Kingdom Records has repackaged the platinum-selling Shekinah Glory Ministry’s groundbreaking 2001 double-disc, praise and worship opus, “Praise Is What I Do” CD, just in time for Black Music Month. The newly remastered CDs divide the original 22-track album into the sets, “Worship” (SRP: $13.99) and, “Praise” (SRP: $13.99).
Shekinah Glory Ministry is a leader in African-American praise and worship music over the last dozen years. The million-selling SGM is not a choir. Instead, it’s a dynamic ensemble of psalmists, minstrels, and banner bearers who perform “under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. “ Their Hebrew name means: “the glorified presence of God.” Their debut CD was released in spring 2001 as a custom CD. The soul stirring, nine -minute ballad, “Praise is What I Do” was led by a then-little known Atlanta pastor named William Murphy. The simple lyrics touched a chord with a nation heartbroken over the 9/11 terrorist attacks and seeking some spiritual resolve amid the chaos. “Through the good and the bad, I’ll praise you,” Murphy sang in his urgent tone. “I’ll praise you, whether I’m happy or sad, I’ll praise you In all – In all that I go through because praise is, is what, is what I do.”
Over the next two years, the song dominated gospel radio playlists throughout the USA and instantly put Shekinah Glory Ministry on the music map. Furthermore, the CD, “Praise Is What I Do”, peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart and spent another 48 weeks on the survey. In the gospel world, only a handful of artists such as Kirk Franklin or Mary Mary ever earn a gold record, so it was quite a fete that Shekinah Glory Ministry’s first CD, on a tiny little start-up label, would be certified gold on November 18, 2005.
The CD, “Praise”, boasts ten songs from the project such as the radical “Forever Praise” and the pulsating track, “We Magnify Your Name.” Then, there are congregational sing-a-long tunes such as “Lift Up the Name of the Lord” and the soaring ballad, “Hallelujah Praise.” The CD, “Worship”, is comprised of 11 tracks such as the mellow, “Fall on Me” and the tender love song to God, “I Embrace You.” It also includes the full version of “Praise is What I Do” that clocks in at over sixteen minutes. Meanwhile, Kingdom Records is putting the final touches on Shekinah Glory Ministry’s next live CD, “Surrender”, that will be released September 25, 2012. For more info on Kingdom Records or Shekinah Glory Ministry, log on at www.kingdomrecordsinc.com.
