Fort Worth Gospel Artist Marvin Sapp Goes R&B, Temporarily, With New Valentine’s Day EP

It’s not a foreign concept for gospel artists to turn secular in music, but it definitely garners attention when a bishop takes the helm. Fort Worth’s Marvin Sapp has gone R&B — temporarily — with a new EP called If I Were An R&B Singer, just released on Valentine’s Day. The four-track collection includes four songs by the Grammy-nominated artist that are a nod to the simplicities of rhythm, blues, love and soul, yet still honoring his faith with God.

“It’s a thing I’m never doing again, so you might wanna grab this while you can,” the Fort Worth pastor wrote to his social media followers. “Hear me … I fully understand my assignment and my convictions however, this holiday, I wanted to help you enjoy Valentine’s Day in a clean R&B way.”

In an unconventional, but not unusual twist, Sapp has always expressed an affinity for R&B music, often layering the smooth undertones in his gospel music, along with his definitive style of soulfully crooning on the tracks. The TVONE biopic Never Would Have Made It: The Marvin Sapp Story introduced to viewers to the dichotomy, following the journey of a young Sapp who immediately takes to R&B, yet receives an ultimatum from his mother to choose one or the other: gospel or R&B.

“You can’t do both,” she would tell him.

While ultimately choosing gospel music, the gentle tug of R&B never loosened its grip on Sapp’s heart. Inspired by legends Peabo Bryson and Teddy Pendergrass, Sapp is known to often weave these subtle influences into his songs from time to time.

“This is something that I wanted to get off my chest, so to speak, because I get asked so often if I would ever sing R&B,” Sapp says. “It is also a throwback to the R&B music that I grew up on, where love and emotions and romanticism were at the heart of the songs. There will not be another EP or album from me that isn’t gospel, and I hope fans of my music will appreciate this. I also hope that fans of R&B will take a listen and enjoy what they hear.”

If I Were An R&B Singer has four love songs by Sapp, all written and produced by Kolton Perrine, who has notable credits with Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran, among many other R&B and hip-hop artists. Perrine says that his focus was to maintain the virtues of Sapp’s brand.

“I was clear [during this process] that we needed to maintain integrity, out of reverence for God and respect for Marvin Sapp and who he is,” Perrine says. “God gave us this beautiful music. He gave us limbs to dance with. He gave us love and companionship. He gave us all these gifts, and we would be remiss to not use these gifts; we just have to do it with integrity.”

After a weeklong build-up on social media, Sapp’s fans took to the comments expressing support for the temporary switch-up.

“I wish more ‘gospel’ artists would give us (the Believers) more well-rounded music that speaks to the different areas of life,” Instagram fan @xomelodylagrone wrote. “Yes, sing about Jesus … take us to the King and all of that, but we are also doing life. It would be good to have wholesome music to speak to those places too. Great job, we love it already …my husband and I will be adding it to the playlist for date night! Signed a Pastor and Pastor’s wife and we LUH God FORREAL over here!”

If I Were An R&B Singer was released on Marvin Sapp’s Elev8 Entertainment, and is available at all digital music outlets.

The record boasts four heartfelt songs: “Listen,” “Moment or Lifetime,” “Free Fallin” (co-written by Sapp’s son) and “Through My Pain.” Each track depicts the indelible range of Sapp’s artistry, with “Free Fallin” being the standout. The lush harmonies blend effortlessly with a dash of retro R&B and a heap of soulful vibes, begging the listener to sway, hum and dance along slowly.