Gospel Reggae State of the Union

Jan. 2, 2009 - Greetings fellow Gospel Reggae artist, my name is Mark Mohr. I am the founder of the group Christafari, and the owner of GospelReggae.com, Lion of Zion and the Positive Music Agency. After 20 years of helping pioneer the genre of Gospel Reggae, I am astonished at how large it has grown! I remember when I started our humble webstore back in 1997 and there were only five gospel reggae albums to be found in the entire world. Now we sell 352 different gospel reggae albums from our massive website (not to mention downloads and apparel) and we are adding at least one new album per week!

While this tremendous growth in artists and albums is encouraging, regrettably the customer base is not growing as exponentially. In fact to be blunt, the supply is far greater than the demand. If this genre is to succeed and grow in both souls and sales, we must reach more people. To do this we must first organize and centralize.

The biggest problem that the gospel reggae community is facing today is this: We are not a true community. We need to band together and stand together if we are to make this genre truly succeed. Only in unity will we find Synergy. If our true goal is to put the gospel first in the reggae that we perform, and our ultimate desire is to see as many souls come to Christ as possible, then we must do everything within our means to see each other succeed in our endeavors.

There is no time for animosity, envy, rivalry or prideful competition. These things will only bring more division. And if divided we stand than united we shall surely fall. We may have our differences, but we all share three things in common; A love for Jesus, a heart for people and a passion for reggae music (whether it be dancehall, roots, ragamuffin hip-hop, dub or niyabinghi).

Every week I read Billboard Magazine from cover to cover looking for revelations that will help me traverse this rocky road that we call the music industry. And I'll never forget an article that I read about a year ago. It was about the history of the World Music Genre. For years World Music was virtually nonexistent. Sure there were plenty of releases, but no charts, no major artists and no tremendous success stateside. And how could this music succeed? After all, what did Celtic music have in common with Salsa, or African with Indian? Without synchronicity these genres would have been virtually overlooked until one historical day. As fate would have it, the heads of a few international labels all found themselves in the same room in New York. What followed was an intense brainstorming session. They were trying to figure out what they could do to help their artists. The end result was a simple decision; define the genre. If everyone stood under the same umbrella they would have a pretty large crowd! So they all agreed to call it "World Music" and the rest is history! The genre is healthy and growing, boasts its own Billboard Chart and most music stores in the USA and Europe now include a World music section.

If we want companies like VP records, festivals like Reggae on the River, Magazines like The Beat and sound systems like Stone Love to give us their ears and respect, we must create an army. We must overwhelm them with numbers and captivate them with the quality of our music only then will they be able to overlook a message that they may not agree with. I am convinced that we will never be recognized until we become a force to be reckoned with!

The first thing that we must do if we are to truly stand together is agree on a genre name. After meeting with hundreds of artists, promoters and fans, I am convinced that this name should be "GOSPEL REGGAE." We can collectively put this genre on the map if we all unite under this banner. But if some call it "Christian reggae," while others say it's "gospel dancehall," and others insist that it is "Conscious Reggae" or even "Reggae Gospel," there will only be confusion and further division.

Now I know what you may be thinking, "He only wants to call it Gospel Reggae because he owns the domain name." This is not the case. In fact, I fought for years to call it "Christian Reggae," but received too much opposition from our secular counterparts. I considered "Reggae Gospel", but to the majority of the buyers in the United States, this name sounds like "the gospel OF reggae," rather than "Reggae that is gospel (Christian)". After years of trying to define the genre by various appellations, I am convinced that the path of least resistance and greatest acceptance (in both Christian and mainstream) is "Gospel Reggae." So if you are an artist that sings or deejays reggae for Jesus Christ, I implore you to define your music as Gospel Reggae.

I have worked feverishly throughout the years to grow this genre because I have a passion for it. Secular reggae led me away from God and into Rastafari when I was a teen. Ever since I gave my life back to Jesus in 1989, I have been on a mission to put the gospel of Jesus Christ into reggae so that those who have ears to hear might hear of our Savior over a slammin' dancehall mix or a sluggish roots one drop. For me this is a labor of love. In fact, I do not take a salary from GospelReggae.com, and I can't remember when was the last time that I was paid by the company. Instead, I pour all of my resources (including my time) into the growth of something that I believe in. I slave over the computer for more than 12 hours a day trying to find new releases and posting your artist pages. When I am not doing that, I am often in the studio recording or out with Christafari touring the World. But I cannot do this on my own. No lone artist can bring this genre into the light. The success of Gospel Reggae is ultimately up to God, but I firmly believe that he has entrusted it into our hands, just as the Master did in the Parable of the Talents. It's up to us now.

My first step toward this goal in the New Year is to create a massive database of all Gospel Reggae artists. After all, we cannot centralize if we are not organized. So over the Holiday break I worked day and night to compile a list and already have over 300 gospel reggae artists on file. But this is just the beginning and this list is far from complete. Once the list is compiled, I commit to sending you updates on various ways that we can work together to reach more people with our message. I hope to create a Gospel Reggae Academy of sort that will enable us all to communicate with each other, help each other out and further all of our ministries. But I cannot do this without your help.

If you are a Gospel Reggae Artist with at least one professionally recorded song, please fill out the information below and send it back to me ASAP. Also please send me any info that you may have for any other gospel reggae artists that you may know (or know of). If you are a fan, please do your best to spread the word about this struggling genre. And support the artists through buying their CDs or legally downloading their music. Here is the info that I need:

Artist Name:
Your legal name:
E-mail:
Phone Number:
MySpace URL:
Website URL:
FaceBook Profile Name:

Please fill out the above and send it to: mark@lionofzion.com

Blessings in Christ,
Mark Mohr

http://www.gospelreggae.com
http://www.lionofzion.com
http://www.christafari.com
http://www.avionblackman.com
http://www.imisi.com
http://www.reggaesundayschool.com
http://www.positivemusicagency.com