Did you know?
• Before moving back to Indianapolis, Lamar Campbell® served as praise and worship leader at Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, the nation’s largest predominantly African-American Methodist church.
• Kontraband Muzik† has shared the stage with artists such as Usher, Mary Mary, Bone Thugs ‘N’ Harmony, Stone Temple Pilots, Jonathan Butler, Bo Diddly and Ludacris.
• For more information about Lamar Campbell and Spirit of Praise, visit www.lamarcampbell.com/bio.html.
• For more information about Kontraband Muzik, visit www.kontrabandmuzik.com.
It is not often you will see a popular gospel group sharing the stage with a rock/hip-hop fusion band that has performed at the Playboy Mansion.
However, fans will enjoy that rare experience when Lamar Campbell and Spirit of Praise appears along with Kontraband Muzik during the Diversity Music Fest: One Mic, One Sound on June 11 at the Indiana State Fairground’s Blue Ribbon Pavilion.
Campbell’s ensemble and Kontraband Muzik will be among seven exciting acts scheduled to perform, each representing a different type of music.
The Diversity Music Fest is hosted by the Indiana Minority Business Magazine (IMBM) and is sponsored by Daddy Real Entertainment.
Campbell said he knew immediately that the Diversity Music Fest was something he wanted to be a part of when he was contacted by IMBM.
“My ministry shares the same goal as this event, which is to use the universal language of music to bring different people together,” said Campbell, an Indianapolis native. “We don’t have to travel to a foreign country or another part of America to enjoy diversity. All we have to do is reach out to people in our own backyard, our own community.”
In his travels as a national recording artist, Campbell said he has noticed that people living in different cities on the East and West coasts collaborate frequently, but not as often in the Midwest.
Many would say Campbell is well equipped to help change that scenario, at least in the music arena. He began playing piano at his home church at the age of eight, and became the music director of another church when he was only 15 years old.
Campbell’s name became synonymous with dynamic praise and worship music while he served as worship leader and choir director at some of the fastest growing churches in the city. After studying at Butler University’s Jordan Music College, he formed the group Lamar Campbell and Praise, which released a well-received debut album in 1989 called “Ready,” best known for the single “This Debt of Love I Owe.”
Campbell and his choir, now known as Spirit of Praise, continued to release a succession of critically acclaimed, major-label albums, some of the most popular including 1999’s “I Need Your Spirit,” “When I Think About You” (2000), “Confessions of a Worshipper” (2003) and 2005’s “From the Heart.”
Today Campbell is working on a live recording project, and is involved with the new Gospel at the Walker series held at the Madame Walker Theater. His edition of the series, called Lamar Campbell Presents, showcases some of the most exciting gospel artists from the Indianapolis area. The next showing, on May 16 at 7:30 p.m., will feature The Williams Singers, Nue Breed and Demetrius West and Authority.
“We’re on the same page as the Diversity Music Fest, because we want to reach people who won’t come to church, but will come out to hear some good singing,” said Campbell. “We also want to bring together different genres within gospel music, and that’s why we will incorporate white and Latino groups into the series. It’s really about bringing together all the different styles of gospel music so that we can appreciate the diversity and the one message that we all share, which is spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.”
Sharing the stage
Kontraband Muzik’s very existence hinges on the same concept the Diversity Music Fest is promoting: talented musicians from different backgrounds combining their gifts to create exciting, uplifting sounds.
“Everyone brings a different flavor to the band and a different skill to the songwriting,” said lead singer Nate Davis.
Formed in Indianapolis and currently based in Atlanta, Kontraband Muzik has been described as a group that fuses hip-hop, rock and pop into an unlikely blend that provides a unique style of musical entertainment.
In the style of true artists, the band’s members refuse to be confined by typical standards of the music industry, and refrain from locking themselves into one specific genre.
“That’d be boring,” Davis said, laughing. “If we had to use a term it would be ‘mash-up.’ We are a mash-up of different influences and talent.”
Indeed, the band includes a hip-hop DJ, a drummer and bass player who were raised on gospel, funk and R&B, a guitar player shaped by rock and pop and a vocalist with a rock background.
The band’s influences range from legendary rockers such as Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, to hip-hop icons like Tupac Shakur, Outkast and Jay-Z.
“We are able to experiment with a lot of different styles and sounds, and appeal to all musical tastes,” Davis said.
Kontraband Muzik’s members – Davis, Mark Steele, Leon Kittrell, Davey Heritier and Jeremy Taylor – already knew each other as members of different bands that played in clubs and bars throughout Indianapolis. When the musicians found themselves looking for new groups, they decided to work together.
They quickly built a diverse following while playing in popular local venues such as the Vogue Theater and Peppers, as well as national destinations like the Roxy and Whiskey A-Go-Go in L.A. and the Playboy Mansion.
Kontraband Muzik later moved to Atlanta to pursue recording opportunities, and has released their first self-titled album.
They return to Indianapolis occasionally, and say one of the keys to their success is being serious about their craft, but not taking themselves too serious.
“We like partying, playing games and joking around,” Davis said. “We’re really a fun bunch of guys to be around.”
This article is part of a series about artists who will perform during the Diversity Music Fest. Each week, the Indianapolis Recorder will feature profiles about each of the festival’s artists to give readers a glimpse into what the event is all about – inclusion. For more information, call (317) 924-5143 or visit www.indianapolisrecorder.com.
Check them out
• See Lamar Campbell and Spirit of Praise along with Kontraband Muzik at the Diversity Music Fest on Saturday, June 11 in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 E. 38th St.
• Doors open at 5 p.m.; concert begins at 6 p.m.
• Admission is $11 general price, $26 for VIP seating and $6 for active duty members of the military.
• Tickets are available at the Indianapolis Recorder office, 2901 N. Tacoma Ave., and Ticketmaster.com.
