In 2012, world-renowned entertainer Kirk Franklin announced the signing of his first gospel artist and quartet, The Walls Group, to his label Fo Yo Soul Entertainment. Siblings, Darrell, 24; Rhea,19; Paco,19; and Ahjah,19 Walls from Houston, Texas has dazzled the Gospel and music community with their latest hit singles “Great Is Your love,” “Satisfied,” “Love On the Radio,” and others. What began as a viral video of the Walls children singing on Facebook, quickly became a YouTube hit and drew attention from people all over the country requesting the group sing at events.
Today the Grammy-nominated group is continuing to promote their self-titled album “The Walls Group” while touring across the country.
The Indianapolis Recorder got a chance to chat with the quartet before they came in town for The AME Church Youth Division Unity Concert at the Indiana Convention Center about their success in the music industry and what’s next for the siblings.
Indianapolis Recorder: What was the process like going from a gospel group known in your hometown and select cities to being acknowledged and signed by legendary artist Kirk Franklin?
Darrell: I think the transition was pretty dramatic because we were already doing something big outside our hometown before (the video went viral) and were traveling. What really made it dramatic was (after the signing) we were put on bigger stages and truly in the spotlight. It is an honor and a great experience to work with Kirk Franklin. He taught us a lot.
Does the group get a chance to interact with him often?
Ahjah: Yes, we text about every week or two so we try to make time to interact often.
How has the music industry been treating you all over the past three years? You’re a Grammy-nominated group; things must be a little different now.
Ahjah: The music industry isn’t necessarily what we thought it would be. We thought a lot of people would be stuck up and rude to us but we’ve made a lot of friends quickly.
How does it feel to have earned a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Performance/Song?
Paco: It’s actually unbelievable and it’s a lot to take in but you can’t do anything but thank God because it’s really not for us, it’s for him.
How involved are your parents and other siblings in the success of your group? I know you all are born to music-inclined parents and all eight of the Walls children sing.
Darrell: Our parents are our managers so they’ve been there since day one. Everything we’ve accomplished comes from them. Yes, we sing and participate in rehearsals but the brains and the things people see comes from them. They talk about hard work and remind us we need to do things whole-heartedly or not at all. They push us and have been protectors because at certain times people could’ve gotten over on us, but because they are our parents first and our managers second, is the reason why we are here. With our other siblings and family members, they’re like our fans. Family will tell you the truth (laughs). They push us and encourage us.
What is it like to work with your siblings on a day-to-day basis?
Paco: We’re actually really close in age so it’s like working with your friends. Darrell is a little older so the things we’re going through now, he’s already been through. It’s different in that aspect but there isn’t really anything hard about it. We are brothers and sisters so we have our arguments sometimes but at the end of the day we come back together.
Recently you all have worked with R&B singer Brandy on the single “God on My Mind.” How was this experience?
Rhea: She was nice and really humble. Some artists have a big ego but she was really cool. She said we were very talented and I thank her for coming down to work with us.
Is there anyone else you all wouldn’t mind working with in the future?
Paco: Yes, we’ve made friends with people in the industry who are our age so we would love to work with them. We would like to put everyone on the same song. That would be cool. Anyone who is willing to work with us without compromising who we are is welcome.
Social media now plays a big role in the success of music artists. Your group currently has over 70,000 followers on Instagram and over 33,000 on Twitter. Explain how this medium has helped the group?
Darrell: We probably wouldn’t be here without social media. Before we were signed we would book a performance about two weeks before the show. We used social media the week of to get the word out and over 1,000 showed up.
What’s next for you all? Any TV appearances or involvement in reality shows in the future?
Darrell: Yes! There are already things in the works. Right now we’re really trying to push our album and touring. You might just see us on somebody’s TV soon but we’re working on it.
For more information on The Walls Group, visit Thewallsgroup.org.
