DJ Nicholas plans to go one better...

... Gospel artiste says third album to be better than all

Sadeke Brooks, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Having released two previous albums, gospel artiste DJ Nicholas said he would be doing a bit of 'schooling' with his upcoming effort.

DJ Nicholas released On The Shout in 2005 and Louder Than Ever in 2008 and he says those albums were "loud". But this time around, he said this newest album would be centred around teaching.

"This one will be in that same loud context, but now I am gravitating towards school. The songs have a teaching concept around them," he told The Sunday Gleaner, mentioning songs like Divine Mathematics and Bad English.

DJ Nicholas said the album also has variety that younger audiences will gravitate to.

"It has a lot of variety of rhythms - reggae, dancehall, a fusion of dancehall and hip hop. I guess it's where the music is. When I travel, I realise that young persons are the ones that gravitate to my music. So I just have to use the mediums that are fresh, but still delivering the undiluted words of God that never change," he said.

In addition to the teaching, the artiste said the album would also have songs tackling social issues that non-Christians can relate to like Sad Story and One-One Cocoa.

Collaborations

The album also has collaborations with Jason Mighty, Positive from Trinidad, and Sister Sasha, who is known for her secular songs like Natty On Mi Frontline and We Got The Love, both featuring Turbulence. It also has producers like Danny Browne and Fabian Dobney, as well as engineers like Carl Gibson and Andrew McKinley.

While he was reluctant to reveal the name of the album, DJ Nicholas said he believed this one would be better than his previous work.

Change lives

"This is my third album, and I believe I do a better project when I spend time. I believe God blessed me with two good albums, but the first one had a little more of me in terms of the testimony. As old as they are, they are still impacting people's lives," he said.

"I spent time and prayer on this one. Since the last one (album) in 2008, I've been working on this one indirectly. But since last year, I've begun to spend a lot of time on it and a lot of prayer. I am also planning to promote it more aggressively.

"I believe that it is going to be the best of my three albums. It is going to fulfil the purpose for which it was intended, which is to change lives, encourage Christians to be proud to be Christians, and challenge the hearts of non-believers, while creatively teaching the word of God," he said.

As opposed to two launches in Jamaica and Barbados, DJ Nicholas said he plans to launch the album in several countries such as Costa Rica, Trinidad, Canada, Jamaica, and and a few others.

As part of its promotion, DJ Nicholas said he would be giving the album additional publicity by releasing half of the songs from the album prior to its launch.

He has already released Holy Ghost Gym, Cut It Off, and Divine Mathematics, which have music videos. He also plans to release two more songs prior to the release of the album later this year.

"I realised, doing gospel, that people want things that they know, but you still don't want an album being too familiar. Half is old, half new," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

In addition to the new album, DJ Nicholas said he had touched new ground with a recent performance in Belize. He said he had also got an invitation to perform in Africa.

DJ Nicholas was also a judge on Digicel Rising Stars recently and also part of the RE School Tour. He is also quite passionate about a movement called 'A Betta Tomorrow', a concert and outreach programme started by Kevin Smith.

He said the group has done outreach in Montego Bay and St Elizabeth and plans to go to Negril prior to a big concert in November.