Jamie Thomas

When it comes to the Caribbean and the global gospel music industry this man has you covered!!! Jamie Thomas or better known as Jay T is described as a man of unreserved passion, timeless vision and positive creative energy. He is driven by a desire to see gospel music heard by as many people as possible and when you are talking about the promotion and advancement of Caribbean gospel you’re talking his language.

As a gospel media specialist Jamie has over 15 years experience in radio, television, promotion and production work. He has made his mark in the Caribbean and gospel music industry as one of the regions top radio personalities and has been one of the pioneers of urban gospel radio in Trinidad & Tobago and in the Cayman Islands producing hit formats for top radio stations in Trinidad like I95 FM, Love 94FM, 98.9FM and the Perfect 10 on 98.1FM and on Heaven 97FM in Grand Cayman.

An in demand Master of Ceremonies or MC, Jamie has hosted some of the Caribbean’s’ top events in countries like the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, St.Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, The Cayman Islands and most recently in Miami, Florida and San Diego California. Some of the events he has hosted featured Grammy, Stellar & Marlin Award winners like Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Donnie Mc Clurkin, Monty G, Israel and New Breed, Papa San, Sherwin Gardner, Chevelle Franklyn and Alvin Slaughter. He is also well known for his show stopping event management and production work and has had the privilege of sharing his gifts in this area for artists like Boys II Men, Tye Tribbet, Ce Ce Winans, Yolanda Adams and many others.

Jamie has also served as one of the regional judges for the Marlin Awards but is mostly recognized wherever he goes as the new TV host of “Rise & Shine”, the hit inspirational music video show on MTV upstart Tempo TV. Jamie is seen weekly by thousands in over twenty-three (23) Caribbean Islands and is now considered as a voice and face synonymous with Caribbean gospel.

Tommy Kyllonen a.k.a. Urban D.

Tommy Kyllonen, also known as Urban D. (Disciple) to his music fans, founded the youth ministry at Tampa, Fla.-based Crossover Community Church in 1996. Starting with just four teens, he and his wife developed a first-of-its-kind Hip-Hop Youth Ministry which over the span of six years grew to 200, far outpacing attendance in the main Sunday worship. In January 2002, Tommy became the lead pastor at Crossover and a new vision was birthed to specifically reach the Hip-Hop Culture.

Crossover Community Church became Purpose-Driven in their structure and began to truly engage the culture in their community. Tommy carefully incorporated music, dance, visual arts, media and relevant messages into the worship context and campus without compromising the truth of God’s word. The ministry has seen incredible growth as Crossover’s weekend attendance jumped from 40 to over 400 in less than four years. The youth services reach hundreds more as the church campus has become a haven for the community youth.

Tommy also pioneered an annual Hip-Hop/urban ministries conference called Fla.vor Fest. The event, now in its seventh year, has attracted thousands of pastors, youth pastors, lay leaders and artists from around the world to the musical festival and conference to fellowship, network and get equipped to better reach this culture. Due to the momentum of the three-day conference, The INSP Network filmed the event and concerts and has released two double-disc DVD sets that are available in Christian stores nationwide. Tommy also hosts the “Fla.vor Fest Hip-Hop Series” TV show on INSP that reaches 48 million homes in the U.S.

Tommy, a.k.a. Urban D., has recorded five solo Hip-Hop albums since 1996 and has traveled across the U.S., Germany, Japan and England performing and speaking at conferences. He is also part of Crossover’s own “Fla.vor Alliance” that has collectively released more than 20 albums in the past seven years. His music showcases a variety of east coast flavor with his trademark Mediterranean/Latin influence.

His latest project covers print, music and film with “Un.orthodox - church.hip-hop.culture” as a book published by Zondervan and a CD/DVD distributed through EMI. The book serves as a great resource for church leaders, parents, and hip-hop fans that want to better learn to engage the culture. The CD features new innovative Christ-centered hip-hop and the DVD is a full-length documentary on Crossover’s un.orthodox story along with Urban D.’s new music video.

In addition to his role as pastor and artist, Tommy’s perspective as a Christian leader and pioneer in reaching the Hip-Hop culture has led him to be a featured speaker at more than 50 church leadership, youth and worship conferences and workshops. Most recently, this included the Purpose-Driven Church and Purpose-Driven Worship conferences, Compassion Works, National Religion Writers Conference, Youth Specialties, Urban Youth Workers Institute, 4 Square Next Generation conference, Florida Baptist Association and Midwest Missionary Baptist youth conferences, the Holy Hip-Hop Awards and GMA Week, where he chairs the GMA Urban Taskforce.

Tommy is also a frequent writer, authoring articles for Relevant Leader and The American Bible Society. He is the publisher of S.O.U.LMag, a publication of Crossover Community Church and Fla.vor Fest, and contributed to several books including the Relevant Church Book and Relevant Nation, and penning chapter introductions and articles for the popular REAL Biblezine.

Tommy and his wife and ministry partner, Lucy, have two beautiful children. A native of Philadelphia, Tommy now calls Tampa, Fla. home.

Kerry Douglas

A Native Houstonian, Kerry F .Douglas Sr was raised by a single mother and gave his life to Jesus Christ after a near death confrontation. After this experience, proclaiming the good news through gospel music became his dedication and his number one passion. Transferring his colossal background in the world of promotions, a vision was birthed in the Gospel industry.

Out of his garage, Kerry worked his way to a fully staffed office and became CEO of one of the largest independent gospel labels, Black Smoke Music World Wide, Inc. Because of the number of new artists signed to the label in such a short period and the high quality of the productions, Kerry was nicknamed by many in the gospel music industry as the Berry Gordy of gospel music from H-Town.

Black Smoke Music World Wide roster includes artists such as Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson and the Spiritual Voices, Jimmy Hicks and the Voices of Integrity, Nu Beginning, Zacardi and James Fortune and FIYA. For the past 5 years the label has been consistently ranked within the top 10 Gospel Record Labels in the world according to Nielsen Soundscan, Billboard & R&R Magazines. This is a great accomplishment for a label that is only eight (8) years old. Kerry is also the mastermind behind a new series from the label entitled Gospel Mix 07 & Gospel Mix 08, a compilation of songs from a variety of artists including Doc McKenzie, Martha Munizzi and the Bahamas very own Manifest.

With numerous success stories behind his labels projects from past to present, Kerry needed a way of getting his artists out to the public and from that need Gospel Truth Magazine was born. He is the founder and publisher of Gospel Truth Magazine (www.gospeltruthmagazine.com www.gospeltruthnews.com), nationally and internationally known as the largest gospel magazine on newsstands today.

Douglas credits the grace of God and the courage to “step outside the box” that has earned him a reputation for creating unconventional grassroots marketing techniques that bring together corporate America and the faith-based entertainment industry. Specializing in what is described as a niche soul of faith based marketing; Kerry has successfully brought Corporate America and the people of faith together. Through divine direction, Kerry has launched another major publication, Gospel Truth News, a community newspaper located in several markets (Houston TX; Galveston, TX; Beaumont, TX, Memphis, TX; Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC; Atlanta, GA and Jackson, MS). These publications serve their respective markets with editorials of Christian news, entertainment and politics. Kerry’s wife Sharon and his daughter Amber work by his side as he empowers the nation with the Gospel Truth.

Eric Kampel

Since 2005, Eric J. Kampel has served as A&R Administrator at Cross Movement Records, an independent Christian Hip-Hop/Urban record label based in the Philadelphia area, where he coordinates various aspects of artists’ projects and works with graphic designers, video, radio, publicity, marketing and promotions. He has worked with artists such as Grammy-nominated group The Cross Movement, Stellar Award-winner Da’ T.R.U.T.H., Lecrae and many others; as well as contributed to Cross Movement Records’ WhyHipHop? Campaign.

Prior to this, Eric was the Producer of “The Zone,” an internationally-aired Christian TV show based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which deals with youth-relevant issues and broadcasts music videos from artists like Kirk Franklin, Kutless, Papa San, Trin-i-tee 5:7 and FLAME. In 2001, Eric graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Urban Music Management, a self-designed interdisciplinary program. His journey has also included concert production, race-dialogue event organization and facilitation, artist representation, audio work, DJ’ing and youth work. Eric is a youth teacher at his church Antioch of Calvary Chapel in Philadelphia, PA, and is also an aspiring Gospel Rap artist