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 So, when Pastor Kee put out his first solo project in ten years (The Color of Music) this August, the focus of the industry quickly shifted to Charlotte, North Carolina, home of the Prince of Gospel.  Pastor Kee recently took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Gospelflava.com about his latest project, new endeavors, and his view of the Gospel music industry. Check out this year-end interview, it's a big one!!"I was really at a point in music where I began to feel that music was being dictated and everybody's doing the same thing," shared Kee. "Just as in the mid to late 80s, everybody had a Word church. Then they began to call them 'non-denominational'. And to me, 'non-denominational' became a denomination." "I felt that's what was happening in music. So The Color of Music offers you a declaration of different types of worship. If you notice, on the project I use all styles, even quartet music. Quartet music is dogged in the modern church but I believe that quartet music can still be used as a tool, as long as the lyrical content is in line with what the Word says." "I took a scripture, Hebrews 11:1, and made a declaration that you can have what you desire now, if your faith says the same. At the end of the day, The Color of Music offers us a declaration of worship in all styles of music." "I use folk music. James Taylor is one of my favorite artists. I do the 'One Step' song dedicated to my One Step program, where young people are coming and literally being delivered and staying free from cocaine." "The rock song 'I'll Fly' speaks to my MTV children. I think we were able to touch quite a bit. I got a call from a couple of artists who really enjoy the 'Music' song. We that actually do this know that music is a part of our fibre and a part of our soul."
"I call myself the Pastor of the artists, not just gospel but secular," admits Pastor Kee. "Whether it be Whitney Houston, Aaron Hall from Guy, or even Teddy Riley himself. The Lord has allowed me in the last 7 to 8 days to minister to so many people. He gives me that openness where I can speak to their hearts concerning not only their crafts but their lives and be honest with them. I think that is a blessing that the Lord would even allow that covering over my head to not only be heard, but to be respected at the same time." Kee joins forces with super producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins on this effort. The two collaborate on the track "Dancin'". "He actually reached out to me," shared Kee. "One service, I'm preaching and this kid comes up and says, 'Listen.. I'm Rodney Jerkins. I love you. You've blessed my ministry and I want to do something with you. It was awesome. He came in and my son and I wondered what he would do with the track ["Dancin'"], and it was wonderful. We have a nightclub in our church, so we tried it on them first and they loved it, so it made the project. Working with him is a blessing. Look for more things from our camps uniting and doing some things." On the "Dancin'" track, Kee introduces the world to his 'creation', a character known as Lil' Rufus. "Lil' Rufus is a product of my wife and I. One Sunday night, we were on the way home and she told me to keep the kids awake by any means necessary. So, I began to write these little songs and sing them for the children. When I got home, I actually went in the studio and recorded them, and that was really the birth of Rufus." "I hired an artist to draw Rufus and they didn't get back to me by the deadline. So, I took the pencil up myself and began to scribble. Out of that has come a book series. He has bobbleheads that are on the way from China as we speak. He has a little friend named 'John John' who is like his ego. 'John John' is his buddy. My son plays the 'John John' character. We're really excited about Rufus. He has a series called the Fruit series that teaches kids about character building and patience and hope. It is a wonderful concept. He has a record deal with Verity already. It comes out in 2005. Rufus is touching the lives of many. He's going on tour with me. Rufus will definitely touch the hearts of millions of kids."
"Maybe five or six months ago, I'm on my boat with my family and my daughter says 'Daddy, have you heard this song'? I said 'No, I haven't' and she puts it on. I don't know if it's gospel or secular. At the time, it didn't matter, as I was listening for the message. It overwhelmed me. When I first heard it, I was impressed at the line that said 'if I talk about Jesus, am I really going to get the airplay or the spins'. In the club I'll hear every body chanting Jesus Walks?I'm an attention getter and I believe that follow-up matters." "I know that the saints have really beat [Kanye] up, they've kicked him off certain shows, and they've taken nominations away from him. But at the end of the day, you cannot say that this song didn't get your attention and inspire you to understand that He not only walks in the aisles of your church but He walks in our lives every day. Hats off to Kanye and I pray he listened to the lyrics as well. I think that it's just an avenue." "After the controversy hit, I was on the web one night, and I saw a very negative article about me for even working with and talking to secular artist," shared Kee. "I'm just concerned about church folks. Those are the people that will not go with me and my wife to a crack house. Those are the people that will not set up outside the crack house and minister outside of the four-wall structure. Church people need to understand that Jesus did not just minister in the synagogue and in the temple. He went outside the four-wall structure. You can question everybody's motives but when it comes to mine, I'm the tattooed, ghetto pastor going in the hood having over a thousand people registering to vote. It's that kind of ministry that matters to me. The conventional standards? Throw them in the water." Kee continues to be outspoken about the need for progressive thinking within the body of Christ. "We that are churched are often unlearned," declares Kee. "We that are churched are conditioned because of pre-suppositions and the things that we were taught years ago that we have not let go. In fact, Jesus came to deliver us from that law. The Bible says that the letter of the law kills but the Spirit gives life. [Some] don't want to give life. [Some] would rather give you rules and regulations. That's what's going on with the church and the household of faith. And as a pastor, I am teaching the uncompromised Word, but I'm not standing for the junk. But, I understand that with loving-kindness we draw them. I was the heterosexual pastor years ago that felt like everything that didn't do it like I did it was on their way to hell. I condemned everybody. The drug dealer was going to hell with the
Pastor Kee is one of several artists who are also pastors of local assemblies. Among these artists who operate within a pastoral capacity is Mason Betha, aka Mase. His Welcome Back release earlier this year met great controversy from all parts of the music industry. Kee shared his thoughts on this issue. "I have not talked to Mase one-on-one, but I am concerned about the Mase issue," states Kee. "If you look at how it took place, the secular industry is very angry with him because they feel like he came back in just for the paper or just to make the money. I say to Mase what I say to John P. Kee, to Kirk Franklin, to all of us who have avenue to secular artists and to the secular world. It is important that we all follow up! If you're doing a video and you've got the little girls shaking in the video and they're dropping it down, at the end of the day, what is the follow-up? So, the follow-up matters. Not to condemn what he's doing, I pray that there is a plan to witness. If there's a plan to witness, come on Mase, let us see what it is." "One argument that you can't have with Kanye is that he's not screaming the name of Jesus. You know without a doubt in your mind who he's talking about. I know the little girl in the video says 'hell no' and some of the saints are going crazy saying that he had the little girl cursing. Again, we are so quick to judge without understanding his mission. So I say to Mase, more than anything, whatever your follow-up is, with the quickness, come on and bring it because the saints are looking at what you professed before you went back in the secular industry." Some years ago, Kee talked of retiring to focus on pastoring the New Life Fellowship Center. While thankfully, he has not retired from the music business, he is continuing to pastor the Charlotte-based ministry birthed in 1995. "The church is blowing off the charts. We're packing 1500 people in there on Sundays and we're loving it. They're coming for the Word. I sat my entire praise and worship team down about two weeks ago and it has to do almost with this project. I began to teach on how the people of God are allowing the praise and worship teams all over the country to stand on stage and, if we really look at it now, they're entertaining us. I'm one of the teachers that teach that praise must be corporate. It has to be corporate worship and we've all got
Never one to remain stagnant, Kee has embarked on a number of projects that allow him to fulfill his God-given vision. "We started a school last year called New Life Christian Academy School of the Arts," states Kee. "We're teaching Spanish and we're even having classes in Swahili. Not only that, but the kids are learning the foundational principles of the Word of God at an early age. It's self-supported. No government support. My wife and I sponsor most of the kids who can't afford it. We absolutely love it. All of the proceeds that I receive from The Color of Music will go towards our school. So, go pick up another copy." If that's not enough, the industry veteran is launching a brand new record label called Kee Records. "Our slogan is 'We're Unlocking the Mystery of the Music'. We're going in and grabbing those that have the unique ministries and we're allowing the nation to hear some of the new anointed talent in the country that they would otherwise never hear." "I came to the realization that it was time to do this because of our complaints about this and that. It's just like our school system in Charlotte, North Carolina. When everybody began to complain, we did something about it. We opened a school. So, I looked at it and I still have my corporate office in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's a wonderful building that's totally designed for a record company. It was just sitting over there and we weren't doing anything with it, as we were so focused on the church. We've got the capital. We're not begging for money, so now it's just time for us to do this." Kee along with New Life recently completed a national tour dubbed "Live in America". "We've actually recorded live in every city," shares Kee. "We'll create a project of what actually took place on the tour, release it to America, and see if they enjoy what we enjoyed while we were out. We've never ever done a tour album. Think about it, if you sang this song in nine or ten cities, you've got nine or ten tracks. And technology has it now, where if I enjoyed the vamp in Chicago but I loved the verse in L.A., I'll be able to comprise the project. So, 'Live in America' will really be live in America." This summer, Kee offered a rare collaboration and teamed with the Philly sensation Tye Tribbett and Greater Anointing. The tandem joined forces on the radio hit "My Joy". Tribbett and Kee share a wonderful relationship. "That's my son," says Kee. "Tye's been rocking like this for years. Tye's been coming down to my club in Charlotte and doing concerts. I am so proud of him as a father figure for him in the industry. He was one of the few who waited. I remember years ago, I wanted to hear him and wanted to release him on a project that I've never released and we didn't do it. It was God's timing. I just have much respect for him. God is really blessing his music ministry. He's affecting my kids at the church. They have the same type of contemporary ministry. I'm excited about not only what Tye is doing in his local area with his Word ministry but his music ministry is touching the hearts of a whole lot of kids now and I'm grateful for that." One of the biggest underground buzzes has been the rumor of a New Life Reunion. The choir that has produced vocalists such as Isaac Carree, Chris Simpson, Lowell Pye, and Montrel Darrett is preparing for a reunion that's destined to turn the industry on its ear. "That's the hottest thing since cornbread," says Kee. "We're working on it secretly. Isaac (Carree) will be in the studio this week doing some things. Lowell (Pye) is working in Detroit and we're going to do the live video in Atlanta. We're still playing with dates and contracts. Let me tell you what I don't like about this industry. The companies hustle us as artists but they don't allow us to work together. Jay-Z can work with anybody. Usher can work with who ever he wants to today and it comes out next Friday. But you have those that write the checks that are so busy dealing with their own egos and their own problems that they never allow us out of the box. We'll just come together and we're going to do it. At the end of the day, we'll see how it works. We're going to just step out on faith. [The New Life Reunion project] will be one of the first projects released on Kee Records."
"We need to get together and define what we really do," admits Kee. "The word 'ministry' has been knocked out the box because of capital. Don't get me wrong, you can have money and still have a mission and a ministry. What is happening right now is that you have a lot of execs that are not sure if they're going to have a job on Monday morning. So, everybody's kind of pulling everything close to themselves. The cohesiveness that used to be in this industry isn't there anymore. When I was coming up, I wanted to be around the artists that were coming up before me. I was able to learn so much Daryl Coley and James Cleveland and Edwin Hawkins." "Nowadays, everybody's doing their own thing. If I had it my way, there would be a retreat and it wouldn't just be a retreat where we would just get together and giggle and laugh. There would be some ministry taking place. I met with Bobby Jones last week and I'll probably be in Miami with him at the next retreat (in December 2004)." "I want to sit down with the artists and really allow them to know that we've got to prepare for the rainy day. God's blessed me and I'm living on the mountain and looking at the water out of my back yard. But what would happen if all of that would cease? We've labored for years amongst all of these people and too many gospel artists are not preparing for tomorrow. If I had it my way, there would be a lot of things that would be brought to the table that have been swept under the rug. I wish that the door could open up that we could not just really minister to the masses, but that the artists could minister to one another." So where does the "Prince of Gospel" go after this? "About a month and a half ago, it hit me," says Kee. "Our life has to be structured around our legacy. What are we going to leave here? So, now I'm on fire. I'm writing like I've never written before. I'm spending time in the studio. I've finished a hymn album. I've got an album called 'The Interpretation of Kee'. What I did was get jazz artists and gospel artists playing my music on acoustic piano. It's just so many different things that we're putting out on the table now. At the end of the day, we leave a message. I kept reading that scripture asking what are we supposed to leave our children and our children's children? It just can't be money? It has to be something else." "We leave a lineage of who we are. Paul told Timothy to get up and be strong because you come from Lois and Eunice. When I heard the names Lois and Eunice and read them in the King James Version, I said that they had to be black," jokes Kee. "In all seriousness, what are we leaving? We leave a legacy and a heritage and that's where I am now. I've been focused in the last three months on putting things together. On Sunday nights, I sit down at the computer and see what I want to accomplish in the next five days. If I don't get it done, I have an attitude. At the end of the day, John P. Kee has recognized that God has called me to be the writer, the musician, the artist, the producer, the author now, the cartoonist." "Everything I lay my hands to do, I call it oil and anointed. As God prospers me, I just believe in my spirit that he'll not only prosper my seed but my children and my wife and He's going to bless millions. That's just my new attitude. I see that I have been called, invoked, and invited. In recognizing this as a pastor, I'm not just looking at what He's called me to do. He's called me to serve the people of God and allow them to know that He did not just anoint the pastor and the musicians and the ushers. Everyone under the sound of that same profound Word can understand that God has called them out." "So, I'm inspiring the people to be entrepreneurs. I'm inspiring people to write that song and write that poem. Whatever is in you, allow it to come out so you can touch the lives of those that will come behind you." Email This To A Friend
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