By Jonathan Reynoso
Many TMU students find themselves waking up early on weekend mornings, putting on their Sunday best to enter a place of worship to greet all the members of the parish. The warmth of every hug and handshake is felt before singing opening hymns to preach the word, using every breath in one’s body to praise the Lord.
According to the University of Alberta, Gospel, blues and soul are some of the many music genres that emerged from Black American culture, predominantly in the early 19th century. Each genre has touched countless lives. “It made me feel comfortable in times of the storm,” said Singer-Songwriter Rhyan Douglas.
“They all derive from gospel,” said Douglas, highlighting gospel music’s profound influence on other Black-origin music genres.
Growing up in the church, Douglas was a direct witness of the support of his church community on his rise as an artist.
“I found my purpose of having people almost champion me throughout the whole process,” he said.
In Toronto, several musicians including Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson and Edwin Hawkins, have elevated their voices through gospel.
When reflecting on music genres like soul and blues, all the elements of the music will point one right back to gospel, according to Penn Today. This is where the music comes from, the ones which grew from the church.
Built on community and praise, gospel has continued to bring people closer to each other and closer to their faith.
We sing so much every day, we’re singing almost 24/7 just praising God with our voices. This is the only place I go, and I would continue going back to lose my voice just from singing
“Those songs of praise, those songs of worship, helped keep me close to the faith and also close to God,” said Douglas. It is a direct transfer of the word of God into music that is preached with movements like the “Great Awakening” being a marker for the rise of the music, says Douglas.
Like its origins, gospel music has travelled and taken root in communities around Toronto. Students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) like second-year biology student Abigail Mullins exemplify this growth. Born and raised in Jamaica, she has carried the love and passion of gospel and soul music with her.
“The sense of just being able to grow up in something like that and it being able to be carried with you, into a different country—to take a part of that or a piece of home with you,” said Mullings.“Even though you were born with it. Your voice just being able to take up out of home, which is the voice training that you might have got, it is a nice feeling.”
This desire to find that community was rooted in her experience at a church camp she attended back in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. For her, singing in the choir back home gave her a huge sense of community and belonging.
“We sing so much every day, we’re singing almost 24/7 just praising God with our voices,” said Mullings. “This is the only place I go, and I would continue going back to lose my voice just from singing.”
In Toronto, artists like Ryan Ofei, a young leader within the city’s gospel community and current member of Maverick City Music—an American contemporary Christian worship music collective that recently went on its “Good New Tour”—played a pivotal role in growing the culture.
“Maverick City gospel has a lot of young people,” said Douglas. “It feels like we’re in like a big friend group when it comes to just how we glorify and how we show up for ourselves and almost show up for God as well.”
Even in smaller parishes across the city, being a part of a choir gives youth in the city a chance to lead.
These groups, through music and worship, are made for this—to enable and empower. These groups allow youth to find themselves, giving them a sense of purpose through contribution and participation.
“It was a very freeing feeling,” explained Grace Ama Boakye, a third-year biomedical student at TMU. “I never sang at home. Anytime I tried to sing, I would always hide it because I just didn’t want any attention on me.”
Boakye made it her weekly duty to make sure she chose a song that was appealing to the masses.
Not only did she wish to perform in her role to please her peers, she wanted to do a good job.
Boakye being put in a leadership role for her high school choir program allowed her to overcome these feelings, providing her with the responsibility of leading her peers. “Coming to school, I invented this whole persona, a different person from who I am back at home.”
The very nature of these genres gave Boakye a voice and elevated a part of herself that may not have been uncovered otherwise.
For up-and-coming leaders like Douglas, he described the impacts of these artists such as Ofei as “really important,” setting a blueprint for channeling people’s “inner creative.”
From legends like Marvin Sapp and Kirk Franklin to B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Freddie King, these artists encapsulate this movement of worship, leadership and community.
Growth and learning are also a big part of the gospel movement in Toronto.
“More and more people should see what’s going on, especially within the music genres,” said Douglas. The only way to continue is to incorporate community building and the continuous learning that is needed, he says.
Learning experiences like this provide people with Mullings a different perspective, especially about the people she worships beside.
“When you are willing to learn from people, there’s a certain type of camaraderie that’s formed in that,” said Mullings. “I’ve made a lot of friends in choir, a lot of people who I never thought I would have spoken to or people who I’m not a fan of.”
For the future of gospel, soul, blues and other Black-influenced music genres in Toronto, there is unlimited potential in the lengths it can reach. From inside the church watching the pastor preach on the altar to music lounges along Queen St. where fans line up on the sidewalks to watch their favourite soul artist, there is no telling how big the movement can be.
Douglas explained that the steps you have to take first start with the people, creating spaces where everyone feels welcome.
“Once you open that door to communicate to others that don’t really feel comfortable, is that once they feel comfortable, the possibilities are endless.” expressed Douglas.
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