Tony Cummings spoke to the rappers and singer who make up London's NEW DIRECTION CREW

New Direction Crew

The recent nomination of New Direction Crew for gospel album of the year at the prestigious MOBO Awards might suggest to some that this London-based urban collective is a new urban gospel group. But in fact the foursome have clocked up 10 plus years of ministry and it has only been with the release of their 2008 debut album 'In The Saviour's Shadow' and their appearances this year at Christian fests like Greenbelt and the Creation Fest that they are getting the national attention their powerhouse rapping, punchy R&B and in-your-face Gospel proclamation deserves. Around a table at Cornwall's Creation Fest rappers Prince Adu Poku (also known as S2, aged 25), Steven Abramsamadu (aka GP, 26), Isaac Ameyaw (25) and singer Elizabeth Duku-Woode (21) spoke to me about the slow but steady progress of the New Direction Crew. Explained Prince, "The group's been running since we were teenagers, so getting to the best part of 10 years. It all stemmed from Trinity Baptist Church, which is our home church in South London, West Norwood. It didn't start off with this lineup, it was just me, my cousin and another gentleman. Then the Lord saw fit for us to break up. But we reformed and it's been five years with this lineup."

The Crew describe their music as "soulful rap" but are keen not to be pigion-holed in one particular musical niche. Said Prince, "The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not bound by any race or creed. You know Galatians 3 says it all, one in Christ, there's no Jew, no gentile, no Greek. We are all one. Because we're so musically inclined anyway, we like to try out different things. We don't want to be pigeon-holed into either hip-hop genre when we know we can do so much more. It really stems from our love for people and our love for music. So we will not be just in the black area. You'll see us anywhere where the Lord takes us to. For example, we've just come back from Sweden, just last week. The audiences were predominantly white, but we can still carry the stage by God's grace and deliver the Gospel message through our music there as well as go to an inner city, South London black church and still do the same thing there. So, you know, all praise to God."

I asked Prince whether the spiritual function of New Direction Crew was to encourage Christians, to evangelise or to worship God. "It's all those things. Mostly, first of all it's to the Church to build them up, and then obviously secondly it's to the outside world to evangelise, and then it's just to worship God as well. So we encompass all three areas. I don't think one thing is [more] important than the other. It all goes hand in hand with a Christian anyway. You have to evangelise - it's a commandment. You have to worship God - it's a commandment, and you have to have love for the Church - it's a commandment."

Steven Abramsamadu came in on the conversation. He began by telling me about his studio set up. "I've got one of those makeshift studios in my house, where I just buy equipment as I need it and make music, and that's what I've been doing ever since. I think I started production when I was about 11. Not with these guys, but when I was in the world, loving the world, trying to pursue my dream of music fame. I went to church ever since I was young. I started playing music in the church, but I think I was just playing church. I had no knowledge of what I was doing, I was just told to go with my parents. I had no relationship with Christ. I never realised I was a sinner. I never realised that I shouldn't live my life my way. I didn't see any importance in any of what I was doing. It got to a point where I really had to step down from there, and come out from behind all that playing [around] and really just focus on the Lord. I realised the state I was in was not how he wanted me to be. It's either two things. You're either an obedient slave to sin or you're an obedient slave to righteousness, and I chose the latter."

Steven produced the tracks for 'In The Saviour's Shadow'. He admitted that the recording process was an immense amount of hard work. "It was hard. I'll be honest, the album was probably, what, 10 years in the making. At every show, or every gig we had, I was the one who'd always shout out 'album coming out soon'. We did that at every show for about nine years, literally, to the point that people were getting fed up. But I guess it was good because we finally got it completed. And people have been very positive about it."

I asked Elizabeth what was her favourite song on the album. "I love the whole album but I've got to say 'Young Girl'. It's a song that encourages young girls to realise how much they're loved by God, and they don't need to show off their bodies. They don't need to use their bodies at all, not to prostitute themselves or to dress inappropriately to get the attention of men, but they should focus on the love of God."

Elizabeth enjoys her role as the singer in an urban gospel crew. "It's the type of music I listen to. I grew up on soul, Mary J Blige, Lauren Hill, all that kind of music - as well as reggae and all the stuff my dad used to play when I was young. So it was alright for me to blend in."

Prince's favourite track on 'In The Saviour's Shadow' is "God Man". He said, "It just talks plainly about Jesus Christ in the flesh, and it gives a first-hand perspective of who he is and what he did."

New Direction Crew are now planning a new release - probably an EP. But above everything the Crew remain focussed on ministry and staying grounded in local church. "It's not just about concerts and CDs, it's really fleshing out Matthew 28:19. A lot of people think that just doing a concert, and selling their CD, is sufficient to their contribution to the Gospel. But it says 'Go ye and make disciples'. If it's a disciples thing, it's a cultivating thing. It's an onward thing, so for us it's more [of a ] teaching [thing]. We're obviously active in our local communities and our local churches. We're not superstars, you know - 'Hi you guys. I'm back off touring now.' No, it's like, 'Now we're here, let's dive into the text. Let's do Bible study, let's mentor.' So with us it's really more than what you see on stage."