Jubba

Issue #20.09 :: 09/24/2008 - 09/30/2008
Giving back

Jamaican-born gospel artist Jubba headlines gospel concert with 85 percent of proceeds benefitting Child Enrichment

BY FRAZIA LEE

AUGUSTA, GA - Local gospel artist Jubba has always had a place in his heart for musical ministry. As a youth, he and his siblings sang and ministered in a gospel group called The Dyer 5, in which they gained popularity. Their fame led them to be nominated for 2 JAMI awards (equivalent to Grammys here in the U.S.) in his native Jamaica.

After locating to the States for a better education at the urging of his father, music was placed on the back burner, but not for long. Even though he focused on the books for a little while, his calling still tugged on his sleeve, causing him to revive his love of performing.

“In ’98, I started a local, live music band, and we called ourselves Destyne,” he says, “and we played for like four, five years, and from there, I kind of parlayed into the solo thing and that’s when I recorded my first CD [‘Plenty Good’].”

While spreading the word through his music, Jubba became a regional success, which included having his music videos played on BET and the Word Network.

Because of his proven track record, he was enlisted by Ellis Johnson and Linwood Holmes — liaisons for the Greater Augusta Arts Council — to host an event that would be featured as part of the Westobou Festival Choral Artists Series. The end result would be Jubba & Friends, a concert that would not only showcase local and statewide talent, but also serve a good cause.

“Instead of just throwing a gospel concert, I wanted to do something that had impact and give back to the community I admired,” Jubba explained. “So we decided to use the concert as a way to raise money for the Child Enrichment Center.”

Jubba assures that there’s something for everybody at the concert, although he labels the event as having a “youthful flair.” “This [concert] is supposed to be catered a little bit more to the youth, but I’ve always been somebody that tries to be all-inclusive, and anybody that loves the Lord can come.”

Among the long list of performers at the event are M. D. Stokes and Victorious Praise, which is a choir headed by Stokes, one of the area’s top music producers; Christian rappers Sleepy Eyez and The Lively Stones; Jay Reed; Shawna Dominique; gospel groups Blessed and IV Christ; Taken by Force, a mime group from Statesboro, Ga.; and poet Semone Reynolds.

Evidenced by the diverse roster, Jubba hopes that through them, the purpose associated with the event reaches beyond measure.

“So what we’re trying to do is spread the arts in the Christian community,” he says, “and find a way to communicate the message of Christ through the arts.”

Jubba & Friends
Jessye Norman Amphitheatre
Saturday, Sept. 27
2 p.m.
$5 adults; $2 children
jubbaonline.com


- The Metro Spirit

Blog posted by Kelly Jasper on January 22, 2009 - 10:29 AM

Sessions on budgeting and financial responsibility are sandwiched between services of a youth revival at Greater Apostolic Holy Temple Friday.


“They’re going to actually earn money,” said Jubba, the hip-hop artist who serves as the church’s head of Young People’s Ministry. “It’ll be based on their grades in school and real life things.”


Throughout the session, “life circumstances will come along” and the kids will have to surrender some of that income to pay bills and other necessities, he said.


The sessions were added to the two-day revival when adults in the church overheard the conversations of its youth, who wanted to buy more things than they could afford on their teenage salaries, Jubba said.


The revival, themed Prayer, Praise, Power & Purpose, starts at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. Financial responsibility sessions start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by a revival at 7 p.m. The Rev. Ramon Gordon of Bethesda Cathedral in Decatur, Ga., will speak. Call (706) 627-7295.

in Jubba | money | revival
- Augusta.com

Web posted Saturday, February 19, 2005

By Virginia Norton | Staff Writer

First it was a CD, then a single, and now Plenty Good by Augusta performer Jubba is set to premiere Sunday as a gospel music video on Parade of Quartets on television station WJBF (Channel 6).

The producer, Augusta-based Bryton Entertainment, saw the hip-hop gospel singer perform at a youth rally last fall and offered to work with him, said Bradley Dyer Jr., who performs as Jubba.

It is unusual for local gospel artists to do what Mr. Dyer has done in creating the video, said the Rev. Karlton Howard, the host and producer for the long-running Parade program. He invited the singer on the show "to encourage him for going all out like that." He said the singer apparently has spent a lot of money and time making the music video.

The video opens with a phone conversation between the singer and a friend about the lack of gratitude people have for God. The camera follows Jubba as he leaves home, rides to a church to perform and then drops by a hospital. The energetic Jubba and most of the friends he meets dance to Plenty Good from beginning to end.

The CD was released in July by Something Serious Records. Augusta-area stations have played the single since then, said Mr. Dyer, who is marketing the recording.

He plans to send the video to gospel gurus such as BET's Dr. Bobby Jones, the producer of Video Gospel and Bobby Jones Gospel, and Jerry Williams, the director of programming for the Atlanta-based Gospel Music Channel, a 24-hour gospel outlet.

The son of an Apostolic bishop in St. Catherine, Jamaica, Mr. Dyer started singing with his family, the Dyer 5. He, his three sisters and a brother earned a couple of nominations for JAMI awards from the Jamaica Music Industry, Mr. Dyer said.

About 10 years ago, he came to the United States to further his education. In Augusta, he became part of a 10-piece band called Destiny, which won a spot on the Bobby Jones New Artist Showcase in Nashville, Tenn., about three years ago. He decided about a year ago it was time to go solo.

Reach Virginia Norton at (706) 823-3336 or virginia.norton@augustachronicle.com.


- The Augusta Chronicle

Web posted Friday, October 29, 2004

By Virginia Norton | Staff Writer

Hip-hop gospel artist Jubba will wrap up a rap session between Augusta-area politicians and youths today at May Park with a benefit concert for Hope Christian School.

Candidates Charles Walker, Don Cheeks, Henry Howard, Davida Johnson, Harold Jones and Ben Swain McElmurray will make their cases in a forum at 5:30 p.m. They will field questions from a youth panel, then take questions from the floor.

"We are making this a family thing. In my household, the election is a hot topic," said the Rev. Sctonda Kelly, an organizer.

She is founder of In My Father's House ministries and is the music and promotions director and an on-air personality at radio station WKZK-AM (1600).

A talk with her 16-year-old son, Offie Trosper IV, after a recent presidential debate sparked the idea for the forum.

Although the teen is too young to vote, he and other students are taking notice of political issues. In a couple of years, their votes will count, the Rev. Kelly said.

Young people want to know what candidates have to say about the Richmond County task force on school discipline, HOPE scholarship funding and job-market prospects, she said.

Jubba, born Bradley Dyer Jr. in Jamaica, began singing with his brother and three sisters in the Dyer 5, a name their uncle gave the group. It was his friends in Portmore, in Jamaica's St. Catherine Parish, who changed "Junior" to "Jubba."

Most of the Dyer 5's songs were covers, but he and his oldest sister, Nyjole, also wrote music.

"We got islandwide in terms of recognition and popularity," Jubba said. "We were nominated for two JAMI awards (by the Jamaica Music Industry)."

About 10 years ago, he came to the United States to join his mother and further his schooling. Eventually, he moved to Augusta, where he met Chaymon James, now his music partner.

He and Mr. James were part of a 10-piece band called Destiny. The band made it to the Bobby Jones New Artist Showcase in Nashville, Tenn., about three years ago. This year Jubba decided it was time to go solo.

"To get 10 people to move can be a task. For just me to get up and move, it is much, much easier. That is the primary reason," he said. "It is going to be easier to create an impact as a solo artist, and then you can bring everybody else along."

He doesn't try to categorize his music, but that doesn't stop other people. Most people identify it as hip-hop, but he also has heard it tagged R&B gospel and contemporary gospel. Ecclesia, from his June CD, Plenty Good, is full-blown reggae, he said.

The CD costs $10 and is available at CDs and More and Pyramid stores in Augusta and Quality Records in Aiken, but no Christian outlets.

It is a major achievement to be accepted on secular radio or places where the Gospel is not easily preached, said Jubba, a youth minister at Greater Apostolic Holy Temple in Hephzibah, where he and his wife, Natasha Dyer, perform with a praise band. On Plenty Good, released on Mr. James' Something Serious Records label, Jubba does a duet with his wife and another with his sister-in-law, Jennifer Sturgis.

"I understand the music industry, and I listen to secular artists and to what is out there. I am concerned about how saturated the market is with so many negative images and negative messages," he said.

His performances provide an alternative - concerts that are fun and energetic yet convey the message of the Gospel, Jubba said.

"God is still there," he said, "and young people can appreciate and understand."

--From the Saturday, October 30, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle

- The Augusta Chronicle

Published October 7, 2004
By Haley Dunbar, Staff Writer

When local gospel artist Jubba (pronounced Joo-ba) takes center stage to belt out songs from his debut album Plenty Good, all eyes –and ears – are on him; and rightly so.

With a whole lot of singing, rapping and dancing wrapped up in a positive message, the 31-year-old puts on a show the likes of which few Augustans have seen before in a gospel concert. And while the hip-hop elements may not quite jive with some, they are right in tune with the demographic that Jubba is trying to attract- young people.
“My music has always been geared toward the youth. Because the music industry is saturated with so many negative images and messages I believe it’s very important for them to have positive images to see as well,” he said.
- Augusta Focus

First came the text message campaigns, pledging relief to Haiti and its victims struck by January's earthquake. Corporations and governments were quick to follow on the heels of relief agencies.

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MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF
My Instant Lunch was part of a Friday night show at Sky City to raise money for a group that aims to end child slavery in Haiti.
Back | Next STAFFShantel Ward, Paine College's assistant director of student activities, and Deloris Croom, the director of career services, assemble kits of donated hygiene items that will go to Haiti.
Back | Next MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFFImmaculate Conception students Jennifer Hayes (from left), Brandon Dandy, Earl Broadwater, William Evans, Daylon Young and Jacques Wilson hold a check showing its Haiti donations. Slideshow
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Soon after, students around the country stepped in with penny drives and hygiene kits. Others in the community have followed with used shoe drives and, finally, video gaming parties, all in the name of sending relief to the devastated country.

Creative, ongoing efforts to help Haiti emerge from ruin persist, even as media coverage of the situation wanes.

The need hasn't diminished and isn't likely to anytime soon, said Jean-Jacob Jeudy, a Haitian-born second lieutenant in the Army at Fort Gordon. Jeudy's sister, her husband and their five children died in the earthquake.

"Six weeks after the disaster, more than two-thirds of survivors are still homeless ... and are unable to cope with daily life," said Jeudy, who worships at Saints Sanctuary, a Haitian Christian church in Augusta.

The situation is improving, just not nearly as fast as it should be, Jeudy said.

Members of the community are still striving to do their part.

Teams of missionaries from West Acres Baptist Church in Evans and Life Ministries International in Martinez have served in Haiti since the earthquake.

Others have found ways to benefit victims while still in Augusta.

Foot Solutions in Evans collects gently used shoes for victims of the earthquake; so has the Augusta campus of the University of Phoenix, which sends them to the charity Soles4Souls.

The Tournament Center, a gaming hangout near Augusta Mall, held a Street Fighter IV competition last week, donating the prize money to Haiti.

"It was a small thing, but it all helps," said Drew Greiner, who planned the tournament with fellow Augusta State University student John Buckley.

At Paine College, hygiene items donated by students were assembled into kits Friday by Rosa Jean, a junior with a grandfather in Port-au-Prince, and freshman Jabal Moss.

About 500 of the kits will be distributed by the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

"The community support and the school support has been overwhelming," Moss said. "I never expected it to take off the way it did."

Younger students have contributed to the efforts as well.

With 81 students, Immaculate Conception Catholic School raised $817.39 through the Pennies for Port-au-Prince fundraiser.

Richmond County schools raised more than $12,000 for the nonprofit Hope for Haiti, which provides medical aid, housing and education. The majority of donations were small amounts given in the classroom by students, school officials said.

People's generosity drives the success of relief efforts, said Jubba, a gospel artist who organized a benefit concert.

"We had 200 people who went above and beyond," he said.

Ten bands and musicians played to raise money that will send supplies collected at the local Haitian church. They raised $2,000 in one night earlier this month.

Other musicians have followed suit.

On Friday, local bands Great Day in the Morning, My Instant Lunch, Spring Tigers and Eat Lightning played at Sky City for the Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation, which aims to end child slavery in Haiti.

First Baptist Church of Augusta used a multifaceted approach, planning a show with comedian Taylor Mason that raised $5,800, while also collecting money through the Southern Baptist Convention and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

In April, church members will take a team with medical and construction experience to work near Port-au-Prince.

"The people of Haiti need help to secure shelter, food, water and medical care. They need and are receiving help from all over the world," said Kelly Hamilton, the minister of missions and faith development.

The church, he said, is praying that "we will be able to offer our gifts and talents to help families in Haiti that have faced a disaster of biblical proportions. We simply want to make a difference in the lives of Haitians in the name of Jesus Christ."

A team from Aiken also is planning an April trip. St. Paul Lutheran Church will take up to 14 people to work at The Village of Hope School. The school serves 665 children and is a ministry of the Lazarus Project, said church member Bill Blosser, who serves on the Lazarus board of directors.

"We need people with technical skills and construction know-how," he said. "A lot of the teachers have lost their homes. Fortunately, a lot of the school didn't suffer much damage. We're trying to raise funds. Fortunately, people have been responsive."

For that, Jeudy said he is thankful.

"The outpouring of aid and assistance is widespread and greatly appreciated for a nation in distress and great need. This is a continuing effort," he said. "Haiti will need their support for months, years and, perhaps, decades to come.
- The Augusta Chronicle