Marvelous Music is the beginning of a vision. It is a vision given to me late on the night of April 11, 2001. I was watching tv in my apartment living room (ECU - Greenville, NC), drinking away my sorrows. As I flipped throught the channels, I came across an encore presentation of BET's Celebration of Gospel. I stopped and watched. Donnie McClurkin was on stage singing, "We Fall Down." In that instance God spoke to me and I realized my calling. Singer. Songwriter. Musicisan. Producer.

I grew up in the small town of Mt. Gilead, NC and the church is where I fell in love with music. My parents (Talbert and Gail) raised my older sister (Kinetta), my younger brother (Kenton) and me in the church (Clarks Grove Missionary Baptist Church). My sister and I joined the youth choir as kids. Then when we were teenagers we sang with the adult choir. I later rejoined the youth choir (the Unique Voice of Praise led by Dennis Reed, Jr.) as a vocalist and as the drummer. I always knew I could keep a beat but never tried out the drums. Turns out I was pretty good at it.

While we were still kids, my sister decided she wanted to take piano lessons and I figured if she was doing it then I wanted to do it. I didn't stick with it but I did pay attention to my sister. I just wanted to do what she was doing. That's what younger siblings do. I would listen to her practice at home and when ever she was finished I would go and try to play what I heard her playing. Of course, I had no idea that there was a gift growing in me. Playing the piano, just like playing the drums and singing, came naturally for me ...God's gifting.

When I got to middle school I was the first 6th grader allowed to sing with the school chorus. I sang with them until the end of my 8th grade year. I didn't sing with the high school chorus (fell in love with basketball) but when I started my freshman year at Mars Hill College some of my new friends suggested I audition for the college choir. I walked in the audition. I had no idea what to expect. I found out that I had to sight read some music. I had no clue as to what that meant. That's where God stepped in. He guided me through that audition. The director wlecomed me to the choir and I performed with them for the two years I was at Mars Hill. I also sang with the Harambee Gospel Choir and formed my own a capella group while I was there.

After that I transferred to East Carolina University (I had the great idea that I was going to be a doctor). This is where the Lord really started to open my eyes about His plans for me. This is where I met my best friend, Shawn Moore. He was a biology major like me and once we discovered the we both sang and played the piano we were homies for life. We spent countless hours in his apartment and in the music building auditorium and practice rooms learning how to play and sing what seemed like a million songs. We basically lived in the music building. Shawn started showing me all the things he knew about the keyboard and my skills just took off. I credit him with really catapulting me towards the sky with playing and writing ...even with rapping. It wasn't long before I began writing my own songs, producing and making beats on his keyboard.

After graduating from ECU my family and I formed a couple of groups (Forever Changed and IAD). I sang with two of the choirs at Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, NC; the Voices of Peace and the Spirit of Peace. I later directed choirs and served as minister of music at Longview United Methodist Church (Raleigh, NC) and Lakewood United Methodist Church (Durham, NC). All these things happened while I didn't know how to read a note of music. God's grace and favor was carrying me and it would continue to do so.

Finally I decided that I wanted to have a music degree. I didn't know what school would let me in but I had to try and let them be the ones who told me no. I auditioned for the music department at North Carolina Central University thanks to my friend Marcia Patterson. They accepted me and I was on the Music Industry track. I was so excited about being able to learn to read and write music. While I was there I discovered jazz. It blew my mind. I just had to change my major to jazz studies. I auditioned and they accepted me. In 2014 I graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies as a vocal performance major. I couldn't believe it. I had a degree in music. But I wanted more. I returned to NCCU and graduated in 2016 with a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies with a concetration in composition and arranging. Now I teach vocal jazz at that very university.

What does all of this have to do with Marvelous Music? This is Marvelous Music. My life, from the introduction of music to a masters degree to becoming a music instructor, makes up everything that is Marvelous Music.

Marvelous Music is quality music. It's gospel. It's hip hop. It's rock. It's pop. It's jazz. It's classical. It's every genre of music that has influenced me. This music honors God. This music tells people about Him. No compromise. Marvelous Music is life music. Marvelous Music is life-changing music.

Marvelous Music is a music group. It's a production company. It's a record label. It's a subsidiary of a larger conglomerate that provides media that is Christ centered.

This is Marvelous Music.