Four years in the making, Gospel artiste finally completes ‘kingdom culture’ album

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

After four years of work, gospel artiste Lester Lewis has finally released his album The World Will Be A Better Place with the aim of spreading his brand of ‘kingdom culture’ music.

Lewis said he did the first set of songs on the album at Tuff Gong Studio and did some of the other tracks in New York. The album, he said, took longer than planned because “sometimes we run out of money”.

In addition, he said there was another hold-up with the producer in New York, who wanted him to sign a contract.

The gospel Artiste said he would launch the album on August 21 in the Mandeville Park, Manchester. In the same parish, he will also host a music summit called ‘Massa’ from August 19 to 21 at Cecil Charlton Hall.

But this album is just one of more than 10 the gospel artiste has done in the past. Over his many years in the music business, Lewis recorded albums like The Winner Man, Generation Change, No Boundaries, Positive, Emma-nuel and Reorder.

Different angle

However, this album, his latest, Lewis said, was different.

“It is different because the songs are not all about Jesus and God. I did How Great Thou Art but it came from a different angle. It’s like a crossover. I was writing from a different angle without compromising my church or my faith,” Lewis told The Sunday Gleaner from Texas.

“I feel very good. I feel like I have a baby that is born and this baby will grow and make this world a better place. If I get the opportunity to get this across to the nation, I believe that it can affect Jamaica in a very positive way,” he said.

“We need to say to our country and to the world that we have the best music that our young people can listen to and learn from. We call it ‘kingdom culture’ music.”

Similar sentiments were shared by his son Lestrado and wife Rose Lewis, who also worked on the album. Lestrado said he learnt much about music from other producers during the production process and has met new people and had new experiences.

Visiting churches

Meanwhile, Rose said she was excited about the album’s release.

“I feel very great, very blessed, excited and happy. We have been working on it for a long time and it just came out, so you can imagine how excited we are,” she said.

Now in Texas, Lester Lewis is doing quite a bit of ministry, as he will be visiting churches and detention centres to speak with various groups. He will also make a television appearance on Daystar Television Network, before returning to Jamaica on August 10.

“Being on Daystar will take it (the album) very far and we will be able to spread reggae gospel to millions,” Lewis said.

Later this year, Lewis will spend a month in the eastern Caribbean, going to islands like Antigua, Montserrat, St Martin, Trinidad, Guyana, St Lucia, St Kitts and Grenada. In December, he will take a long trek to Africa with the aim of spreading his ministry.