Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

Gospel deejay Stitchie has not been visible on the Jamaican scene recently as he has been before, but this should not be interpreted as inactivity on his part as he has been quite busy overseas.

He recently returned from the United States of America where he was promoting his third album, Real Life Story. The album was released on his own Drum and Bass Records in July 2007. It has 17 official tracks that were produced by Bobby Digital, Don McDowell, Shawn Brown and Rohan McDermott, among others.

"It is the best album I have done to date. The engineers were good. The concepts of the songs are just a review of my life, real issues with spiritual solutions," Stitchie told The Sunday Gleaner.

Official release

There was an official release of the album, which took the form of a concert at the Harvest Fire Worship Centre in Florida. There was also a live radio launch on Mystic 1400 in the same state. Stitchie says the album was released in Jamaica last Tuesday. While here, he says he will be using the opportunity to promote the album and video for the title track. The video was shot in Spanish Town by Billy Yapp, who also directed Stitchie's Fast and Pray. "The video was presented in real-life fashion. It is very hardcore and dancehall to the max," Stitchie said.

He says the album has been doing well as it was on the Grammy list for Best Reggae Album, but it did not receive enough votes for a nomination. Despite this, Stitchie is still grateful.

"The album made the initial Grammy list but it did not get enough votes to get a nomination. It is the first time gospel has reached this far. The next time around we will be in the nomination," said Stitchie, adding that there had been little time for the promotion for its prior to the nominations.

Real Life Story took Stitchie a little over a year to complete, the album being done while he was still busy with his ministry. As early as May into June of last year, he was touring parts of the Caribbean, visiting Barbados, Anguilla and St Kitts, also moving into several US states.

Touring Europe

By August he was on to his European tour where he says he was able to take gospel on to the secular platform. He performed with Yellowman, Capleton, Jimmy Cliff, Junior Kelly, Derrick Morgan, Ce'Cile, Admiral Bailey, Ward 21, Alton Ellis, Dennis Alcapone, Lone Ranger and the recently deceased Luke Dube.

"We were bringing the gospel to the world undiluted, as my tour manager Lena got saved," says Stitchie.

He says he baptised her in Germany at a lake. That visit to Germany was an exceptional one, as it was the first time a gospel reggae was presented in a Catholic church. Stitchie says it was widely covered by the press and he was even referred to as 'Kingdom Ambassador' who brought gospel reggae to Germany.

Stitchie was given a eight-page spread in Riddim Magazine that will be in the March edition of the magazine. Riddim also named his Real Life Story as one of the top 10 albums for 2007.

Promotions

He will spend a significant part of February promoting his album in Jamaica, but by March he will be off again to start his tours of several places in Europe, Canada, US and Africa.

Stitchie says he is rejoicing for what he has achieved in gospel since his conversion to Christianity in 1997. However, he is merely honoured to be doing God's work.

"God has been using me to spread the gospel beyond the walls of the church so that I can reach more people. We have not begun to touch the tip of the iceberg," said Stitchie.

He added, "To ensure success is to know that everybody has received the gospel of God."

Between tours, he is busy writing his first book, The Power of Determination, which will be released later this year. This book will be his own autobiography.