Smokie Norful

Smokie Norful distinguishes himself on the gospel circuit through his richly expressive tenor and a consistent talent for merging present-day gospel traditions with hip-hop influences. Recognized worldwide as both a pastor and teacher, he achieved broad commercial recognition during the first years of the 2000s via the albums Need You Now and Nothing Without You, the second of which captured the 2004 Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. He has since reached the top of the Billboard rankings on numerous occasions and collected multiple honors, among them a second Grammy in 2015 for the track “No Greater Love.” His seventh studio release, I Still Have You, surfaced in 2024 and spotlighted the chart-topping title single.

Born to an African Methodist Episcopal minister, Norful lived his initial fourteen years in Muskogee, Oklahoma, absorbing everything from sacred gospel to the secular soul then prevalent locally—two streams that later proved central once his professional career began. He started selecting melodies on piano at age two, performed regularly in his father’s church by age four, and appeared as a featured vocalist on a custom album produced by a regional music director when he turned ten. Despite music remaining his central focus, Norful chose instead to pursue a history degree at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, taught the subject for four years, and moved to Chicago in 1998 to obtain a Master of Divinity from Garrett Theological Seminary.

Following graduation, he continued in Chicago as assistant pastor at Rock of Ages Baptist Church while singing with several church ensembles. His voice eventually drew the attention of Joe Anne Brunson, director of the Thompson Community Choir, who invited him to record one of his own compositions for the group’s Real album, an opportunity that effectively initiated his recording career. Norful has described his sound as “urban inspirational,” a description that reflects his willingness to expand conventional gospel boundaries without abandoning its core intent. His gold-certified first solo project, I Need You Now, came out on EMI Gospel and Chordant in 2002, logging 104 weeks on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart and 38 weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. The Dove Award-winning live set Limited Edition arrived the next year and cleared the path for his second studio album, Nothing Without You, which earned the Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album Grammy upon its 2004 release. He sustained that success with 2006’s Life Changing, home to the gospel radio singles “Celebrate” and “Um Good,” and 2009’s Smokie Norful Live, which included the Dove-winning track “Justified.”

Captured live at Chicago’s Fellowship Baptist Church, Smokie Norful Presents Victory Cathedral Choir appeared in 2010, followed the next year by the all-star collection How I Got Over...Songs That Carried Us, which enlisted Sherri Jones-Moffet, Myron Butler, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Melvin Williams, and Joe Ligon. The introspective Once in a Lifetime and Forever Yours arrived in 2012 and 2014, while Nothing Is Impossible, containing the reggae-inflected title track, followed in 2017. The 2020 anthology Smokie Norful Collection carried his catalog forward, and 2024 brought his seventh studio album, I Still Have You.