UKGospelMusics very own DJ Proclaima managed to catch up with one of the gang, Jude in order to twang him with a  round of quick-fire questions.

DJP: God bless you Jude and welcome to UKGospelMusic.com. Loving the album, some interesting sounds and excellent lyrics. So let’s start with some vitals, who are D:Pulse and where are you guys from?

Julez: D:PULSE are a Christian rap collective from East London comprising of three members, Claudia aka Tiny C, 27, Richard aka Ace, 19, and Jude aka Julez MC, 19.

DJP: What does the name mean ... I take it's an acronym?

Julez: Our Church is called ECC, it stands for Emmanuel Christian Centre, our youth ministry is called Youthwave - stands for Youth With A Vision of Eternity. There are several other ministries within the church that have acronyms for titles and D:PULSE is no different!!!! D:PULSE stands for Direct Positive Unique Lyrics Spoken Everywhere!

DJP: Tell us a little about ECC?

Julez: As mentioned we all attend ECC in Walthamstow, East London, our senior Pastor's name is Doug Williams and our Youth Pastor is Desmond Brown.

DJP: How did the album come about and where was it recorded?

Julez: The album was encompassed within the vision of Desmond Brown, the senior leader of YouthWave. Des has a book out at the moment called 'Convicted or Condemned,' which speaks of his past involvement in street and gang crime. By the time Des was seventeen he had stabbed and killed a man who was a soldier and who's father was a policeman in Scotland yard! The story has several twists but in essence it resulted in Des serving a custodial sentence in prison by which time he had become a Christian! He was in fact in prison with Raymond of Raymond and Co. By this time Raymond had also become a Christian and had led Des' brother to Christ. Des and Raymond were able to settle their past differences which stemmed from the streets and they each began to evangelise in prison together. Now, seventeen years later and Des' heart for reaching the lost hasn't changed an inch! His continual endeavours are depicted through Prison Ministry, YotuhWave, Outreach programmes, D:PULSE and their debut album and other programmes such as the nationally accredited 'Spark2Life' (another acronym: Sharing Positive And Relevant Keys 2 Life), which seeks to address issues to do with gangs, gun culture and pride etc based on Des' story. We recorded with several artists such as Soundbwoy of Soundbwoy Entertainment, producer of top 20 chart hit 'Never Wanna Say' (he comes to our church), the very talented and gifted Wez er Nate Productionz and other producers such as BayB B, Divine Star and Abraham.

DJP: Wow heavy, do you have a favourite track?

Julez: That would be difficult to say to be honest. I have several tunes I enjoy on the album. Each track has a message coming from a slightly different angle of our faith and relevant issues that effect us today. Because of the simplicity and direct approach taken to convey these issues, for me personally each track has its role in terms of its significance.


DJP: Who else in UK Gospel are you feeling at this time?

Julez: There are a lot of artists, producers, record companies and labels, radio DJ's and promoters and even youth groups that are doing very big things at the moment! We've got too much love and respect for so many, particularly the ones that we've worked with, that I'd be scared to begin to name names in case we leave anyone out. What I would say though is that we love originality. For us right now we're looking at more than an artist being able to perform a track, we're looking at an individual or a groups ministry as a whole and what direction it's taking. Again without wanting to name names, but it would appear that there aren't a great deal of artists who are concentrating on presenting an entire package on and off stage. That's worrying, the gospel scene is overflowing with artists that can sing or rap gospel music but is that within itself what the world really needs at the moment????

DJP: Where is your album available at this time and in what formats.

Julez: Our album can be purchased online via www.ukgshop.com theres a link from our myspace -www.myspace.com/dpulseonline - all links and future links where our album will be made available in other formats will be updated on the myspace. Also look out for any upcoming shows that are posted, our album's are usually available after performances.

DJP: Okay Mr Julez a couple of random questions for just to see what you are really about … Myspace or Facebook?

Julez: Myspace ten times over - I heard facebook is the one but I'm too simple to try and use it!!! I have an assistant for that! I'm still excited about emails and txt msgs!!! We should be getting a link put up on our Myspace to add people to our facebook group, look out for that too!!!

DJP: Chicken or Curry Goat?

Julez: Curry Goat because I just ate chicken before doing this interview!

DJP: And finally just to be sure the people know, how can people keep up to date with you guys?

Julez: For now all news and updates will be updated via our myspace. Stay connected, by God's grace we have some big plans to fulfil this year - The future's Bright because the futures Jesus'!

To post comments on this article please register & login