Canton Jones

Canton Jones is an award-winning, Grammy-nominated contemporary gospel singer, rapper, vocal arranger, and producer based in Florida. His unapologetic, socially conscious take on gospel weaves sweeping instrumentation, traditional gospel, contemporary R&B melodies, hip-hop, and electronics in a production style that weds the sonic approach of musical theater and dance music behind his rich baritone. His charting sophomore long-player, Love Jones, received a Grammy nomination and charted. One of Jones' aesthetic trademarks is his willingness to push the 21st century gospel's genre boundaries: 2007's Kingdom Business offered gritty, dancefloor-ready production, choral chants, and club sounds to undergird Jones' deeply Christian world view. 2011's Dominionaire featured the Grammy-nominated single "Window." A remix version of the long-player offered the controversial single "In Da Club," that bleeped out certain segments in its lyrics as a challenge for listeners to confront their own imaginations. 2014's Lust, Drugs, & Gospel was a harder-edged outing dedicated to those who suffered from addictions and offered evangelical redemption in a musical vernacular that could not be misunderstood. Later outings, such as 2016's I Am Justice and 2018's Ghost took a hard look at the complexities of race relations in America, personal accountability, struggles with desire, and an exhortation to transcend petty political squabbles. In 2020 Jones collaborated with Christian country duo Zach & Rodney on the single "Selma Swamp," which, using allegory, squarely addressed racial commonalities and differences in the Deep South in a funky blues arrangement.

Jones grew up in a musical family in Deerfield Beach, a coastal town in southeast Florida. As early as the age of five, Jones joined a singing quartet his father formed, and by age 16 he was making beats for himself and other local singers. After high school, he moved his home base to Atlanta, where he attended Morehouse College. It was there that the singer joined the school's popular glee club, which afforded him a chance to tour extensively and sing for Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Jones, and Ray Charles, among others. In the meantime, Jones also attended Pastor Creflo Dollar's World Changers Church, where he sang in the choir. During a solo performance for one of the megachurch's services, Jones caught the attention of the congregation's youth pastor, who asked him to help in the youth department. He did, and not long after, he made his recorded debut for the Holy Hip Hop label with 20 Yrs. 3 Mths. & 12 Days... (2002) and set up his own outlet, CAJO. His breakthrough came with an appearance on the Grammy-nominated compilation album Holy Hip Hop: Taking Gospel to the Streets; his subsequent release, Love Jones (2005), made its debut on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart at number 11. Jones' profile continued to rise throughout the remainder of the decade and the 2010s. Among his charting releases were all five volumes in the Kingdom Business series, the Grammy-nominated single "Window," 2014's addiction themed Lust, Drugs & Gospel, and 2016's I Am Justice.

The sometimes-controversial topics addressed by Jones in his most provocative songs became a norm by the time he issued 2018's digitally issued Ghost: the gospel establishment finally got on board alongside his fans and supportive music critics. In the late winter of 2020, Jones issued two albums a month apart: Kingdom Business 5 appeared in March, and in April Power was released. The latter was a proper studio album that featured the ironic yet anthemic single "Oprah" in two different versions. The song challenged listeners to embrace God's miracles as readily as they did the television personality himself. In June, at the dawn of the 21st century's civil rights summer, Jones collaborated with contemporary Christian honky tonk duo Zach & Randy on the single "Selma Swamp." The track encouraged tolerance and acceptance. ~ Andree Farias, Rovi