BLACK SMOKE RECORDING ARTIST MONICA LISA STEVENSON SCORES FIRST BILLBOARD NO. 1 CARD DISPLAY
Veteran gospel singer Monica Lisa Stevenson has been wading through the waters as an independent artist for nearly two decades with fringe radio hits like “He’s the One,” “So Glad He Saved Me” and “Testimony.” However, she’s now making waves with Black Smoke Music Worldwide CEO Kerry Douglas, who has given her both her first Billboard chart entry and her first No. 1 hit. The bluesy, mid-tempo “I’m Not Ahamed,” featuring quarterback Paul Porter, tops this week’s Billboard Gospel Airplay chart — after 21 weeks of reaching the Top 30.
“I am thrilled and grateful for this accomplishment,” she said. “It has been a long and exciting journey over the years to get to this point. I am even more thrilled that it has happened during my 20th year in music ministry.”
Singer-songwriter VaShawn Mitchell originally wrote the song for gospel legend Shirley Caesar.
“I’ve always prayed that God would allow me to write, produce and sing songs that can outlive me,” he said. “I wrote that song with Pastor Caesar in mind, and I offered it to her, but she didn’t feel it was right for her and passed it on.”
As luck would have it, Mitchell was in the recording studio one day with Stevenson’s engineer husband, Derrick, when Monica’s name came up. “VaShawn asked Derrick if Monica was open to new music and pitched them the song. They added Paul Porter and the rest is history,” says Stevenson’s manager, Ruben Freeman.
The first of six children of quartet singer George Bowen (The Sensational Gospelaires), Stevenson grew up in Wetumpka, AL and now lives in Atlanta, GA. She and her husband, Derrick, launched the Monicamuzik label in 2009 with the album, Finally… in God’s Time. In 2013, she followed up with the Live in Atlanta project and Kainos (The Acoustic Documentary) in 2016.
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The post office Monica Lisa Stevenson gets her first Billboard hit! first appeared on Black Gospel Radio.
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