Featured photo of Joe Brown by Ashley Sanders
Written by Tanya Terry
According to Joe Brown, president of The Blessings Are Real music group, he did not choose gospel rap. It chose him.
Although during his younger years, Brown was impacted by his father, the pastor of Greater Mt. Zion Church, his surroundings also affected him.
“I grew up in the church, but I also grew up in the streets,” explained Brown. “My father was pastoring, but at that time, my older brother was a part of a gang that he was head of. So, I was heavily influenced by the churches and heavily influenced by my sibling. But, at the time, as God delivered me from some things, I got back into the church, coming from out of that street life. I just saw a great need for really helping the young adults and the youth.”
Brown told the Courier he led a lot of people in the wrong direction when he was in the streets.
“So, once God came and did some work on me, and did some real change in my life, I really wanted to give back,” continued Brown. “I really wanted to motivate, encourage, uplift and just inspire and just motivate people by all means and just point them to the direction of Jesus Christ.”
A traumatic incident that happened in 2007 encouraged Brown to start pastoring in 2020.
Brown’s son died when umbilical cord got wrapped around his neck. Brown wasn’t eating. He was only drinking liquor, and his skin was changing colors.
Brown explained the Lord sent his older brother back from Atlanta, Georgia. Brown said his brother started encouraging him and praying for him.
“Before you know it, I started acting and thinking totally different.”
Some of Brown’s goals have been to build others up rather than tear them down, as well as build the city of Flint back up. He is now the pastor of Greater Mt. Zion, located on Avenue A, which his father used to pastor.
Through Brown’s transformation, he saw many other lives changed. Brown said he is passionate about bringing about change through the musical gift God has given him. He said he also became somewhat of a father figure to a young man named Darius Givens.
“Not saying that his father wasn’t in his life, but sometimes when you want your father to be there, he might not be there. So, by me being the leader I am, I started spending time with him.”
According to Brown, Givens has grown in many ways. Givens is a member of the Blessings Are Real Music Group. Givens has also, like Brown, been recognized as a musician.
For the WVIU Music Awards 2023, Givens won the awards for Songs on Repeat for “Praise God” and for Listener’s Choice – Favorite New Artist. WVIU specializes in playing a variety of music by independent, new and upcoming Christian and gospel artists. According to its website, WVIURadio.net has an audience of nearly 20,000 and is growing worldwide.
Joe Brown also got nominated by a board of artists and other people for the WVIU Music Awards and received the awards for Favorite Gospel Rap Song of the Year for “Light Up in the Darkness” and for Trailblazing Artist of the Year.
Voting was open to people worldwide, and some nominees were backed by major record labels.
“We’re more independent. But that tells you we had a lot of support from around the country, from Flint, to Atlanta, to D.C., to all over. It was just amazing in itself!…By it being like a gospel award ceremony, Christian ceremony, I felt like not only was it for the body of Christ, but it also was for the state of Michigan and for the Flint city – and also representing Beecher! I really just show love from there, and representing just the company The Blessings Are Real, representing our church.”
An award ceremony was held at Asbury Place in Pensacola, Florida.
Brown said the recognition shows if a person stays dedicated and faithful to what they are doing and believes they can accomplish something, great things truly can happen!
Brown told the Courier his song “Light Up in the Darkness” is about “shining in a dark place where there is so much chaos and wickedness going on.”
“I feel like God gave me that song so that I could be light in the dark place…My Father put me on assignment to go and share the good news of his son and my brother Jesus Christ.”
Joe Brown is also being awarded with the Legacy Award in Washington, D.C. through the Christian Young Adults on December 9.
His music can be found on WDIU, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon and various social media platforms.
To hear Darius Givens’ award-winning song “Praise God,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mgu0Jc_VMc
For more information on WDIU, visit https://wviuradio.net/.
