Carlene Davis gets first Billboard Top 10 hit
Dripping Blood, the only gospel album on that chart
Published:Friday | September 4, 2015 | 9:36 AMCurtis Campbell
Dripping Blood by recording artiste Carlene Davis is the only gospel album in the Billboard reggae Top 10, and it has been this way for the past four weeks.
The album, which debuted at No. 2 last month, now sits at No. 7 on the chart and is flanked by secular music. According to Carlene Davis' manager, Tommy Cowan, being in the Billboard reggae Top 10 is a personal record.
"It is a feeling that we have to give God the glory for because His timing is never late. Carlene has had a long career, but this is the first time we have been in the Billboard Top 10. I am not sure if we have done anything different this time around. It's just one of those mysteries," he said.
When asked if the graphic title for the project may have helped to boost sales, Cowan said critics initially felt that the title would have actually worked against the album.
"Persons thought it was too graphic, but the title was based on a personal experience that I went through during communion at church. I literally felt like the blood of Christ was literally dropping on me, so I decided to write a song about it. I explained to God that man might not understand, but He knows what I was experiencing. I was not thinking about shock value, and some members of the church felt it was going to be a turn-off," he told The Gleaner.
Relevant to the time
Dripping Blood took five years to be completed and was distributed by Universal Records, VP Records, and Christian Book Stores. Cowan says the content is relevant to the time and delivers positive messages.
"We have rounded content with a song called Thank You Mr Mandela, which pays homage to the late great, and we have a song called King of Kings, which brings back ska. The lead single, Dripping Blood, has also been nominated for an IRAWMA award for Best Gospel Song," he said.
Davis, in the meanwhile, has been busy on the road performing at events overseas in support of the project. "We recently appeared at the three-day Fun in The Son and The Grace Jerk Festival, where we sold all of the copies of the album we brought, so that, perhaps, added to our placing on the charts. We will also be going to some places in the Caribbean in the coming weeks," he said.