izik 5

IZIK 5 a sensational Contemporary Christian Recording group from West Africa compelled to unite the nations through their music and mission of “One Family” consist of five siblings: Terngu, Timothy “Mas.T”, Sarah, Naomi and Jerry “Daddy J” Ornguze .

In less than 6 months in the U.S the message of “One Family” has been so profound that they have recently been invited to perform at Los Angeles, California’s largest urban street festival, “Taste of Soul 2011”, singing to over 250,000 people on October 15. They performed at San Pedro, California’s “Light at the Lighthouse” which yielded nearly 7,000 attendees. In addition to reaching the masses they have been invited to perform at some of the countries most noted ministries and churches as well as inner city schools. Izik 5 was a thriving force and the primary entertainment for Relief Network Ministries in Houston Texas in support of “World Water Day 2011” to end scarcity among the poor and needy. Izik 5 was the only group from Africa invited to attend the 2011 Dove Awards held in Atlanta, Georgia.

No matter how difficult and discouraging life gets, there is always a brighter side and Izik 5 is a testament that the American Dream can still be actualized. Embrace One Family, One Message, A Shared Dream.

Influenced by their parents, Isaac and Eunice who were singers and still sing today. The groups’ music career as singers and instrumentalist began in their father's church located in a small city called Gboko in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. The group has been singing together for the past fifteen years and has been invited to perform for a diversity of people from small events such as weddings, parties, launchings, dinners to large outdoor meetings and special events for the elite society like Governors and Royal leaders. In 2003, the group was privileged to sing before 60,000 and have performed at many events in such places as Singapore and Malaysia.

Their debut album “Kiss of Heaven” has reached the Top of the charts on One Gospel which is the largest gospel channel in Africa as well as receiving continuous airtime with their video “I Can See Clearly” which is the most requested video on Channel O. Collectively these channels have over 100 million viewers. In addition to rave reviews of their album by African fans the group received a personal letter from the former American Ambassador to Nigeria Robin Renee Sanders congratulating them on the release and success of “Kiss of Heaven”.

Izik 5 were also the only music Group from Africa selected to attend the Gospel Music Association’s official music training and talent hunt competition July 2010. “I CAN SEE CLEARLY “and “TIDY UP” were the singles chosen off “Kiss of Heaven” and included on a compilation CD consisting of top American artist. The CD was given to over 500 Hollywood Movie Producers, Actors and VIP’s at the 2010 Nashville Film Festival.
The Recording Academy of America recently included songs from “Kiss of Heaven” in the Grammy Award listening service. Continuing in the vein of “One Family” Izik 5 was the only music group from Africa that attended the April 2011 Dove Awards which is the largest award gathering celebrating Gospel Music.

Their music was recently reviewed by a radio firm in California, and this is what they said about IZIK 5’s music

“Hands raised like you just don’t care”, a typical party-hyping mechanism in Hip-Hop except that for this particular group, the supposed subtext invariably is hands raised but in praise to God. Izik 5 is a gospel group from Nigeria that uses contemporary beat styles from Hip-Hop and R&B. However, whereas Hip-Hop beats are usually associated with less than salubrious topics, this group keeps it clean with spiritual, positive and upbeat messages with the occasional interjection of socially and politically conscious commentary. With professional sounding production values, silky smooth vocals, and hard-hitting beats, it’s hard to believe that this isn’t a stateside product.

Song 4: “Kiss of Heaven” – The haunting vocals, layered sound, harmonizing, and mixing illustrates this group’s R&B skills. Each member of the group demonstrates an excellent vocal range that isn’t overshadowed by the very understated background beat and vocals.

Song 6: “One Family” – This is the most politically conscious song on the album, which talks about the genocide in Africa. It’s moody and ominous feel, as well as a sparse and introspective beat mixed with excellent instrumental solos give the song further impact.

Song 10: “Time” – An exceptional piano-led intro along with backing vocals provide a suitably dramatic intro to an extremely extensive and intense flow that is the centerpiece of this song. The vocalists in the chorus also exercise their excellent range, which blends perfectly into the overall framework of the song.