God's Property was a

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 a ...

choir known for its collaborations with

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) ...

, and other recording artists.

Music career

In 1992, God's Property Choir was organized and founded by Linda Ray Hall-Searight (a public school music teacher) in Dallas, Texas. She and her son,

Grammy Awards 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 ...

winner Robert Sput Searight, and daughters Robin and Rachella Searight, were responsible for recruiting all of the original singers and musicians of this choir. Linda Searight groomed the choir into an exceptional performing organization, that was often featured on national television shows in the mid and late 1990s. The choir began to collaborate with

in 1994, and sang backup on his 1995 album, ''Whatcha Looking' 4''. Franklin, produced and co-wrote most of the songs on the group's 1997 album (also produced by Scott "Shavoni" Parker and Buster & Kevin Bond).

often worked out new material with the choir in the studio, and appeared with the choir on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production c ...

''. The choir has performed with

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

at the encore of the "Call The Man/Power of the Dream" concert in Dallas, and on The 10th Annual Essence Awards in 1997 with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...

. In 1998, a few of God's Property singers performed a few songs for Kirk Franklin's '' The Nu Nation Project''. On November 2, 1998, God's Property sued their record label. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles

superior court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civ ...

, alleges that Franklin's parent label executives Vickie Mack induced God's Property founder Linda Searight into signing an "onerous and one-sided" contract with B-Rite Music. In 2013, the group reunited with Franklin for a live performance.

Albums

The choir's May 27, 1997 album, '' God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation''Audio CD (May 27, 1997), Original Release Date: May 27, 1997, Number of Discs: 1, Label: Gospocentric,

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She b ...

B000001Y37 (Amazon.com)
/ref> with Franklin, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Artist, the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Music Video, the Soul Train Music Award for Best Gospel Album and the

Grammy Award for Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album was awarded from 1991 to 2006. From 1991 to 1997 it was awarded as Best Gospel Album by a Choir or Chorus. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and their director, Carol Cymbala, were the most decorat ...

in 1997. The album, driven by the radio hit "

Stomp Stomp may refer to: *Stomp (strike), a downwards kick using the heel Music and dance * ''Stomp'' (album), by Big D and the Kids Table, 2013 * Stomp (jazz), a type of rhythmic jazz tune popular in the 1920s *Stomp (theatrical show), a percussive p ...

",''

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'', search of archives a
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/ref> sold at least 2.7 million copies and was on the ''

s gospel chart for at least 71 weeks. "Stomp" made it onto the following charts:

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States acro ...

R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay,

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

, the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

. To date, the album is the highest-charting gospel album in history.

References

American gospel musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from Dallas GospoCentric artists 1993 establishments in the United States {{Gospel-music-stub