by Lisa Collins, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com 

 

It was some years ago during a sermon by a former pastor that Maurette Brown-Clark heard seven words that have changed her life: “Take the time limits off of God.”

 

It was a good thing, too, or her 19-year journey to the forefront of the gospel music scene might have been marked by disappointment. Instead, the Stellar Award-winning artist who’s been dubbed by some as the “Princess of Praise & Worship,” doesn’t get offended when people say, ‘I’ve never heard of you before’ or ‘Oh, that’s your song?’” She simply encourages others to take God off their time clocks.

 

“A lot of people sit down and map out their lives… I’ve never done that,” Brown-Clark reveals. “I didn’t envision where I wanted to be. I just knew that this is what I was called to do, and I hope I’m on track with where he wants me to be, and if that’s okay with Him, then it’s alright with me.”

 

And just as Brown-Clark has taken the limits off of God, He is showing her that there are no limits to her career.

 

The lead single from her current CD, The Dream, garnered close to 50,000 spins according to BDS, spent over a year in the Top 10, peaking at the #2 position on Billboard and Radio & Records airplay charts, hit #1 on MediaGuide airplay charts and remains in high rotation on gospel stations around the country. Her album The Dream captured two 2008 Stellar Awards—one for “Praise and Worship Album of the Year,” and the other for “Children's Performance of the Year,” for "It Ain't Over!"

 

But the biggest compliment she’s ever received came just last month. “After I’d performed, the pastor at the church where I was singing said, ‘You know what, I didn’t see you up there singing. All I saw was Jesus.’”

 

That Maurette Brown-Clark has struck a chord with gospel audiences has, she says, more to do with the way she presents the lyric to listeners, in a way they can receive them. “With all of my records, I try to do songs that minister to me first. I’m a good singer and songwriter, and [I try to choose] songs that allow the anointing to show through.” Most of all, she says, she’s just true to who she knows herself to be, and the freedom in that is evident in the music. 

 

Other album standouts included “Sovereign God,” “The Dream,” “It Ain't Over,” and "I Am What God Says I Am,” featuring the vocal debut of her daughter, Jada Simone Clark.

 

Both her eldest daughter and son have performed with Maurette, continuing the family tradition started by her parents in the living room of their home, where her father taught his children how to sing. “My mother made sure we took piano lessons, and that’s really how it started in our living room. If we went to church, they’d call us up to sing, and we would do just that.”

 

She sang her way through college, earning a degree at the University of Maryland. It was on one of those side-job singing dates that Maurette got her first professional break—a duet with Daniel Winans.

 

“Daniel Winans came to my very first concert, and when he left, he said, ‘I’m going to call you to do a song with me,’” Maurette recalls. “I’m thinking, ‘Right, you’re a Winans. You can get anyone to sing with you.’ But he did call, and I stayed in the Winans family home and I thought it doesn’t get any better than this.”

 

But it did continue to get better with God opening doors along the way. “I went on to record with Pastor Timothy Wright and that opened the door for me to record with Richard Smallwood (as part of his backup group, Vision), and that opened the door for me to record for myself.”

 

Maurette's first CD, How I Feel, was released in 1998 and earned her the Stellar Award for "Best New Artist" in 2000. Her second, By His Grace, released in 2002, received two Stellar Award nominations.

 

“I didn’t expect so much time, but to still be relevant after three CDs and 11 years and to still sing and record with Richard Smallwood and other gospel music stars is a good thing,” says the singer who did some co-production work on the theme song, "Down in the Hole," for HBO's "The Wire" (Season 4). “This past one came out two years ago, and it’s still going strong. I’m still getting a lot of requests to come and minister, even in a time of recession. I appreciate God for that.” She pauses for a moment before adding with a chuckle, “Did I mention that I have three kids?”

 

As to what’s next? Only God really know. “I should be recording because my current record’s two years old,” she says, “but I think I’m just going to put on the seat beat, jump in the car and let God continue to drive.”

 

 

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About the Writer 

Lisa Collins, a Los Angeles native and resident, is a syndicated columnist, writer, publisher and former Billboard Magazine columnist. Her career in gospel began in 1988 with her creation of “Inside Gospel,” a daily/weekly syndicated radio series that provided news, profiles and product updates relative to the gospel music community. For the next eight years, she would also serve as executive producer of the show that was broadcast in more than 100 markets nationwide. Collins has also served as a segment producer for BET and authored well over 300 articles on a variety of issues for a number of national publications from Essence to Upscale. Her background in the field of entertainment reporting is extensive, featuring cover stories and interviews with the likes of Richard Pryor, Michael Jackson and Prince.