BlackLoveSmiths take gospel in new direction
Gospel has long been a vibrant part of the overall music scene in Connecticut, one that’s mostly confined to church-based groups with a sprinkling of other well-known artists.
The BlackLoveSmiths, however, a new entry on the state’s gospel scene, are looking to attract a more mainstream audience. The Hartford-based duo — Joanna “Jo” Smith and P. Smith Jr. (born Pernel Wilberforce Smith Jr.) — just released an EP, “The Work.”
Now, the two musicians are trying new and creative ways to market their music during the pandemic. The EP uses a dynamic QR code to give buyers exclusive access to the music, a personalized collectible booklet artist-signed, entry to an intimate virtual concert June 27, and more. The early access makes the album available four months in advance of the mainstream release to all streaming platforms in September.
“We are urban contemporary gospel artists,” Jo said, noting that neither she nor P. started out in gospel music. P. was trained in classical music and grew up going to church but drifted away from it.
Jo described herself as “spiritual but churchless,” and said her music career was centered around secular music. “I did not start out this way at all, which is why this is such a special project for us,” she said. “I always did inspirational, positive music and tried to always be someone who speaks on empowerment. A lot of my music was controversial and talked about a lot of the things that we go through in relationships.”
Jo Smith, who performed in hip-hop and R&B as Rain Raphael, said she but didn’t have the heart for the hyper-competitive and negative aspects of the music business. After going through some personal issues, Jo felt called to gospel; after the couple married in September 2020, they began working on this record.
Jo said her relationship to God was a quiet and personal one. She didn’t feel the need to shout out her faith, even though her music was already focused on empowerment and inspiring others. “I went
into gospel because I felt it was a calling on my spirit to do so,” she said.
P. said the duo wanted to tap into an audience that might not be interested in traditional gospel music and reach those who are spiritual but not active in organized religion.
“We just wanted to be able to provide music that is approachable, cinematic as well as aggressively positive,” P. said. “Life is hard, and in 2020, it got extremely hard. Sometimes you just need a break, a way to escape so we created music in the hopes it would give individuals an opportunity to escape —to pause, reflect and reframe so you can press on.”
Jo explained that their music — as well as their name — speaks to the work they feel called to do. “Our EP is called ‘The Work’ and the inspiration behind it is we do the work of the Kingdom ideally,” she said. “What we hope is that our listeners would be the people who may not feel comfortable with the traditionalism that surrounds gospel music. God has his own way of speaking to each one of us if we are open and receptive to it.”
P. said they call themselves The BlackLoveSmiths for several reasons. Because black is actually an outline, not a color, he says they see that outline as a framework for having — and giving — unconditional love; love takes work, so just as blacksmiths made tools to help people, the BlackLoveSmiths make music to help people.
Jo added that they then call their listeners and supporters “lovesmiths.” “Lovesmiths are people who are willing to do the work of love out here in the world unconditionally to find a way to relate to everybody,” she said, “because everyone has purpose and is valuable, especially in the eyes of God.”
“There are people like myself who have never chosen a church home but who have prayed often and are very spiritually grounded and know that there is someone working on our behalf for our good because we believe in him,” Jo said. “Those are the people that we make music for.”
For more information, www.blacklovesmiths.com.