SHEIATKINS.

COM August 19, 2011

Shei Atkins Gets Emotional

By Shei Atkins

For those of you who don't know me, I am Shei Atkins. I am the artist of three albums. My rst one Life in Stereo came out in '04. The second one The Lita Mae Show came out in 05 and my third one Girl Talk came out in 07. It's been 3 years since I've released an album. I'm currently working on my fourth project Emotional which will be out soon. Why has it been so long you ask? I had to pray and get direction from God and learn some things before I came back out condently. I was able to write and release my book "Get a Man, Keep a Man" during the break. This has truly been a journey for me. When God revealed to me that He wanted to use me, I wasnt given a blueprint or a roadmap with exact directions. All I knew was that I loved God, had a passion for relationships and helping women through adversity, and wanted to make music to help bring healing and joy to them.

All of my previous albums have a mixture of R&B and Gospel on them so some people were always confused about what style of music I sang. I just wanted to help people and wasnt caught up into genres and didnt know anything about marketing. I've been with my husband for 14 years, and we almost didn't make it our rst year of marriage. We survived our storm and what I went through in my marriage ignited a passion in me to help relationships and marriages. Its evident that families are under major attack. I make songs to help instill love, honesty, faithfulness and communication back into relationships. The thing is that when some people heard R&B on my albums they were like, this is not gospel and the judgment began. My albums were not what you would call a traditional gospel album. Even though my songs He Can Fix It and Lord I Love You got major air play, those songs werent all of who

I am. It was songs like Temptation that made me unique and kicked off my career. Temptation was very trendsetting and risky with lyrics like boy you keep on saying just let me stick the h#$d in and you cant have none. But it was the truth. I was afraid to do it in the churches at rst but I know it needed to be heard. The song was very risky but the youth and youth pastors loved it and the word spread about it. I was in high demand to the point where I was traveling in and out of state to sing it and the response was always amazing. I feel that the songs are awesome, because keeping it real and telling it like it is in my music is what made me unique and set me apart. Gospel Radio wouldnt play songs like Temptation but that doesnt take away from the fact that the song was catching and impacting teens around the world. >>>

SHEIATKINS.COM August 19, 2011

By Shei Atkins

My music cant be put in a box. When it comes down to business, labels want to know how they will be able to market you and make money with your product no matter what your personal vision is. My tolerance level was getting low with the judgment. I had fans who loved me on one side and people condemning me on the other side calling me worldly, pulling me to the side at some of my shows about my hair color, sending in mean letters, etc. I understand that everyone wouldn't see my vision, but it got to the point to where I just wanted to give up. I wasn't doing anything wrong, BUT I wasn't embraced by gospel all the way, and looking back, I can see where the confusion came in. The messed up thing about the Christian community is that there is a religious and judgmental mentality inside of it that holds us back and keeps us from loving people when it comes to music. When I took my time off to pray and get clarity of my purpose, God reminded me that romance is His idea and He led me to the Book of Song of Solomon in the Bible. Song of Solomon is a book of love songs and poems from Solomon & His bride to each other. Its very romantic. They even praise each other and their body parts in the book. That showed me that God didnt have a problem with romance and love songs, its man. The mentality that someone is compromising or backsliding for singing other genres was passed down in the church from generation to generation and that is not true. If the truth be told, there are some good and bad apples in gospel as well as other genres. Because of my purpose, when it comes down to marketing and promotion, Shei Atkins is best marketed as an R&B artist. Why? Because doing R&B allows me to make the music God put in me to make and be free without boundaries of what I can and what I cant talk about. Does this mean I will never make a gospel album or sing gospel songs? No, thats not what that means. I cant sing about life, love, and relationships under the Gospel title. Its not because I dont want to. Its because of the mentality a lot of Christians have about music. Although I love Gods people, I cant waste years trying to break

R&B allows me to make the music God put in me to make and be free without boundaries
Shei Atkins

this mentality and use that as an excuse for not doing what God told me to do. We have the part where we accept Him in our life and become saved. Then we have the part where Christianity needs to be applied. Thats where my music comes in. I deal with life, love and relationships. I cant speak for anyone else, but thats my call. Just because youre saved doesnt mean you know how to be a wife or a husband. Just because youre saved doesnt mean youre a good parent. If youre not good with money, it doesnt matter how saved you are, you wont pay your bills on time and your bank account will be in the negative, etc. This thing doesnt stop after salvation. We need wisdom and we need to learn certain principles to apply to our life on earth so that we can live the abundant life God wants us to live and be successful in every area of our lives. But there are so many people without that revelation because were so focused on a genre. People write me every day about how to handle different situations in their marriage and relationships or just letting me know how my music has helped their life and relationships. People need what God has put inside of me. Do you know that about 50% of CHRISTIAN marriages end in divorce? But I was judged for singing songs that spoke life into people.

That hurt me so bad. What we have to understand as Christians is that the body of Christ is bigger than a music genre. If you are a nger in the body of Christ, you can't look at the toe trying to get it to function like a nger. Every part of the body of Christ is unique and benecial and if we all work together, we would be so much more powerful. God is more concerned about HOW you live than WHAT genre youre categorized in. The word does say you can tell a tree by its fruit. And when a person has a relationship with God, they'll be cautious of what comes out of their mouth and very cautious of how they use their inuence. We are all a work in progress and grow at different levels. You dont know what God will do in a persons life. You can't be so busy judging people that you don't have time to love them. Even if you don't agree with what a person does, loving them will win them over way before condemning them will. We have to show people Christ by our love. >>>

SHEIATKINS.COM August 19, 2011

There are people who don't know God or read His word, but they see us.
Shei Atkins

By Shei Atkins

Singing background for Kelly Rowland overseas, I got a chance to hang with some very great people such as Wyclef, Kim Burse, (Beyonce's Creative Director) and many others. From the Kelly Rowland experience, I learned that God places people in our life for a reason and he opens doors for us to go places to be a blessing to others and vice versa. God used Kim Burse to be a blessing to me at a time when I had given up on Shei Atkins because of what I was going through. God used her to be a light & spark a re in me to let me know that I am special and not forgotten and she didnt know my situation until I told her. There are people who don't know God or read His word, but they see us. We can hinder people from seeing God in us if all they see is nger pointing. I want to say that regardless of what genre of music I sing, know that I'm on a mission for God to go out INTO the world and be a godly example. Luke 5:10

says Fear not, from now on you will be shing for people. And thats what I am doing; becoming all things to all men that I may by all means save some. If you can't see and understand my vision, just pray for me. Don't judge me. My music may not be for you, but know that I am reaching people and that I'm on God's side.