Filed under: Interviews, Music, Gospel
Grammy winning gospel singer Fred Hammond has released nearly 20 original CDs as both a solo artist and with his former group Commissioned.
The Detroit-bred vocalist, whose career began as a bass player for The Winans, has carved out a distinctive niche for himself over his 25-year career. Now the Stellar and Dove Award-winning artist is hoping to create a new legacy as a label executive with the re-launch of his music label fHammond Family Entertainment, which is now in partnership with Universal Music Christian Group.
"The first thing is that I didn't want this to be an artist-driven label. I wanted it to be a catalogue driven label," Hammond told BV Buzz. "I think lots of new artists see the BET generation - Puffy with Biggie, Kanye with Jay-Z, and Dr. Dre with Eminem and Snoop Dogg - and they figure that they're suppose to blow up like that. But they don't realize that this is gospel. It's a whole different thing and you gotta work, and you gotta work hard. I look forward to this new label because I will be able to educate artists for real. I'm teaching new writers and there are great voices out there. I want to give these new voices an opportunity to have a platform to be heard. I'm looking to bring a fresher voice to gospel."
fHa
mmond Family Entertainment was previously housed at Verity/Zomba Music and boasted a roster of talent that included Joann Rosario, Shea Norman and The Singletons. Hammond said he learned a lot in his previous partnership, but is eager to expand his company in the new venture with Universal.
"Zomba had fulfilled all obligations to fHammond Family Music and I had fulfilled my obligations to them. The venture itself was a good start. I got to learn from Zomba the label ins and outs. They gave me a chance to cut my teeth on it and to really learn it. But in the end, they really wanted to concentrate on me just as an artist, and there wasn't a lot of time available to develop a secondary label. A lot of times, we as artists come with stuff that we want to do, but it's not necessarily in the company's plan," Hammond explained.
fHammond Family Entertainment is off to a great start as the re-launched label's inaugural CD project, 'Life in the Word' debuted on Billboard's Top Gospel Album Chart at number two.
That gives the 50-year-old entertainer two CDs in the top 10 on Billboard's Top Gospel Album chart; as his current solo CD, 'Love Unstoppable' (Verity Records) holds the number six spot on the chart.
Hammond adm
itted that while his original intentions were to begin releasing his solo material via his own label, those plans have now changed.
"My intention this year was to be able to be my own, but Verity and I agreed that it would be better for me to stay there and to continue doing my own artistry with them. I'm happy with them. If I'm honest, at the end of the day, the way things go, I couldn't really afford myself and I couldn't push myself like they do. When I step back and look at it from the business side, it was the best move for me to say I'd do five more records with them. That will allow me to build this label and make the mistakes I need to make. Maybe by the time I'm done, I'll be able to take my artistry to my label. With me having my own label somewhere else, it's an adjustment period for Verity and me, but I like what we have and I don't intend on signing with anybody else after this," she concluded.
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For related stories, read also: ''Sunday Best' Winner Y'Anna Crawley Takes the Buzz Blitz'
& 'Phillip Bryant: Lil' Mo's Husband to Make Gospel Debut.'
Black Music Notes Mar. 19
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