Sir William James Baptist (better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

, Sir the Baptist) is an American multi-disciplinary contemporary artist and songwriter. He has worked as producer and writer on two

GRAMMY Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

winning albums, two

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 ...

s winners, two

Stellar Award A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry.Sagma
The Stell ...

s winners a

BMI Award The BMI Film & TV Awards are accolades presented annually by Broadcast Music, Inc., honoring songwriters, composers, and music publishers in various genres. Based in the United States, the awards include the BMI Christian Awards, BMI Country Awards ...

as songwriter, and is

BET Award The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annu ...

-nominated artist, As a

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

, he builds luxury mission homes for Missionaries of the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global populat ...

. He is the Chaplain of Innovation, the majority shareholder and architect of Christian website tymple.

Early life

Baptist was born William James Stovall, and raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side as the 20th child of the late family patriarch, Dr. James Benton Stovall. His father was born in 1924 on the land his family farmed and owned slaves, he later became a traveling

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and

Christian apologist Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in th ...

, during the Great Migration. His mother Patricia Ann Harris, is a transatlantic

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

from roots of Sierra Leone who served communities in 17 countries with Baptist as he toured America and Europe.

Name

Born into the Stovall lineage, his name, "Baptist" was adopted as a ceremonial name deriving from his father’s occupation as a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher. His name, Sir, was ascribed during his parochial school years at Saint Leo Catholic. Professionally, the

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

"Sir the Baptist" was used because his model for evangelizing

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in the wild was adopted from the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. Sir practiced ritualistic baptisms at music festivals in America and at 22 shows across Europe.

Baptism tradition

Baptist was the 13th generation to be baptized. His ancestors practiced the Baptist tradition on their transatlantic journey during the

English Separatist English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who disagrees in opinion, belief and ...

movement in the 1600s. With his Stovall bloodline, the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

(

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

) during the separation from the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

can be traced back for centuries. The first recorded baptism in Baptist’s bloodline can be traced to George Stovall II in the year 1555, in Guildford, Sussex Co., England.

Career

Baptist worked as Director of

Digital Marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development duri ...

and Media for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

campaigns at Leo Burnett Company, Inc. His work ranged from

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development duri ...

, to writing music scores for a film that featured

Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III. Meghan was ...

, to

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s with Ira Antelis (

Be Like Mike ''Be Like Mike'' is a television advertisement for Gatorade starring American professional basketball player Michael Jordan. Created by advertising agency Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, it featured various children and adults playing basketball with ...

). After a dispute over the ownership to his publishing rights with the agency, he became homeless, and drove for

Lyft Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic ...

until he signed a deal with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with

Craig Kallman Craig Kallman is an American entrepreneur and former DJ. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records. His career in music began in the 1980s as a DJ in Manhattan. He is the founder of the independent label Big Beat, which was esta ...

Julie Greenwald Julie Greenwald is an American music industry executive. She is the chairperson and CEO of the Atlantic Music Group. Early life Julie Greenwald was born in the Catskill Mountains in New York. She graduated from Tulane University in 1992 with ...

and Michael Kyser. Baptist's conversion to Christianity was due to a

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

experience, and that his debut release ''Saint or Sinner'' was a blueprint to the urban Christian believers. He has toured Europe with

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

, and

August Alsina August Anthony Alsina Jr.(April 8, 2013)R&B Singer August Alsina Talks Working With The Dream, Preps Def Jam Debut, ''Life + Times'' (confirms middle name; other sources confirm he is a "junior") (born September 3, 1992) is an American singer f ...

Artist collaborations

Baptist has collaborated with musical artists Anthony Hamilton,

Donald Lawrence Donald Lawrence (born May 4, 1961, Gastonia, North Carolina) is an American gospel music songwriter, record producer and artist. He is best known for his Grammy Award-nominated songs "The Blessing of Abraham" and "Encourage Yourself". He studied ...

Kierra Sheard Kierra Valencia "Kiki" Sheard-Kelly (born June 20, 1987) is an American gospel singer. She is the daughter of gospel singer Karen Clark-Sheard (member of gospel singing group the Clark Sisters) and granddaughter of gospel choral director Mattie ...

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP ''Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single " ...

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the t ...

, Michelle Williams,

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, gospel influ ...

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. She is known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layer ...

, Estelle,

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, and voice actress. She first gained recognition after posting videos on YouTube as a teenager, and made it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''Americ ...

Elle Varner Gabrielle Serene Varner (born February 12, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Born into a musical family in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Los Angeles, Varner studied at New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. In ...

, DC Young Fly,

Brand partnerships

Baptist has partnered with companies, agencies, and lifestyle brands

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

Glenfiddich Glenfiddich () is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky produced by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''Gleann Fhiodhaich'' meaning "valley of the deer", which is ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

W Hotels W Hotels is an American upscale lifestyle hotel chain owned by Marriott International that is marketed towards a younger age group. History W Hotels was launched in 1998 with W New York, a conversion of the former Doral Inn hotel on Lexingto ...

WeWork WeWork Inc. is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated of space, including in the United States and Canada, in 756 locatio ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...

Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

Macy’s Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

The Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

The Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

VH1 Save the Music Foundation VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

, Fat Tire and

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

Discography

Singles

*Creflo Almighty Dollar (feat.

& ChurchPpl) – 2015 *Wake Up – 2015 *Raise Hell (feat. ChurchPpl) – 2015 *What We Got (feat.

& ChurchPpl) – 2016 *Movin – 2017 *He Heard My Cry – 2018 *I Still Love You – 2019 *Me & God – 2019 *Bossa Nova – 2019 *Switched Partners – 2019 *Kingdom Come – 2019 *Can't Help Myself (feat. Saint Ashleey, Estelle,

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first ...

Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; September 2, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter from Chicago, Illinois. Personal life Johnson is the daughter of 1960s rhythm and blues, R&B Hi Records singer Syl Johnson and Bre ...

Ann Nesby Ann Nesby (born Lula Ann Bennett; July 24, 1955) is an American R&B, gospel and dance music singer and actress. She is the former lead singer of Sounds of Blackness; a songwriter with credits including hits sung by Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knigh ...

, & Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast) – 2020 *Scream & Shout – 2020 *Jesus In The Ghetto (feat. Anthony Hamilton) – 2021 *Adam & Eve'n (feat. Saint Ashleey) – 2021

Albums

*Saint or Sinner – 2017,

*Godfidence: Kingdom Bae – 2020
tymple

Awards

Political views

Baptist supported

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

. In August 2016, Baptist taunted a

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

impersonator on stage for his

Afropunk Festival Afropunk Festival is an annual arts festival that features music, film, fashion, and art produced by alternative black artists. The Afropunk Festival began in 2005, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Afropunk Festivals have also been ...

performance in Brooklyn. He has also been quoted saying that Donald Trump is "way out of touch" with the African American community. Baptist has partnered with the

Boys and Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, ...

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

Save the Music, and

Global Citizen Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir the Baptist Atlantic Records artists Musicians from Chicago Living people Year of birth missing (living people)