ST. PAUL USING HIS MUSIC TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL!

IT took Paul Allen almost 30 years to make his debut as a recording artist. He did so with a moniker inspired by one of the Bible’s great figures.

Allen is known in Atlanta gospel circles as St Paul, and like the Old Testament hero who was one of Christ’s most loyal disciples, his objective is to reach Christians as well as atheists.

ST PAUL… objective is to reach Christians as well as atheists

“My music is designed to reach everybody and that’s important. Church people will love it but the youths in the clubs can also vibe to it,” he said.

Two of St Paul’s latest songs, Don’t You Ever Give Up and Dreamer have a dancehall vibe and is meant to reach a younger audience. It is a route many contemporary Jamaican gospel acts such as Papa San and Chevelle Franklyn have taken with considerable success.

St Paul sees nothing wrong with using hip beats once the message is consistent with Christian beliefs.

“You have many people who don’t go to church but who are believers. It’s them who I want to reach,” St. Paul explained.

Don’t You Ever Give Up, Dreamer and the patriotic Love Jamaica are part of a mix tape recently released by Real Music. He says the latter is his takeon the ‘dynamics of Jamaica’.

Paul Allen was born in Montego Bay and raised as a member of the Church of God but also had an ear for secular music. He was active on the city’s sound system circuit and unsuccessfully submitted an entry for the annual Festival Song Contest.

It was not until 1990 when he immigrated to the United States that he recorded his first song, Be Yourself, an inspirational number. It was followed by two other motivational songs, Moses and I’ll Always Love You.

St Paul is currently working on his first album which is expected to be released this summer.