WHATS INSIDE
JAN/FEB/MAR 08
issue # 11

CONTENTS: 

SPECIAL EVENT
Holy Hip Hop Awards -Atlanta 

DEPARTMENTS
in the news
DJ Will Arrested

Radar-indie artists on the rise
Elle Roc
Transparent
Von Vargas

The Biz
Phyllis Cadell- Why You Need PR

INNERcourt - legal column
The Gospel Of Public Domain Music

Top 10
Top 10 lists from across the U.S.

FEATURES
Mr Del - Hope Dealer
J. Xavier - The Future
Urban D - Un.Orthodox
Lisa McClendon - Neo Soul ICON
Chris Lewis - Crisis

INSIGHT 
2007 Year In Review

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Pick up the full interview in the Jan/Feb/Mar issue of U-ZONE.
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FEATURE
Crisis: A Turning Point for Christopher Lewis
By Charity E. Lewis

BMI Award Winning singer, songwriter and producer Christopher Lewis is on the brink of releasing his most phenomenal and out-of-the-box project to date. Written from the heart of a man who keeps God's people on his mind, Crisis is a collection of true-to-life experiences that seem faux pas to the church. Lyrical realities resound over R&B, Neo-Soul, Hip Hop & Contemporary gospel beats, mixed to bring a brand new sound of breakthrough. 

A man of God with versatile gifts and a fresh anointing, Christopher is no neo in the gospel music realm. CEO of record label, Frontline Entertainment, Inc. and publishing company JonEboi (pronounced JohnnyBoy) Music, he has been a musical mastermind since the tenth grade when he wrote Sing Praises to Thee, recorded by gospel artist Judith Christie-McAllister. Ordained to prophesy to the nations, Christopher is recognized from the streets of ATL, to the UK and even Japan. His success though has not come without a price. Acquainted with adversity, Christopher has a prophetic picture of how crisis is defined. 

"Life will bring about a series of crisis," says the 36 year-old North Carolina native. "The word crisis is really not a negative or a positive word. What crisis really means is a point when change is required. It is a turning point." 

Wisdom revealed to Christopher that crises are normal events that occur in the lives of every person. "Jesus said that in this life we will have trials. In this life we will have tribulation. In His eyesight it's normal for crisis to occur. We just have to know how to respond to it.'"

A father of four, married for thirteen years, Christopher admits that beyond all the glitz and glimmer of his career storms do arise, especially in relationships. 

"My wife and I are separated right now," says Christopher. "Do I blame the devil? No. I blame us." 

Although God sustained the Lewis' marriage while their only daughter underwent three bypass surgeries, while they suffered financial straits, and lived through homelessness, they allowed weeds to strangle that fruitfulness. Now they stand at a crossroad where a decision has to be made to go right or left. 

Though strenuous, the Lewis' warfare is not unfamiliar. Christian marriages across the US are under attack. In fact, the highest rate of divorce is in the church. The enemy continues to perform his works openly while church folk keep sweeping issues under the rug. Christopher on the other hand utilizes his music as a platform to deal with harsh realities hoping that his openness will liberate someone's soul.

"There's so much power in transparency," says Christopher who is in the process of reconciling with his wife. "Every time I think about all of the things we've invested in our marriage my heart leads me to what God is still in favor of…reconciliation." Through his music, Christopher endeavors to encourage other couples and ensure them that God has the final say. 

Purposely, Crisis does not evade any subject that church folk are too "saved" to handle. Christopher is straightforward, addressing marital issues, addiction, adultery, promiscuity and every other topic Christians seem to have a phobia about. 

"Missin' U is about one my closest friends who died without me even knowing that he was sick until it was too late," says Christopher of the young man who was a homosexual. He was crushed, confused and angry, particularly with the church. "We talk about loving one another and the importance of community; but where was all this talk when one of my best friends was struggling with homosexuality?" 

Traumatic experiences akin to death have forced Christopher to reassess his own witness. "I've just found another outlook on the way we do ministry. A whole bunch of gimmicks and a whole lot of tricks that we've learned in the church today don't work." In addition, he doesn't feel that God is concerned with man-made traditional ways of reaching the lost. 

"I don't think that Jesus would hang out every Sunday at our major churches. I think he would hang out more where the pimps, and the prostitutes, and the homeless, and the orphans are," he says. "The real ministry is out there in the streets." 

Like Christ, Christopher has a unique anointing to touch the hearts of man, one person at a time. "I really love people," he says. "If you've been called to ministry it isn't so much about you. It's not so much for you. It's for somebody else." 

Accordingly, Crisis comes from a real man of God, reaching real people, who are dealing with real stuff. "I deal in truth," he says. 

The most important truth on the Crisis album is that God's hand is extended to those who will receive Him. "Even though we slip and we fall there is forgiveness for us," says Christopher. "We make decisions that are not always good for us; but even in that comes the voice of God as He declares 'All things work together.'"

The Crisis project features 28-tracks in two formats: part I-Crisis, Change Is Required (Compact Disc) and part II-Crisis, Comin Out Party (digital download only) featuring Bishop Paul S. Morton, Bishop Jim Swilley, recording artist Darlene McCoy and gospel hip hop artist Dice Gamble. The part I -Crisis CD, available from Tyscot Records, will be in stores and online on May 20, 2008. The part II-Crisis digital will be available only online on June 24, 2008.