Thomas Gospel sistas get their shine

Podcaster Paula Melissa says female artists deserve more attention than they receive

HAVING ASKED a group of people to name the first Gospel artist that comes to mind, it was no surprise that 74 per cent of responses listed prominent male figures within the Gospel industry, with the most mentioned Gospel artist being Kirk Franklin, followed by names such as Donnie McClurkin and Israel Houghton. While artists such as Cece Winans and Shirley Caesar were also identified, more work needs to be done to showcase the talented women behind faith-filled music.

Paula Melissa is passionate about tackling this disparity within the Christian music scene and is the founder and producer of SheHH podcast, which seeks to celebrate Christian women and their artistry by amplifying their voices through a collection of interviews, where artists share their stories. As a podcast, SheHH is now in its third year and has conducted more than 40 interviews with Christian female artists. We reached out to Paula to get more details on her heart behind it and the exciting future that she and her team are planning.

PASSIONATE:

Just out of interest, why the name ‘SheHH’ for the Podcast?

Paula: SheHH is a play on CHH a recognisable acronym, that stands for Christian Hip Hop. I wanted a name that made it clear our focus was women in music, and whilst our initial focus was on female rap artists, we have expanded to women making Christian music in all genres.

Considering ‘SheHH’ is in its third year, what growth have you witnessed?

Paula: The growth has been tremendous! The first series was me recording phone calls so it was audio only and wasn’t great quality.

Now we record UK-based artists in a podcast studio in central London and use online podcast recording software to get the best quality interviews for our virtualinterviews. It started with me, in my room and now we have an international team of content editors and my sister as our creative director. I’m very proud of the journey and continue to see an increase in our followers and listeners.

There is definitely a lot