FLAME

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Flame
Birth name Marcus T.W. Gray
Origin St. Louis, Missouri U.S.
Genre(s) Christian music, hip-hop
Years active 2003-present
Label(s) Cross Movement Records
Website FLAME314: Discipling from a Distance

FLAME (born Marcus T.W. Gray) is a Christian rapper signed to Cross Movement Records[1] He met the Cross Movement crew in Chicago after a concert. Flame, being a big fan, gave some of his work to the group, and Tonic (John Wells) was impressed.[2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Flame was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in the inner city of St. Louis where he was influenced by the hip-hop culture. One of the most significant people in his life was his grandmother. She was his best friend and taught him many things about life and more importantly, Christianity.

At the age of 16, Flame’s grandmother passed away. As a result of this event, Flame began attending church where the Holy Spirit convicted him, and he was converted to Christ. Flame continued to grow spiritually and became more involved in his church.

One day, Flame found himself in the music section of a Christian bookstore. Being part of the hip-hop culture and having done secular rap for years, he was drawn to the gospel rap area, where he picked up a cd by Cross Movement. The cd changed his life. Not only was Flame impressed by the artistic quality of the music, but also by the content. He found the lyrics saturated in scripture both encouraging and challenging. In 2000, after being edified through Cross Movement’s music, Flame made his way to one of their concerts in Chicago. This was where he met the group and provided them with a demo cd of his own work. Much to his surprise, he received a call back. Cross Movement began to build a relationship with Flame that was fostered over a couple of years. In 2002, Flame was invited on the Platinum Souls tour with Cross Movement. Shortly after, Flame was signed to the Cross Movement Records label. In October 2004, Flame’s self-titled debut cd was released nationwide. He was the first national Christian hip-hop artist from the Midwest. In December 2005, Flame released his second album titled, Rewind. On April 17, 2007, Flame released his third album entitled Our World: Fallen, which is the first part of a two part series. On October 2, 2007, the sequel, Our World: Redeemed was scheduled to release, but the date was pushed back to March 4

Flame has been featured on numerous radio shows nationwide such as Way of the Master, and in local newspapers such as The Pathway (Missouri Baptist Convention statewide newspaper), and World (Magazine).

Flame has moved more than 170,000 albums, and has one of his interludes from his first album playing on Busch Stadium's loudspeakers every other time Albert Pujols comes to bat.[3]

On February 20th, 2007, it was announced that Flame's track, "Gotta Notice", from the album Rewind was nominated for the 38th Annual GMA Dove Awards in the category Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year[4]. In summer of 2007, FLAME joined the rest of Cross Movement for their final tour. [5]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album
2004 FLAME
2005 Rewind
2007 Our World: Fallen
  • Third studio album
  • Released: April 17, 2007
  • First album in a two-album series.
  • "The album is a passionate, but basic, explanation of God's pursuit for His created people," FLAME says. "It's very simple, but it's a very informative appeal for people to run to Christ."[6]
2008 Our World: Redeemed
  • Released: March 4, 2008
  • Second album in a two-album series.

[edit] Guest Appearances

[edit] References

  1. ^ FLAME314 : Cross Movement Records
  2. ^ FLAME: Man On Fire - CCMmagazine.com
  3. ^ St. Louis - News - Rap vs. Rapture
  4. ^ 38th Annual GMA Dove Awards - Recipients
  5. ^ HIStory Summer Tour Details - Cross Movement Records (CMR) .:: A Trusted Name In Christian Hip-Hop ::
  6. ^ FLAME: Man On Fire - CCMmagazine.com

[edit] External links