COKO FORMER SWV MEMBER IS NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY AWARD FOR HER DEBUT GOSPEL ALBUM “GRATEFUL”

gospel | Jan 02, 2008 | Comments 0

Coko, who led in SWV’s top ten pop hits such as “I’m So Into You” and “Weak” during the 1990s, has received her first Grammy nomination as a solo artist. The singer’s latest CD “Grateful” (Light Records) was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary R&B Gospel CD of the Year.

The debut gospel album is on the top ten lists on the Billboard gospel album sales chart and her single “I Get Joy,” featuring Kirk Franklin, hit the top 40 on both the Hot Gospel Songs and Hot R&B Airplay singles charts.

Among the many highlights on the album is Coko’s remake of the Clark Sisters‘ “Endow Me” which features Fantasia, Faith Evans and Li’l Mo. Her mother, Lady Tibba Gamble, who once recorded with Light Records as a member of the New York Community Choir, joins Coko and Donald Lawrence on the festive, “Mighty God.”

Coko, who has lent her signature voice to hit songs such as, “Men In Black,” (with Will Smith) and her solo hit, “Sunshine,” is not a newcomer to the church. Her career began at 12 years old as a member of the New York Community Choir. The singer was a member of Hezekiah Walker’s Love Fellowship Crusade Choir, and it was during that period that she teamed up with childhood friends Leanne “Lelee” Lyons and Tamara “Taj” Johnson to form SWV. In the past, she’s appeared on gospel projects by The Lord’s Church Cathedral Choir, Youthful Praise and Brent Jones & the T.P. Mobb.