On Valentine’s Day, February 14, Mathew Knowles’ Music World Gospel will release two CD projects from Le’Andria: The Evolution of Le’Andria Johnson, a seven song EP, and The Awakening Of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe Edition, which contains the seven songs released on her debut CD plus seven new songs. This week, Le’Andria’s debut project, The Awakening Of Le’Andria Johnson lands at #5 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Album chart and her new single, “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” is #1 Most Added on Billboard’s Gospel charts.
Le’Andria’s ensemble performance with Kim Burrell, Martha Munizzi and Jessica Reedy on the 27th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards will air on GMC, Saturday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET, with encore broadcasts at 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. ET. In addition, at 6:00 p.m. ET, GMC will present “The Stellar Awards Backstage,” an exclusive one-hour behind the scenes Red Carpet preview of the 27th Annual Stellar Awards.
The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe, which features songs with styles that range from traditional/contemporary gospel to R&B, showcases Le’Andria’s unique combination of power, skill and reverence that makes her a popular recording artist and an inspirational performer. New songs on the CD and the EP, The Evolution of Le’Andria Johnson, include her new single, “It’s Gonna Be Alright,” a high energy urban contemporary song, written and produced by Stanley Brown, in which she assures the listener that even when things seem difficult, God is standing by and things are going to be alright; and “He Was There,” a song that reminds us that God is there waiting for us to come to Him, written by Gary Paxton and Andrea Martin and produced by Stanley Brown. In the soulful “Let it Go,” written and produced by Raphael Saadiq, Taura Stinson and Sara Devine, Le’Andria encourages people to let go of their burdens and let God handle them.
She goes back to her traditional gospel roots in “Sooner or Later,” an uplifting song about God turning your life around, written by Hubert Powel III and produced by Brandon “B.A.M.” Alexander and H. Doobie Powell for Chip Off the Block Productions. “He First Loved Me,” an R&B style song of praise, was written by Le’Andria and her brother, Michael Johnson, who is a featured singer on this track. Le’Andria also recorded a full-length version of the popular song, “I Shall Leap Into My Destiny,” which she wrote with her brother Terrance Johnson. Le’Andria performed this inspirational song after being crowned the winner of Sunday Best. “Overtaken” rounds out the seven new offerings on the deluxe CD and the EP. Written and produced by Eric Dawkins, it is an upbeat song of praise for the way her life has changed since God took it over.
The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe Edition also features her GRAMMY-nominated single, “Jesus,” co-written by Le’Andria. An urban contemporary song, with traditional gospel roots, it offers Le’Andria’s soulful and stirring testimony about the difference Jesus has made in her life, and her impassioned plea to the listener to turn to Jesus and “call Him like you want Him, call Him like you need him.” Other songs on the CD include “Cast the First Stone,” a mid-tempo song with a memorable, contemporary tune and a powerfully delivered message about how wrong it is to pass judgment on each other, also co-written by Le’Andria; “Make Him Like You,” an R&B-style petition to God to lead her toward the true love that He designed for her; “New Reason,” a new millennium twist on 1960s soul, with a message about turning from bad relationships to a new and better relationship with God; and “Struggle Not,” co-written by Le’Andria and her brother, Terrance Johnson, a spiritually uplifting and compellingly worship song about God’s blessings in our lives.
The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson Deluxe Edition also includes two tracks with medleys of songs performed by Le’Andria on Sunday Best. The first medley combines her roof-raising rendition of Quincy Jones’ and Andraé Crouch’s “God Is Trying to Tell You Something,” from the Broadway musical, The Color Purple, and her fresh take on Fred Hammond’s (Commissioned) hit song, “Running Back to You.” In the second medley, Le’Andria puts her spin on Myron Butler and Levi’s pop-style hit, “Set Me Free,” and offers a heartfelt rendition of “I Shall Leap into My Destiny.”
Le’Andria Johnson, has taken the gospel music scene by storm since being crowned the season three winner of BET’s Sunday Best in 2010. Her debut CD, The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson, entered at #1 on multiple music charts, including both the Billboard Top Gospel Albums and the Top Christian/Gospel Albums charts. The CD also debuted at #1 on the Christian Music Trade Association’s Current Gospel Overall chart. It spent eight weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, and remained in the Top 5 for over 15 weeks. Le’Andria also received her first GRAMMY® nomination for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music performance for her debut single, “Jesus.” She also released a Christmas CD, Christmas Best.
Le’Andria won Best Female Gospel Artist of 2011 for the First Annual Digital Gospel Music Awards—produced by Interactive One/Elev8.com. Le’Andria was nominated in the same category as Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Maurette Brown-Clark, Martha Munizzi, Kim Burrell, Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark Cole, Beverly Crawford, Lisa Page Brooks.