Song:Bounce Back
Album Encore
There was a time when gospel music was presented in a certain way. Everyone wore suits and fancy dresses and the choirs all wore robes. But as Kirk Franklin and Tye Tribbett have shown, if you want reach young people, you have to be more casually dressed and put some pizzaz in the show. And that's why James Fortune & FIYA have become one of today's hottest gospel groups. James Fortune grew up singing in his dad's church in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, TX. and he studied media at Cal State Northridge. In 1998, Fortune moved back to Houston and started his ministry Youth For Christ. In 2000, he changed the name to James Fortune & FIYA (Free In Yahweh's Abundance). He signed a deal with World Wide Music and released the CD You Survived in 2004. But his real breakthrough was with his 2008 CD Transformation. I Trust You topped the Gospel Singles chart for 25 weeks. Bounce Back is from Fortune's new CD Encore. He's still on World Wide but they are now called Black Smoke World Wide Music. This is a gospel label that has been around for years. Guests on the CD include Kierra "Kiki" Sheard, J. Drew Sheard, Isaac Carree and Canton Jones. Fortune's music has all the traditional gospel music trappings but it is presented in a flashy way because the youth is his target audience. Some traditional church folks object to this but the bottom line is the message is still the same. And he writes great songs and arrangements. So James Fortune & FIYA is recommended to gospel music fans. Here's James Fortune & FIYA performing Bounce Back in Houston from the Encore DVD.
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