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For Gospel legend Tye Tribbett, you can seek God anywhere. In an appearance on the We Sound Crazy podcast, Tribbett opened up about his ministry in music and being a minister in music.
While he wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music growing up, Tribbett would still sneak and do so anyway, inviting artists like John Coltrane into his orbit. So, naturally, he started infusing jazz into his own craft.
The hosts also asked him about his top five favorite hip-hop artists. In no particular order he named The Notorious B.I.G., Black Thought of The Roots, Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes and Drake or Young Thug. When it comes to Drake and Young Thug, Tribbett believes their melodies match something he can mirror in his craft. But, he said while his work is a fusion of the spirit and the world, it’s important for gospel to continue to be innovative.
“A lot of what we do right now has the sound of the mainstream music as opposed to us taking the sound from the church and what we create,” he said. “I try to do a little fusion of both. But, that is very much missing, so in an attempt for us to be relevant, we lose our sound.”
However, Tribbett remains a pioneer of today’s gospel music sound because he’s always been a student of the genre.
“I’m a student at all times, even if I’m not thinking about it,” he said.
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Tribbett went on to lament the importance of being educated by your peers. He mentioned fellow artists like the Winans. If this person is getting across to an audience, Tribbett believes you can learn something from them. When you feel like you can’t take anything away from someone, you’re missing something, he said.
While he is a creative at heart, Tribbett said he enjoys performing most of all. It’s not because of the attention that comes with it, but he does it for everyone to enjoy what’s been prepared because it’s been prepared for them. He wants audiences to enjoy, understand and because of his chosen genre, agree with what he’s presenting.
Tribbett believes music is connected to something eternal.
“It’s not just us,” he said. “It’s a movement. It’s freedom.”
He said he realized his music was touching souls differently during touring.
“We realized the impact we had when we started to see our reflection in different cities we would go [to] whether in the audience or before we sung, the opening group is doing certain moves,” he said.
This impact is what led him to win countless awards including the Lifetime Achievement award at the Stellar Awards this year. Tribbett’s influence goes beyond music. He’s giving young people a voice who can’t speak for themselves with his AnTye Bullying Campaign. He’s hoping to empower children, families and communities to rally together against bullying by providing support for victims and their families. Tribbett was a vicitm of bullying himself.
“What I went through psychologically, I’m like ‘Okay, man,’ I can help somebody who’s 6, 7 years old. Whether it’s a school environment, whether it’s a religious environment,” he said. “I want to help enlighten and empower people who are experiencing the same thing. [I want to] give them that confidence now. You have to physically get it in your heart, get it in your soul, believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made. I want to get that and instill that in them now.”
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