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After a four-year hiatus multifaceted singer/songwriter Michelle Bonilla readies to release her sophomore studio effort entitled In Spite of Me, April 13th on RockSoul Productions.

The recent Temple University Cum Laude graduate first came on the scene with her 2006 release “Phenomenal” where her single ‘Sin Ti’ charted on the top 20 CHR charts.

Sheâ??s back with her producer Lee Jerkins (Out of Eden, Cross Movement) with an inspirational 16-track CD–13 full songs and three diary excerpts–with strong infusions of R&B, pop and Latin melodies featuring Jamaican gospel recording artist Chevelle Franklin, and gospel hip-hop artists Lecrae, Flame, and R-Swift.  “My music is a blend of who I am culturallyâ??urban, Latin, rock and soul,” says Bonilla.

The first single, I Love You, is a fun anthem-like song. According to Bonilla, “Itâ??s a new way to praise without the traditional flare.”  Itâ??s also the cry of her heart when it comes to how she feels about God.

That’s What Love Is, the second single, is a cool mid-tempo groove that explains that Jesus is the answer, More than any diamonds you can buy me/ I want a love that can’t be measured by things/I want a perfect unconditional love/Jesus is where you’ll find unconditional love.  “ The idea of true love has been so blurred by societyâ??s mundane and selfish values that theyâ??ve sold a lie to girls everywhere, and the saddest part is that the girls believe it,” says Bonilla.  “I wanted them to see what true love looks like, and that itâ??s nothing like what theyâ??ve seen or heard on TV or radio.”

The up-beat title track, In Spite of Me, co-written by Bonilla, is filled with Christ-centered lyrics where the theme talks about a perfect God and an imperfect humanity, while the dance tune Give It Up will keep you moving and praising God.

You is a personal favorite of Michelle’s. “It  says everything I feel when I just canâ??t seem to get it together. When my world is going crazy I donâ??t need nobody else I need You

You Donâ??t Have Cry is a story-telling cut that reaches down to Michelle’s contemporary roots.  “Itâ??s like I sat down in the middle of a circle surrounded by young people who came to listen to an encouraging story. I used to love story time as a kid and I guess thatâ??s why I wrote it that way.”

Persevere is a Tina Turner/Skillet rock out song.  Bonilla says “the lyrics are very real and they talk about real life issues. Itâ??s my way of saying hey, life is not simple it has its crazy moments but we will persevere through Christ Jesus.â?

Other standout tracks include the beautiful ballads Eres El Rey(spanish for “You Are The King”), I Am, and My Story.

“In Spite of who we are, at our core, God sees what we will be.  We are free to pour out our hearts before him openly in worship and in truth, because he longs to have a relationship with us,” says Bonilla.

No stranger to the industry Bonilla has performed in the company of artists as Crystal Lewis, Nicole Mullen, Out Of Eden, and Papa San, and has been featured on Cross Movementâ??s Grammy and Dove nominated album â??Higher Definition.â?

Four years later, with a newfound understanding of who she is in Christ, Michelle Bonilla presents her sophomore album, In Spite of Me, an attempt to illustrate that being a Christian is a process of growth and a journey of becoming more Christ-like. With refreshing, strong, and stirring vocals, she shares her faith in a fun and unobtrusive way. She talks about her real life struggles and how she has been able to overcome them with Christ.

Kirk Franklin introduces new book THE BLUEPRINT: A Plan for Overcoming Life’s Obstacles

For some people, obstacles are minor bumps in the road on the way to success. For others, obstacles represent a major catastrophe of epic proportions threatening to disrupt any chance of success they may have otherwise had. But for seven-time GRAMMY® award winner Kirk Franklin, obstacles represent the challenges needed to propel you through life. In THE BLUEPRINT: A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms (Gotham Books; May 18, 2010; ), Franklin reveals how he turned negative aspects from his own life-drugs, an absent father, teenage parenthood, poverty, etc.-into blessings by learning from them and moving forward. The beauty of THE BLUEPRINT is that Franklin by no way claims to be perfect or have insider knowledge of how to live your life wisely, but rather puts his setbacks and faults on full blast and suggests that oftentimes people, like Franklin at one point, go through life without a plan for success, simply living purposelessly, and without a person to show them the right way. THE BLUEPRINT fills the void of not knowing which way to turn and arms you the necessary tools to succeed.

By the time Franklin was just fifteen years old, he was a young father, without an encouraging  figure in his life, and just another statistic on the street. As he explains in THE BLUEPRINT, “The street corner was my classroom. The ‘hood was my Harvard.” He went through life thinking he knew it all, and blamed the fact that he didn’t have a role model for not being able to achieve his dreams, until the day he realized he had to turn his life around and become the man he needed to be on his own. That is what Franklin has outlined in THE BLUEPRINT-a chance for young people to become the person they need to be, no matter what the situation, or where they come from.

Today, Franklin is the proud father of four and devoted husband of fourteen years, as well as one of the biggest multiplatinum-selling gospel artists of all time. He credits his faith in God and a very close mentor he found later in his life for his success.

Whether you’re down and out, misguided, or simply need a boost to push forward, THE BLUEPRINT is the essential guide to creating a better you, one day at a time. Success doesn’t come easy, but it will come with a helping hand. Follow THE BLUEPRINT and start living the life you were always meant to live.

Did King Solomon have 27 inch rims? Did Ezekiel have a vision of God riding on spinners??? Well, during this Good News Talk Show, Timashion Jones(an American rapper, poet and actor) goes into a rim shop in Michigan to look at some rims! He also reads what the Scriptures has to say about them. Now, if kings who God ordained were riddin’ on big wheels, and if God even had some spinners… certainly we can ride on them as Christians! Let’s see….

Oh yeah, some of you will be pleased to know that Timashion records and edits all of his episodes right on his iPhone (even uploads them to YouTube with it! Gotta give props where props are due roho safi!ama vp??!! some Jesus swagga right thurr!!LOL!).

On with the show!

The National Weather Service advises that if you’re ever caught out in the open during severe lightning storm, you should kneel down, bend forward, and put your hands on your knees. Then, if lightning strikes nearby, your body will be less likely to serve as a conductor. Maximum safety depends on keeping a low physical profile.

The same applies to Christians caught in life’s storms- we must assume a low spiritual posture. This means we must humble ourselves before the Lord, because pride and rebellion can harden us. I speak truthfully, depart from evil, do good and seek peace. Our heavenly Father wants us to stay close to Him when our hearts are hurting so He can impart His renewing strength and healing love.

Yes, we’ll get drenched in the driving rains of adversity, and sometimes its fierce winds will buffet us so severely that we’ll almost be swept off our feet. With each blinding flash of lightning we may be strongly tempted to get up and run. But keeping a low spiritual profile of humility and fear of God is the surest and safest way to weather the storm. David assured us that those who trust in God in life’s storm will not be condemned.

Easter Musical And Poetry Night Review

Well Easter came early this year.Yes I said it.The Easter Musical and Poetry night was held last weekend at the thika community chapel.And mayne did those boys and girls represent and deliver the true meaning of Easter.The musical kicked off immediately at 7pm and surprisingly majority were seated and were enjoying the candle lit ambiance at the chapel and whispering to each other as they reflected on the day.I must say i was impressed.

On the keys was our main man ‘the seven fingers’ Danny,The slamPoet Mantu,The Narrator Nellex,The vocalists Faith, Arthur  & Josephine,The Hiphoppers X-nolix & Daniel kye.

Dannie playing those keys of life.

You should trying listening to this guy via an Mp3 player or an I-pod mmmmmmmm,

Gifted and talented i Say,A young Isaiah Katumwa in the making.(Aaron rimbui should look out for this guy)

Faith,Dan and Mantu push on into the evening making sure that the musical was well delivered.

The crowd looks on,one can tell really tell that they didnt want to loose track of a single narration as the perfomance

pressed onto the night.If you really are kin you might just spot on of our official editors in the crowd(Some homework for you)

7:45pm:Faith delivers a wonderful solo perfomance about Easter with dannie on the keyboard

Mantu leads the way with His Up Up into the air act out.For sho Jesus rose again from the dead.

The crowd loves it and joins in.

If you look into the below pic try an spot nellex in the green top

(Nellex just had to pose and exhibit his shagzmodoz swag , and pose for the camera instead of joining in the jig)

The spoken word checked in at exactly 8:05pm with Dan & Dannie on the guitar

Faith presses on with a solo Kiswahili  perfomance about the Love of Christ

Well most definitely we would not leave out the ambience,we had to take this snap and

make sure that you caught a glimpse of how it looked like through the naked eye.Impressive I say “Well lit”

Dannie and X-nolics present the wonderful hiphop jazz act.I just coulnt stop bobbing my head,for a minute there i thought i was a hiphopper.

X-nolics hold it down for the hiphop heads

The crowd savors the soulful sounds

8:15pm Members of Bgp’s(well we thought they could only dance,think again!They can sing to,and SING VERY WELL)

8:20pm Nellex delivers his narration as He brings the musical to a beautiful end,this guy should try applying for a job at CNN,i must say his diction was on point.

The crowd right outside the chapel

8:45 pm All good things have a good and beautiful end,Mary right outside the chapel takes a snap with the reknown Mantu the poet “looking Good”

Well the show had ended but this fans just had to stay on and take a snap

The technical team of x-hoodz just had to steal the show.

from left Dannie “music maestro”,Sam Kan-x(music producer) Dj Priesty (X-hoodz CEO),Doxa (Dj)

Excellent show,excellent performance.We believe this is just the beginning of wonderful shows to come  where Christ is the center piece.We pray and believe that people will get to know about the love of Christ.HAPPY EASTER!

Well done

In this video, GIV G features Dannie, who is also his producer.

GIV G is also on facebook as Steve Mugwe

Giv-g (aka Give clean Gospel) was born in central Kenya.
He got Born again when he was 8yrs old at a local church meeting and from then on,he’s been growing stronger in the Lord and ministering the gospel through music.
Giv-g developed interest in music back in high school in form 2 through the influence of his older brother who used to write Hip Hop and RnB music both for himself and for other artists.
It was not easy for Giv-g to develop the writing skills since he was born in the rural area where his literal skills and diction were an impairment but he pushed on, putting his thoughts into writing and as he went to school, he got good at it and is now the great songwriter he is today.
His first song titled ‘Rapture’ was written by his brother (Tonnie) and coincidentally recorded at the now defunct Rapture Records,he started taking rap seriously through  2002 in high school and in the same year he wrote his first piece which was more poetic as compared to rap.

In yr 2007 he joined AFTISSA Music Initiative which he has being recording his music with the producer Dannie Biu at the X-hoodz studios.
Last year he recorded a single ‘DIMENSIONS’ featuring Dannie whichwas nominated in TALANTA AWARDS in USA.
He is currently recording his debut album to be released later this year which features amazing songs like GUTIRI featuring Nimmoh(an up and coming urbansoul artist) and YOU,among others.GIV-G is signed to X-HOODZ ENTERTAINMENT under AFTISAA MUSIC (a project called OkaY Music)

Giv-g’s musical influences include artists like Da T.R.U.T.H, J Jahnson, Derrick Haddon, Rigga, No xcuse,Tonnie(his bro), M.O.J.E( his former high skul student) among others….

GIV-G is a born again hip-hop artist singed to X-HOODZ.In this video, he features Dannie who is also heâ??s producer.

You can get GIV-G on facebook as Steve Mugwe

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

I’ve observed a principle: The pathway to leadership almost always takes us through the valley of adversity. We see this principle not only in the story of Joseph, who endured thirteen years of adversity, but also in the lives of many other leaders in both the Old and New Testament.

Moses was raised in the royal splendor of Pharaoh’s household in Egypt, but he was forced to flee and spend 40 years in desert exile before God spoke from a burning bush and called him to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery. Joshua spent the years of his youth as a slave in Egypt and his middle-aged years wandering in the desert at Moses’ side. He was  well acquainted with adversity when God called him to lead Israel’s armies in the conquest of Canaan. The prophet Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions before he could reach a place of power and influence in the Babylonian courts. And we see this same pattern played out in the lives of David, Isaiah, Amos, Hosea and other Old Testament leaders.

Turning to the New Testament, we see that even Jesus had to face adversity in the desert, suffering hunger, thirst, temptation and opposition from Satan. Only then could He begin His public ministry. The Lord’s disciples had to endure the loss of their Master, the failure of their own faith and character, and the dark days of despair between the cross and the empty tomb before they could become the founding leaders of the Lord’s church.

It’s hard to find anyone in Christian history who became a great leader without earning an advanced degree at the “University of Adversity.”