agreement, are L-R: Roger Skelton, SVP Business & Legal Affairs, RCA Music Group; James “Jazzy” Jordan, Executive Vice President, Verity Gospel Music Group; Latice Crawford-Spain; Rashan Staley, manager; Kojo Benil, attorney.
Photo Credit: B. Jeffrey Grant-Clark
Stanley Brown, former Sunday Best music director, and Senior Director, A&R, for Verity Gospel Music Group, says: “I think Latice is one of the strongest female vocalists in Gospel music. She has great tone, she’s a great song stylist, but she also has a captivating stage presence that makes her unforgettable.”
Crawford-Spain says that her experience on Sunday Best propelled her to pursue singing professionally. “I never wanted to sing; the effect of Sunday Best hit me after the show began airing. I would get approached by people who were transformed by Sunday Best and who talked about how certain performances effected their lives. Music is a life changer, and those stories made me want to do this for a living; they made me want to walk in my calling.”
Crawford-Spain says of her debut, “I definitely want this CD to be an uplifting album for women and girls – women are so materialized in society, I want to reiterate who we are in Christ. We have ministries and we have callings just like everyone else does. I just want a kingdom album, I don’t want it to be classified as church music, etc…I just want to do music that uplifts the kingdom and brings people back to the kingdom. I want something classic; something timeless. I want the old feeling of music back; real lyrics, real feelings that convict somebody’s heart and make them want to change.”
The daughter of a preacher, Latice Crawford-Spain grew up in the Bronx and Queens, New York. She is married to Jeff Spain, another Sunday Best season two contestant. The two met on the show. Crawford-Spain currently splits her time between Atlanta and New York and occasionally leads praise & worship, along with her husband, at Wisdom Chapel International in the Bronx.
