Learn to Trust, Repeat
By Lisa Collins, senior music editor, gmclife.com
When gospel sensation James Fortune set out to record his new album, he knew exactly who he could count on for success: God.
Says Fortune, “It kind of took the pressure off me when I realized God had to bless it. He did it before with The Transformation and the single, ‘I Trust You,’ and I know He can do it again.”
That, in a nutshell, is the premise of the new project, Encore, which released January 26: that “God is a God of repeat performances and you can depend on Him for an encore. So it’s basically asking God to come back out to the stage of your life and fix it like He did before. If you praise Him, he will come back and do what he’s done for you so many times before.”
So far, Encore is off to a great start, bowing at #2 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, #7 on the Independent Album chart, #14 on the Current R&B Album Overall chart, and #51 on the Top 200 Albums chart. It also debuted at #2 on iTunes’ Christian/Gospel chart.
The title track and first single, co-written by Fortune, is currently on both gospel and urban mainstream radio, charted at #7 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Song chart, and is crossing over to the Top 20 at Urban Adult Contemporary radio.
But Fortune has a long way to go in besting the success of his previous record-setting CD, The Transformation, which featured the hit song “I Trust You,” the longest #1 hit single in gospel music, with its unprecedented run at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs charts for 29 consecutive weeks. The song is still currently at #11 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart.
The difference this time around is that people know the voice behind the song, and have thus been anticipating the new project.
“The whole first year with ‘I Trust You,’ people knew the song but not me,” Fortune explains. “Now, they know who I am.”
It seems Fortune’s peers were also eager to participate. Encore features duets with Kierra “KiKi” Sheard on “The Greatest;” “I Need Your Glory” with William Murphy; “I Want to Praise You” with Men of Standard’s Isaac Caree; “You Are Here” with Men of Standard’s Lowell Pye and Zacardi Cortez; and “Holy Ghost Holiday” with Canton Jones.
“Being such a fan of gospel music, these were people whose music has really blessed me, so it was good for me to be able to take my songwriting and to combine it with their anointing and see what God was going to do.
“This album is [again] mostly songs of encouragement and praise & worship. Just to really realize that when you get in God’s presence for praise and worship, it makes everything in your life better,” states the once homeless Houston-based artist who signed to World Wide Gospel in 2004, after CEO Kerry Douglas heard a song that Fortune had single-handedly convinced a local radio station to play.
Encore also includes a live version of the hit song, “I Trust You,” and a DVD is set for release in stores this May.
You Might Also Like
Good Fortune: James Fortune weighs in on what it feels like to have the most requested gospel song in the country
Fifty Years Strong for Mighty Clouds of Joy
Trailblazers McClurkin and Crouch Honored
A Love Song for Haiti: Gospel Community Rallies to Aid in Relief Efforts
