Hezekiah Walker

Hezekiah Walker functions as a gospel singer, composer, and choir leader, earning the nickname "the hip-hop pastor" through his ability to draw large numbers of young listeners into gospel and choir traditions via contemporary speech patterns and up-to-date recording approaches that enlarge both his listener base and worship following. A native of New York, Walker spent his childhood in Brooklyn's Fort Greene housing projects. While serving as a Pentecostal minister during his twenties, he assembled his debut gospel ensemble, the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir. Walker and the choir issued I'll Make It (1987) and Oh Lord We Praise You (1990) through the independent Sweet Rain label before forming a sustained partnership with the A&M-supported Verity. Focus on Glory (1992) became the first in a series of Top Ten Billboard gospel releases on that label. Accompanied by successive editions of Love Fellowship, Walker persisted in delivering live albums captured on the church circuit, among them the Grammy-winning Live in Atlanta at Morehouse College (1994) and Love Is Live! (2001). Souled Out (2008) marked the close of his Verity catalog, after which he transitioned to RCA Inspiration to record Azusa: The Next Generation (2013). Subsequent to his induction into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, Walker released an Azusa sequel (2016) on eOne.