::THE SLICE REPORT WITH MONA AUSTIN

The Malaco Music Group has amassed the the largest black gospel catalog in the world. Their new collection The Gospel According to Malaco: Celebrating 75 Years of Gospel Music (out February 28, 2019) is an unparalleled book and eight CD set which tells the story of gospel music over a seventy-five year period from the post-war years to the present. This is the first time this story has been told in size and scope, providing the history behind one of the most important genres in music.   Check out a Spotify sampler of The Gospel According to Malaco: Celebrating 75 Years of Gospel Music HERE .   The compilation offers a number of hit recordings along with numerous musical treasures just waiting to be discovered. The collection includes Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Rev. James Cleveland, along with other notable artists such as The Gospel Keynotes, Solomon Burke, The Caravans and The Mississippi Mass Choir. This set is also o...

buzzz worthy. . . By Mona Austin A lifetime of Dyslexia could not stop gospel great from reaching 40 year career anniversary Andrae Crouch and his twin sister and Co-Pastor of Christ Redeemer Church, were inseparable, serving a lifetime in ministry together. The following interview is being reprinted in honor of the legacy of  the late Pastor Andrae Crouch.    Crouch discussed having an enlarged heart and a history of congestive heart failure when we spoke. The seven time Grammy winner and Hollywood Walk of Fame Star recipient suffered with various ailments for years including  cancer and diabetes which took him off the national scene for many years.  Just days before his death he'd suffered a heart attack which was ultimately the cause of his death. In 2006 Crouch returned to recording and released "Mighty Wind," which was more of a tribute project with minimal vocal contribution from him.     A San Francisco nativ...

buzzz worthy. . . By Mona Austin Reach Records artist Lecrae has successfully gone where no other Gospel artist has ever gone before. Every Pop and Gospel star with a current hit is taking a back seat to  the Christian rapper who's album "Anomaly" is living up to its name as the #1 song on Billboard's mainstream and gospel charts. This is the first time a gospel album of any genre has debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Maroon 5 came in at #2. Having sold over 88,000 copies during the week of its debut, Lecrae is taking the music world by storm.  These numbers eclipse the 72,000 units his Grammy winning album "Gravity" (released in 2012) garnered when it was released in 2012. Various singles from "Anomaly"  also occupy  slots 1, 3, 4, and 9,  on the top Hot Gospel Songs chart. Shortly after the release of "Anomaly" Lecrae announced plans to release a book in a Rapzilla interview. The book, said the self-proclaimed ...