Jesus is Love. “That was my musical coming-out party. They
all looked at me differently after that.”
From South Central to Pepperdine University, Montell was
on course to attend law school when a professor said one
of his biggest regrets was missing the chance to pursue
music. In a flash, Montell recognized that if he was ever going to take a shot at music he needed to do it then. He put
together a demo which eventually landed in the hands of
Def Jam Records and Russell Simmons. This Is How We Do It
took over the airwaves, and six more R&B albums followed
before a bad record deal brought the string of success to a disheartening halt.
“I think that was part of what God was grooming me for,” Montell recalls, “to begin showing me
that in essence I was in love with something that didn’t love me back. As much as I loved music it
could never love me back. I can recall at that time saying, ‘I don’t know what I would be without
music.’ The Lord answered, ‘What do you mean you don’t know what you would be without music?
Okay, I’ll show you.’”
It took a couple of years, but Montell learned that without music he’s a husband, a dad, a friend. “I
had to learn who Montell was outside of music to determine that I make music and music doesn’t
make me.” In that time away, Montell was able to reevaluate his priorities but he still struggled to
define his calling.
The New Testament tells of a man named Saul who was gifted, a natural leader with political
power, had a strong moral code, and a damaging mission. After God spoke to him, and in his
transformation changed his name to Paul, his gifts were multiplied in their service to the Kingdom.
In many ways, Montell’s story is similar. He is gifted, with a personality so magnetic he draws followers in spite of himself. His songs are similarly irresistible, but for a time, they were damaging.
“I think I was very detrimental to the kingdom for a while,” he says with painful honesty. “I think I
made music and said some things in songs that led a lot of people astray.”
Montell’s Damascus moment came after God spoke to his wife Kristin in 2010. Massive plans were
in the works for a return to music. An album was written and it was excellent. A reality TV show
involving the whole family was attracting broad interest. Then God said, “Stop.” Kristin was understandably shocked so she responded to God by saying, “Okay Lord, but you know how badly he
wants this. If You want him to know You then You will have to tell him.” Six months later, God did
tell Montell the same message. “The Lord revealed to me that I was going to have to lay it all down.
All the music, all the recording, everything, it had to die. That was tough. It was summer. The first
week of July 2010. I was told at that time the Lord wanted to use me and that had nothing to do
with music.”
Already serving behind the scenes at Victory World Church in Norcross, Georgia, Montell began
to realize the difference between gifting and calling. He was gifted to do music, but he was called
to minister. It was only when he finally answered the call that he felt God could trust him to use
his gifting for ministry. Turns out, Victory World Church was the ideal place. It’s a congregation
that represents over 100 countries, with a mission to reconcile cultures and impact nations. In his
musical past, Montell had already shown an ability to stretch boundaries of genre and style. In his
ministry future, he was able to define a sound that can be embraced by 100 different cultures. “I