Eumika Body-Griffin

Some artists’ paths to their callings are smooth and yet others are rocky. For Eumika Body-Griffin the road may have been a little bumpy, but each and every experience has given her a greater platform to sing from. Unlike other singers who will say their musical gifting comes naturally, Eumika knows that she literally cannot sing without the anointing. A powerhouse singer with a spirited delivery, she’s on the cusp of becoming a major force to be reckoned with in the gospel music industry. A 2008 Gospel Choice Winner and a 2010 Nominee as well as a former background singer for artists like Ann Nesby and LaShun Pace, Eumika has certainly paid her dues. But with her new project The Greatest Gift, she’s set to take her ministry to an entirely new level.

Many could say that Eumika was literally “born to sing”. Her mother rushed to the hospital to give birth to her after singing at midnight musical. Eumika began singing at the age of four. Raised in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), she practically grew up between the pews. Her grandfather, a COGIC Superintendent, and her grandmother, a COGIC Supervisor, were well-known in church circles, as was her father. A nationally known preacher and pastor, Bishop T.A. Body, entered the pastorate when Eumika was quite young. As a member of COGIC family, her family strongly supported her singing. She started in the choir. Since her father was planting churches, she, her brother and her sisters became the “church choir” which gave her a lot of experience stepping to the mic and understanding church life. It was a great life for the young girl. “I have been in church all of my life,” recounts the singer. “I am grateful for my upbringing. I learned the disciplines of ministry at a young age”.

But that did not stop the youngster from becoming acquainted with tragedy. At the age of eleven, she experienced a heavy loss when her little brother, who was just 3 ½ months old, and who was sleeping in the bed with her at the time, suddenly died. She was jolted by the incident which literally rocked her to the core. At the funeral, the eulogist said to Eumika, “There is something very special that God has for you to do. Do you understand that death walked in the room and reached over you to take your little brother without you even knowing that death was in the room?” That message stuck with her.

Her singing continued and she was called upon to lead songs. Soon after, she was asked to direct her choir and then to lead worship. She says she felt a “strange anointing” that she had never felt before and a passion for worship awakened within her. It was incredible but she wasn’t sure if music was what the Lord wanted her to do. She was unsure of her destiny. “I remember sitting at my kitchen table,” she recalls, “and asking God where is it he wanted me to be and what was it that he wanted me to do.” God answered her by saying, “I let death walk in the room and not touch you” and He told her that he had created her a worshiper.
God continued to open doors for Eumika after His declaration of her purpose, but there were still some bumps along the way. But now, she is clear about one thing. “I am a singer who has no talent for singing; I have to be ANOINTED to sing. I am not Kim Burrell or the Clark Sisters, artists who have the natural talent and the anointing.

“I can’t rely on talent; I have to sing strictly by the anointing only. I have tried to sing without it and it hasn’t been pretty,” says Eumika. She remembers a time when she and some other girls created a group that they dubbed “the next Witness”. As they began to perform, with make-up done and dressed to the nines, Eumika stepped to the mic and not a sound came out of her mouth. Absolutely nothing! She went backstage and said to God, “I will never do that again”. She realized that she had joined a group and planned to sing without any consultation or approval from the Lord. From that point on, she said that she never ministers without the anointing.

Unlike many other singers who long to put out records, Eumika never desired to be a recording artist. Her husband, Kevin, was the one who pushed her to record. She says that recording “wasn’t part of the dream” she had. During an impromptu songwriting session with her husband, she found herself writing her first song. Shortly after, she ended up in the studio to record. Her husband, a phenomenal jazz musician and producer in his own right who had already recorded his first instrumental project, was the one who gave her the inspiration and the faith to believe she could really be a recording artist.

The Greatest Gift, the singer’s first record, is a diverse collection of spiritual music. A reflection of Eumika herself, the project contains strains of Contemporary Christian Music, traditional gospel as well as pop and jazz elements. But most of all, it’s simply Eumika.

“Call Me By My Purpose”, a song she wrote during a ti