A hoarse Tye Tribbett is gamely croaking through a phone interview about his Aug. 6 release, “Greater Than.”
The singer/songwriter has just wrapped a whirlwind, street-week promotional run that took him to packed mega-churches, radio stations and retailers from Chicago to New York to Atlanta and many stops in between. Despite the physical strain, a still exuberant Tribbett is determined to keep things moving. “I’ll get some rest,” he says after just landing in Washington, D.C., “then I’ll get right back up there.”
That’s in keeping with the man that Motown Gospel VP/GM Larry Blackwell describes as “the Energizer” and “a rock star painted as a gospel artist.” Tribbett’s fifth album not only marks a return to form for the artist; the 12-track set doubles as the first official release under Motown Gospel. The label is the 50-50 joint venture between Island Def Jam/Motown Records and the former EMI Gospel (Billboard.biz, April 2).
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“Greater Than” bows at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on Gospel Albums, selling 30,000 first-week copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The momentum is due in part to the chart success of lead single “If He Did It Before…Same God” (No. 3 on Gospel Songs), an iTunes pre-order campaign, the promotional tour that kicked off July 28 at Washington’s Howard Theatre and a fan base that dates back to Tribbett’s attention-grabbing debut, 2004’s “Life,” with his group Greater Anointing. “Life” debuted and peaked at No. 6 on Gospel Albums, and has sold 169,000 copies.
Then Tribbett and Greater Anointing hit with back-to-back No. 1s on Gospel Albums: 2006’s “Victory Live!,” his biggest-seller to date with 333,000, and 2008’s “Standout” (202,000). But while Tribbett’s solo outing, 2010’s “Fresh,” scored another No. 1 on Gospel Albums, it has sold only 73,000.
“When Tye hit the map in 2004, he brought an urban contemporary sound to what we recognize as choir music,” Blackwell says. “That’s the sound everybody fell in love with: him and an ensemble of eight to 10 singers. With ‘Fresh,’ he was just in a different place musically. But it didn’t connect.”
This time, Tribbett returns with a band and nine singers in tow. And while Fresh was a studio recording, “Greater Than” was recorded live at the Faith Center in Sunrise, Fla., and the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles.
“My element is the live sound,” says Tribbett, who wrote the majority of “Greater Than.” “I’ve never been more fortified. Getting my generation to enjoy thinking about God is a reward to me.”
Sonya Blakey, programming manager/air personality at Clear Channel inspirational station WGRB Chicago, says she senses “a renewed passion and increased momentum from Tribbett on this new project versus “Fresh.” During his recent performance in Chicago, he had the young and ‘more mature’ on their feet singing and dancing. He’s a strong, unique force who’s in a new place that people are embracing.”
“Greater Than” mixes eloquent ballads (“Beauty for Ashes”), high-energy tracks (“Nobody,” “Stayed on You,” which interpolates George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set on You”), spirited chants (“You Are Good”) and intuitive covers (contemporary Christian artist Jeremy Camp’s “Overcome”). All are linked to a central theme: God is greater than anything. And all underscore one fan’s fitting proclamation that Tribbett is “fun-nointed.”
Getting in on that fun are fans and celebrity friends throwing up the greater than sign coast to coast as part of Tribbett’s #GreaterThan movement on Instagram (bowtyetrib; 46,879 followers). In addition to the street-week tour, during which he performed at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple, WBLS New York’s City Parks concert and Radio One’s Praise in the Park event in Atlanta, Tribbett taped a performance for Trinity Broadcasting Network that will air Aug. 21. He’ll also appear at Bishop T.D. Jake’s annual MegaFest in Dallas on Aug. 29. Plans for a national tour are in the works.