Gospel Artist Marvin Sapp
On Friday morning August 6 I had the opportunity to spend some time with Pastor Marvin Sapp. Sapp was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1968 and began singing in church at age four. He spent his teenage years singing with a number of Gospel groups and ensembles before being invited by Gospel singer Fred Hammond to sing with Commissioned in 1991 after Keith Staten left. Marvin Sapp appears on the group's albums Number 7, Matters of the Heart, and Irreplaceable Love. Sapp left in 1996 and was replaced by Marcus R. Cole.
In 1995, Sapp decided to establish himself as a contemporary gospel solo artist and has recorded seven albums. Sapp first achieved crossover fame with the release of "Never Would Have Made It" from the album Thirsty in 2007. It peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, #82 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and also at #1 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart. Thirsty debuted at #28 on the U.S. Billboard 200, #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and also #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Gospel Albums. It has been certified gold by the RIAA due to the album selling over 500,000 copies, making it Sapp's bestselling album of his solo career, and has so far sold over 712,000 copies[1]. In 2009, Sapp won all seven Gospel Stellar Awards that he was nominated for.
Sapp recorded Thirsty’s follow-up album, Here I Am, on October 16, 2009 at Resurrection Life Church in Wyoming, Michigan and released it on March 16, 2010. With its release, Sapp became the all-time highest charting gospel artist in Billboard's 54-year history of tracking album sales.[2] By selling approximately 76,000 copies of Here I am its first week out; the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, making Here I Am the highest charting album ever by a gospel artist [3]. Here I Am's lead single, "The Best in Me," which was co-written by the album's producer, Aaron Lindsey (Israel Houghton), peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, #1 on Billboard's Gospel Songs chart[4] and reached #20 (with a bullet) on Billboard's Urban AC chart.
Finally in closing, I have been bless to introduce Marvin Sapp in concerts for our Radio Network in Orlando, FL for www.rejoice1140.com WRMQ, The WIDU Anniversary Celebration in Fayetteville, North Carolina www.widurejoice.com
A special Thank you goes to Tracy Artis and Chaka Buraimoh, I Hear Music, Inc.
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