Crystal Renee Aikin (born September 21, 1974) is an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

singer-songwriter from Tacoma, Washington, and the winner of the first season of '' Sunday Best''. Her eponymous debut album was released on January 13, 2009, through

Verity Records Verity Records is an American gospel music-focused record label, founded in 1994. The Gospel group operated by Provident Label Group, which in turn is owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Artists * 21:03 * Crystal Aikin * Deitrick Haddon * DeW ...

Biography

Early life and career

Aikin grew up in Tacoma, Washington. Since her childhood, she attended Altheimer Memorial Church of God in Christ, where she sang in the Sunshine Band. During her teen and young adult years, she sang on the Praise and Worship team while becoming recognized as a local singer in the Tacoma-Seattle area. During this time, Aikin also obtained a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. While a teenager, Aikin was part of a local group called Heaven Sent Us. In the late 1990s, Aikin joined a local singing group called Soul (Hendrix/Trinity Records). This group gave her more exposure outside of the Tacoma area, even performing at the

Gospel Music Workshop of America Gospel Music Workshop of America is an international music convention founded by Rev. James Cleveland. GMWA membership Active GMWA Membership ranges from professional and amateur Gospel vocalists to instrumentalists, composers, arrangers, directo ...

. After leaving Soul, Aikin continued singing in the Tacoma area. In 2005, she enrolled at

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...

and obtained a

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

degree. Aikin's mother, a registered nurse also, is a Professor of Nursing at the university. After that, she started working as an

emergency room An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

nurse.

''Sunday Best''

In 2007, Aikin auditioned for the reality television contest, '' Sunday Best'', where

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

singers compete for a record contract in the

Christian music industry The Christian music industry is one aspect of the broader music industry, with a focus on Christian music and subgenres such as gospel music, southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, contemporary worship music, and even traditional church mus ...

. After being chosen to participate, Aikin went to Los Angeles. After several weeks of competition, she finished in first place, winning a recording contract with Zomba Gospel Music (now Verity Gospel Music Group). She also won a 2008 Toyota Camry.

Performances/results

Post ''Sunday Best'' career

After signing with Verity, Aikin released her eponymous debut album on March 17, 2009. The album featured producer contributions from

PAJAM PAJAM is an American songwriting and production team, made up of Paul Allen, J. Moss and Walter Kearney, all of Detroit, Michigan. The team works with gospel, soul and R&B artists. They are best known for producing the 1997 debut album ''Finall ...

Dre & Vidal Dre & Vidal is a songwriting and production duo consisting of Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are best known as the main producers for Jill Scott and Glenn Lewis. Alumni of DJ Jazzy Jeff's A Touch of Jazz production team, Dre & Vidal were also ...

, Gerald Haddon, Derek Clark, and

Asaph Ward Asaph Alexander Ward is an American gospel music record producer. Background Ward came to the forefront of the gospel music industry as producer of the groundbreaking 1998 album ''Everlasting Life'' for gospel jazz singer Kim Burrell. Since then ...

, among others. In 2010, she was nominated for a

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

for New Artist of the Year at the 41st GMA Dove Awards.

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aikin, Crystal Living people Pacific University alumni African-American women singer-songwriters Singers from Tacoma, Washington 1974 births African-American Christians 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Singer-songwriters from Washington (state)