SEMAJE: ‘…effusive singing about praise, hope, and encouragement.’

Reviews by Robert M. Marovich

’92

SEMAJE

Maje Entertainment/Tyscot (released: August 22, 2025)

SEMAJE is a young gospel vocalist whose frictionless tenor evokes fellow Detroiters J Moss and Deitrick Haddon, and whose style has been variously called “millennial funk” and “neo-soul.” Perhaps not coincidentally, then, on his album ’92, SEMAJE covers “Watch Me Praise Him,” the Deitrick Haddon and the Voices of Unity selection from 2007. With Deitrick’s ex-wife Damita on lead, the song channels couplets from the Biblical Gospel Singers’ late ‘60s hit, “I Come to Praise Him.”

‘Watch Me Praise Him,’ SEMAJE, channeling couplets from the Biblical Gospel Singers’ late ’60s hit, ‘I Come to Praise Him.’ Featured on the album ‘92

The brief nine-track album—’92 representing SEMAJE’s year of birth and the ‘90s vibe of the music—is high energy and earnest, sunshiny optimism, with effusive singing about praise, hope, and encouragement. Examples are the bouncy “Green Light,” a song about God’s love through salvation, and the equally buoyant “A Ok” and “Fine,” which offer shoulder-shaking declarations about the power of faith and staying the course. SEMAJE does his best singing on the single “I Rely,” a lovely ballad that emphasizes one of the album’s lyrical threads: we are human and we make mistakes, but God loves and protects us anyhow. It’s the only mellow moment on the album and an indicator that SEMAJE can deliver a pewburner when needed.

‘I Rely,’ SEMAJE from ‘92

Liquid electronica, reminiscent of ‘90s R&B, oozes through the arrangements, no more so than on “First Love,” about the power of God’s unconditional love. Detroit singer-songwriter Anesha Birchett joins SEMAJE on “The Best is Yet to Come,” their voices blending so tightly you’d think they have been singing together all their lives.

‘The Best is Yet to Come,’ SEMAJE with Anesha Birtchett, from ’92

“Watch Me Praise Him” and “I Rely” are the songs that have drawn the most fans to SEMAJE over the past couple of years, and “I Rely” is certainly a compelling single; but to my ears, “Change” is the standout track on ’92 for its Sunday morning vibe, memorable melody, and exciting interplay between SEMAJE and his background vocalists. It’s also the song that other artists, particularly choirs, can pick up and sing on Sunday.

Picks: “Change,” “I Rely”

***

GOSPEL SINGLES

“Abide With Me”

Ricky Kej feat. Ricky Dillard

From the 2025 CD, Gandhi: Mantras of Compassion

Two Rickys—-Kej and Dillard—-combine their creative talents to convert the hymn “Abide With Me” to 21st Century world music. This magisterial mashup of Indian music and the Black church choir brings out new flavors from Henry F. Lyte’s mid-nineteenth-century hymn. The song’s a cappella conclusion, which doubles as the album’s ending, takes the listener back to a vocal blend that predates all genres.

For those unfamiliar with his work, Ricky Kej is a three-time Grammy awardee with two dozen albums to his credit. His musical palette, though thoroughly rooted in his Indian heritage, embraces every acre of the world. Ricky Dillard is the Dove Award-winning choir director of the New Generation Chorale (New G) whose gospel music career gained international traction with the 1991 release The Promise and its smash hit, “More Abundantly.” —Review by Robert M. Marovich

Chicago-based Bob Marovich launched The Journal of Gospel Music on the tenth anniversary of its predecessor website, The Black Gospel Blog, which he founded July 28, 2004, as the first blog to cover African American gospel music. He is a gospel music historian, author and radio host.  Since 2001 he has produced “Gospel Memories,” a show featuring classic gospel, spiritual and jubilee music, as well as interviews with gospel legends. It airs Saturday mornings on Chicago’s WLUW-FM and throughout the week on several Internet and low-power FM radio stations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Bob’s work has been published in the Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music (Routledge 2005), Encyclopedia of African American Music (Greenwood Publishing 2010), and in the ARSC Journal of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections.