Tim Bowman Jr. is here to spread the love of gospel and Christian music from Detroit to the rest of the world. Whether he’s doing music, preaching, or simply existing, Tim is a true music-lover who wears his heart on his sleeve… reminding you of the unwavering love of Jesus any chance he can.
When asked to describe himself, Tim states he’s a “creative, a pastor, a husband, a father of three, and a lover of Jesus Christ.”
Coming from a musical family, with his father being legendary jazz guitarist Tim Bowman and his aunt being gospel recording artist Vickie Winans, Tim came out the womb with music in his DNA. And growing up with his cousin Mario Winans in the 90’s, R&B soon became a part of his main palette as well.
Most recently, Tim unveiled his newest album titled Welcome To Faith City, a musical testament of God’s love and faithfulness. The project is spearheaded by lead single “Jesus,” featuring Tim and legendary singer Le’Andria Johnson.
Sheen spoke with Tim Bowman Jr., who was enjoying the holidays with his family.
Read below as we discuss his roots in Detroit, winning his first award at age 12, the new project, Mariah Carey FaceTiming him, goals, and more!
Talk about your roots in Detroit, there’s a huge hip hop scene out there.
It’s crazy. My Detroit story is very melting pot-ish. Because my family are musicians and singers, that’s our DNA. On one end, you have my father, who was this 10-time having Billboard #1 jazz artist. He’s been doing that, but at the same time, everyone knew that I would be a Christian artist. He gave me to his sister, Vickie, my auntie. Just being around her and the Winans: BeBe and CeCe and Marvin…
The reason why I say melting pot is because my cousin is Mario. “I don’t want to know if you playing me. Keep it on the low…” [laughs] I got a little bit of that R&B/hip hop side growing up with him and Bad Boy. Because a lot of the 90’s hits, he wrote for people like Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliott, Lil Kim, and Diddy. It was a melting pot of just great music and I took a little bit of all of it and it contributes to where I am right now.
And how long have you been doing Christian music?
If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. In the Christian space, our main award show is called the Stellar Awards. I won my first Stellar Award when I was 12. Since I was 11 on the weekend,, elementary into middle school, I was traveling and touring. Since I was 11 or 12, every weekend.
What was the Stellar Award for?
It was for music video of the year, I did this song called “Shake Yourself Loose” with my aunt Vickie and we both won together.
Are your vocals even matured then?
I started with my dad and he used to have me scatting. He’ld have been doing a lot of jazz stuff. When I started shadowing her, she’d have me come on stage and scat Christian stuff. I’d be doing that kind of stuff. I was doing that up until I was about 16 to 17, then it was kinda time to start branching off.
Definitely want to talk about the Welcome to Faith City album. What does it mean to have this out?
The Welcome the Faith City album is almost like a culmination of all that blew up during the pandemic for Faith City. We didn’t know what was going to happen. The pandemic hit early 2020 and they shut everything down. Even the partners and the volunteers, church members, they couldn’t go to church. Remember, they had that 10- person band and indoor events?
So I had this idea to do a virtual choir. All the people who would come in and sing, I had them Zoom in and we did it online. Nightline NBC ended up getting it. The second week of the pandemic, they ended up doing and featuring us on Nightline. From there, we started singing at the White House, ABC, Good Morning America. We did The View, we did so many other different things.
Now to be in this Welcome to Faith City season, it’s a combination of all we’ve done during the pandemic and we’re putting it now in industry form. I’ve had some great success as a solo artist, but now to introduce Faith City, and it’s coming off the hills of the Smithsonian induction. It’s just a great season and I’m excited.
I was watching the music video for “Jesus,” you could just feel the passion. Where did you guys shoot it?
It was directed by my brother-in-law, we shot it at Bowie Baysox Stadium. I called him and said, Josh, I need to learn to helicopter and jump out of it. He said “how are we gonna do this?” Anybody who works with me knows I don’t take no for an answer. We got the permits, we got the helicopter, and we shot it. I got the legendary Le’Andria Johnson to come do it with me.
It was a cool experience. I’ve been traveling, I’m headed out of the country tomorrow for the New Years Eve show. But to see people around the world singing “Jesus!” It’s an experience that you can’t quantify.
And what is the Jesus party?
[laughs] Oh my God, it’s a vibe. It’s a swaggy little thing and you swag out and vibe. Swag Surf. Because people think Christian music is so wack and lame and corny. I’ve been a guy who’s never been ashamed of my faith, and it’s done a service. Because I’ve never been half in and half out, and because I’ve done Jesus boldly and unapologetically, it’s been something that it doesn’t seem like I’m inauthentic.
I’ve had Mariah Carey, H.E.R, Jazmine Sullivan, Chris Brown, all of these artists reach out to me over the last two years of the pandemic and say how our music has touched them and changed their lives. You have so many people who are chasing that, and I’m not chasing it. I’m just trying to represent my faith.
I got on FaceTime with Mariah Carey and I’m sitting there like…
How was that?
It was crazy. My stylist called me and said, “somebody wants to talk to you.” He clicked Mariah in and she was crying. She said, “you don’t know Tim, I watch you guys every week. I’m flying to you guys so we can record together.” So we have something tentative…
That’s huge! Did you fan out?
Right? I fanned out. Chris Brown reposted some stuff, then H.E.R. reposted, because I redid “Focus.” I made it a Christian spin, God telling us to focus on him. Someone tagged her in it, then she ended up doing a bunch of stuff with it. It’s just been a crazy experience.
How was the Kingdom Tour?
The Kingdom Tour was wild, it was wild. The Maverick City constituency is the best because it’s this group of people who they’re not religiously bougie and stuck up. We want Jesus and we don’t want religion, and I’m all for that. Religion has turned a lot of people away from Jesus. Because a lot of this stuff that we make Jesus really isn’t him. God is about love. God is about loving.
Our Commandment about loving him and loving God’s people. Walking in those arenas every night, you could sense love. People of all races, all ethnicities, were joining together. It’s something that I’ll never forget. We got something else planned, I’ma give you the skip on it but I gotta wait a few more weeks.
Do you have any goals for yourself?
I do. My goal is to do a world tour with Faith City, and to reach into some new markets and break down a lot of cultural stereotypes and goals. I’ve been nominated for a Grammy a couple of times, but it’d be cool to win one.
Anything else you want to let the people know?
I just want to say thank you. Thank you for the support, the love and for embracing something that is a little unorthodox and rocking with us. I can’t wait to see you guys in a city near you. Keep rocking with us because we got some amazing collaborations, amazing news. It’s only going to get better.
Add Comment