big AL

Artist Information

Biography

Ministry Statement: The express desire of big AL’s heart is to share the love of Jesus Christ with those who have accepted or have yet to accept a relationship with HIM. Whether it is through the medium of music or the spoken word of God, big AL seeks to encourage, edify, and minister the grace of God to every person, no matter where he or she stands in life.
Ephesians 4:29

Biographical Sketch: To whom much is given, of him, much is required. This is not only a scripture that we know from the Bible, it is exemplified through the life of this young man. Al Cherry (big AL) is a family man, gospel/hip-hop artist, youth pastor, motivational speaker, high school mathematics teacher, and humble servant of Jesus Christ.

As a child, music was an escape route into a limitless realm of comfort and joy to him. This medium was the tool that God used to draw him into a relationship with the Lord. He actually accepted salvation in his bedroom while listening to gospel music. Since that time, his singing ability became an expression of his love for Jesus Christ.

During his college career at Grambling State University, the Lord allowed him to serve as praise and worship leader for a campus ministry and a local church. After accepting the call of God to youth ministry, big AL became the youth pastor at Christian Fellowship Assembly of God in Monroe, Louisiana and has been serving in this capacity for the past 10 years and as praise and worship leader for the last 5 years. In 2001, big AL took on the role of educator. In addition to music and preaching, he presently serves as the mathematics department head of Richwood High School, teaching Geometry, Trigonometry, and AP Calculus. big AL uses the classroom as an extension of his ministry to be an example and role model to youths in inner-city America.

Throughout his years of ministry, Al has come to understand the responsibility of having a special gift from God that he can use to draw people closer to HIM. He firmly believes that ministry is far more important than artistry, and it is his sincere prayer that God will use his music to lead people to Christ…just as he was.

God has indeed gifted Al with an anointing to reach people of all ages. Using wit and an unapologetic transparent message, big AL has been able to share his story and the message of Christ all over this country. Al’s gift has been “making room” for him, as he has shared the stage with the likes of Dr. Bobby Jones, Canton Jones, Salvador, Group 1 Crew, Ayeisha Woods, Lil’ IROCC, BB Jay, Lisa McClendon, Pettidee, Small Fire, and a host of others. In 2004, big AL sang back-up on the annual B.E.T. Celebration of Gospel featuring Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, Fred Hammond, Shirley Caesar, John P. Kee, and a host of other gospel notables.

With the release of his debut album, “the.next.level.”, big AL certainly began experiencing fulfillment of the promises of God. His release of two mixtapes, “4106. mixtape” and “Son of Jor-EL: Mixtape Vol. 2”, big AL grabbed the attention of industry heavyweights. The single, “Back Man”, caught the attention of Dr. Bobby Jones, who then sought big AL to appear on his Word Network and Gospel Music Channel shows. The popularity of the song pushed big AL to make an incredibly unique video that garnered big AL a “top-six” finish of Gospel Music Channel’s Video Music Awards (Christian Hip-Hop) in 2009.

big AL released his sophomore LP, “The Opening Act”, to high anticipation and rave reviews. He called on industry heavyweights like Canton Jones, Pettidee, and a host of other producers to aid him in his is explosive outcry to the industry about humility. big AL’s personality is synonymous with his stage presence in that his express interest in what he does is to set the stage for the Lord to have His way. “The Opening Act” is who big AL is as he prepares the crowd to meet the consummate performer himself, Jesus Christ. The album spawned a nationally-recognized hit, “Rest of My Days (featuring Canton Jones)”, an urban up-tempo ballad about praising the Lord through any circumstance. The song grew in such demand that big AL filmed another music video, and that video is still in regular rotation on BET’s Video Gospel and GMC’s Soulful Voices. The album also caught the attention of many in the industry, like those in the National Independent Gospel Music Association (NIGMA). The “Rhythm of Gospel Awards” recognizes the work and progress of independent artists in over 33 cities and is sponsored by NIGMA. In 2009, big AL was nominated for three “Rhythm of Gospel Awards”: Holy Hip-Hop Album of the Year, Holy Hip-Hop Artist of the Year, and Holy Hip-Hop Song of the Year, of which he won Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. It also garnered big AL 2010 Stellar Awards, first-round balloting, and the same in the 2011 GMA Dove Awards.

Recently, big AL released his most compelling album to date, “The Balancing Act”. The album features industry personalities KJ-52, Canton Jones, k-Drama, Claude Deuce, and more. It brings to life the delicate “balance” that we all need, and it personally exposes big AL’s successes and struggles. The heart-wrenching, hard-hitting, “Testify”, displays a level of transparency that most artists only talk about, but big AL lays it all on the line! The industry buzz for this album is the single, “B.F.F.”, a ballad about big AL’s relationship with the Lord that uses the text-messaging abbreviations of this hand-held generation. The video to this song will be released late summer of 2011.

Instrumentation

big AL -- Singer, Rapper, Songwriter, and Producer

Discography

the.next.level. LP (Released in 2004)

4106. mixtape (Released in 2005)

Son of Jor-EL: Mixtape Vol. 2 (Released in 2007)

Cherry Christmas EP (Released in 2007)

The Opening Act (Re-released 2010)

The Balancing Act (Spring 2011)

Official Website

http://www.bigalmusic.net

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

Audio

• Get 'Em High
  Listen  
• 03 Rest of My Days (feat. Canton Jones)
  Listen  
• B.F.F.
  Listen  
• Let You Down (feat. Claude Deuce & Chizmatonic)
  Listen  
• Testify
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Get 'Em High
• Rest of My Days (feat. Canton Jones)
• B.F.F.
• Let You Down (feat. Claude Deuce & Chizmatonic)
• Testify

Video

Rest of My Days (feat. Canton Jones)

BackMan

Photo Gallery

Press

• THE BALANCING ACT ALBUM REVIEW
  

  Click the link...

• THE BALANCING ACT ALBUM REVIEW [+ Show ]
  

  Quickly becoming one of the most interesting rappers in the Gospel music game, his lyrics are biblic...Quickly becoming one of the most interesting rappers in the Gospel music game, his lyrics are biblically sound, making them relevant for listeners across generations. As an educator and a family man, this youth pastor expresses God's word in a way that is palatable to the teens in his local church. His expressions are clear cut, and his methods are practical. The man we've just described is none other than; Big Al.

• THE OPENING ACT ALBUM REVIEW [+ Show ]
  

  The Good: Entertaining album, adds a good variety to your christian music catalogue The Bad: Unde...The Good: Entertaining album, adds a good variety to your christian music catalogue
  
  The Bad: Underrated, Underestimated artist
  
  Lyrics/Message: Not much of a distinct message to this album. Like most christian albums the message is pretty straight-forward, but still a good R&P album nonetheless. At first listen, Big Al may seem to “bite” the styles of other artists - I’ll defend Al by acknowledging that the “bitten” artists are good artists. Imagine the styles of Canton Jones, T-Pain, and Sho Baraka simplified… What’s the result? Big Al.
  
  Production/Sound: All in all, this was a very entertaining album. The great arrangements make up for some of the simple lyrics. Canton Jones makes a guest appearance on 2 radio-ready tracks - tracks in which I think elevate the album to a higher echelon. Notable producers include Tony Stone, Canton Jones, Pettidee, Chizmatonic and Claude Deuce.
  
  Overall: A worthy buy. Big Al put forth a worthy effort with this album, so respect must be paid. I’m actually looking forward to hearing more from the guy as he grows as an artist. Take my word for it and head on over to iTunes to cop this album. You’ll appreciate my insights - 4 stars
  
  VESSELVIBE.com Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

• THE OPENING ACT ALBUM REVIEW #2 [+ Show ]
  

  Featuring production from some big names in the Christian music industry,* along with guest appearan...Featuring production from some big names in the Christian music industry,* along with guest appearances from Canton Jones, Claude Deuce, and more, "The Opening Act" is set to impress. Big Al starts the album off with The Opening Act (the song the album was named after, or vice versa) where he states the meaning behind the name. "I ain't trying to chase those dollars nor the fortune or fame, I came to set the stage for the king cause I'm the opening act." Tracks like "Get Low,"Rest Of My Days," and more feature R&B appearances on the choruses, while others like "Ridin" and "Rest of My Days" (featuring Canton Jones) have it in the verses. It also includes bangers like "Boom!" and "Fresh
  
  Lyrically, you can expect the typical message you get on a Christian album. It definitely has a good message, there was just nothing that stood out to me, except for "Everytime," "Give Him Glory," "Rest Of My Days" and "Blessed" being especially worshipful. On the last few songs of the album, Big Al mellows down and basically talks about God's love, grace, and goodness and calls out for the listener to accept the Lord.
  
  Overall, The Opening Act is a very impressive effort from Big Al and, with 14 tracks that are all fresh, is well worth your money.
  
  *Canton Jones, Pettidee, Tony Stone, Claude Deuce, and more.
  Rating: 4/5
  
  Highlights:
  
  Get Low (feat. SaeLah and A1-Bold)
  With a great chorus and dope guest appearances, Get Low is easily one of the best songs on the album.
  Rest of My Days (feat. Canton Jones)
  Canton Jones does his thing on the first half of the track, and Big Al jumps in on the second with an awesome delivery.
  For Fans Of: Canton Jones, K-drama, Sho Baraka, Claude Deuce, Demetrus
  
  Style: Southern Rap, Hip-Hop/R&B
  
  

• THE OPENING ACT ALBUM REVIEW #3
  

  http://www.gospelflava.com/reviews/bigal.html

• THE OPENING ACT ALBUM REVIEW #4 [+ Show ]
  

  http://www.dasouth.com/album-reviews/587-big-al-the-opening-act I love opening acts. I especial...http://www.dasouth.com/album-reviews/587-big-al-the-opening-act
  
  
  I love opening acts. I especially love them when they steal the show from the main act. Then in rare occasions the opening act surpasses the main one and in the future you find that the main one is opening up for the group/artist, which was once the opening act. Well, on Big Al’s sophomore release, “The Opening Act” you’ll find that he takes the spotlight off of himself and solely keeps it on the headliner, Jesus Christ.
  
  This eclectic album starts off clearly stating, “you ain’t gotta know my name, I’m just the opening act” and if you didn’t know who was the opening act, he states it at the end of every bar there after. Who’s the opening act you ask? He’s the opening act. He doesn’t state his name, just that he is the opening act. In fact nowhere on the album (if my memory serves me right) do I hear him mention any name other then the name of Jesus, which is a rare find even in CHH/HHH these days. After the opener comes to an end Big Al continues rapping and takes us into an auto-tuned infused track, “Get Low”, a song declaring the importance of humility over a vibrant two-stepping beat. Being that Big Al himself is a man of many trades (youth Pastor, family man, worship leader and math teacher), it’s refreshing to see him speak about the importance of humility.
  
  Being a worship leader and a rapper, he doesn’t leave his R&P skills too far behind on this project, in fact he sings on about the same amount of tracks he spits on. Now I have heard many albums where the rapper can spit lyrically and sing well yet it ends up being a tragedy as it comes across as overkill. This isn’t the case with Big Al. There are some tracks like his first single “Rest Of My Days” featuring R&P sensation Canton Jones, where he shows off his singing skills to a minimum. I suppose when having the melodic sounds of Canton on a track, there’s not much else to emphasize vocally. The hook on this song is very simple lyrically but one will easily be guilty by singing it every moment there after. In addition to Canton on “Rest Of My Days” and “Daydream” you can find another R&P crooner Claude Deuce. This dude right here got some skills, perfectly adding the right amount of soul to each track he belts over like “I Write.”
  
  In addition to his smooth vocals the boy lends his production skills on tracks like “Boom!” In fact Big Al’s production team really came full throttle with producers such as Canton Jones, Tony Stone, Pettidee, Matt Cash, Chizmatonic and MegaMan. After the guest artists fade you find yourself on the R&P portion of the album (minus the hard-hitting and favorite “Dreamin’”) with delightful tracks such as the amazing “Daydream”, the belly-dancing-like “Blessed”, the soulful “Stronger”, the worship-like “Untitled” and the sit-on-your-porch-sipping-lemonade “Addicted.”
  
  The boy can hold a note, in fact I personally enjoyed his style on the R&P tip better then him on the Hip-Hop tip. Now don’t get me wrong, he could do his thing on the mic as far as flowing properly to his great selection of beats and his content is on point but when he sings, you feel him. This is when you can see his skills as a worship leader comes into play.
  
  By the end of the album the question remains, how did he do as the opening act? Well, ironically enough it reminds me of a Praise and Worship set at church. The album starts off with praise (some head-knocking, bass-bumping Hip-Hop) and ends with worship (some soulful and mesmerizing R&P). Each set beautifully directs you to the main attraction…Jesus Christ. Would I pay for another ticket to check him out next show? Oh yes.
  
  

Setlist

30 - 60 Minutes of Fire!!!

Originals with a couple of covers blended in...

Basic Requirements

Calendar