Flashback to 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the world was locked down and movement restricted, music provided solace amidst the experience of pain and solitude.
A musical collaboration between two American gospel collectives, Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music, Jireh, was one of the songs whose messages resonated with millions of people the world over at that time.
Worship leaders, Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine, delivered a performance that transcended the confines of gospel and touched the hearts of people, regardless of their faith.
After experiencing his power leading a stellar line up of gospel musicians, Moore brings his own performance as a solo artist to Nairobi for the first time tonight.
The five-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and worship leader, who is on his first individual tour after establishing his name with the Maverick City Music, arrives in Nairobi after two shows this week in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria.
The tour across cities in Europe and Africa is named after his massive hit song Omemma, a word from the Igbo language in Nigeria meaning ‘The One Does Good’ as he explained in a video posted on his Instagram page in August last year, soon after the release of the song: “I had to write a song for my African brothers and sisters and family in Africa because they show me so much love and support, especially Nigeria and Ghana”.
It is one of eight songs on the album Chandler Moore: Live in Los Angeles, recorded live in May 2024, and released three months later. It follows in his now well-established format of live recordings that capture the excitement and spontaneity of a live worship session.
Omemma was co-written by Moore and Nigerian gospel artist Tim Geoffrey and has not just become a big favorite among gospel music lovers but gained wide popularity through challenges on TikTok. As of this week, the song has been streamed more than 13.5 million times on Spotify.
Other highlights on the album are Joy with gospel music icon Israel Houghton, Great I Am with Tasha Cobbs Leonard and All, featuring his fellow Maverick City Music worship leader, Naomi Raine. The single Lead Me On topped the Billboard Gospel Airplay charts during the month of March 2025.
Moore was among the founders of Maverick City Music a worship collective in 2019 and has since pushed the boundaries of Contemporary Christian Music through collaborations with pop and R&B artistes like Justin Bieber, Will Smith and Glorilla to broaden the appeal of the music.
He was the worship leader when the Maverick City Music and Contemporary Christian Music legend Kirk Franklin recorded the album Kingdom Book One in 2022. That album ultimately won the group four Grammy Awards at the 2023 ceremony, tying for most awards that year with Beyonce.
When Franklin and Maverick City Music brought the Kingdom World Tour to Nairobi in August 2024, the spotlight shone on Moore in an uplifting performance before a full house at the Uhuru Gardens.
It comes as no surprise that Moore, the son of two pastors from Charleston, South Carolina started his career as a music director in church.
He first gained attention as a member of Maverick City Music, a gospel music collective formed when over one hundred artists and songwriters came together to create opportunities for artists who struggle to find a foothold in the genre, such as black people and women.
The group has grown its fan base around the world and performed to packed audiences with their music that calls attention to not just spiritual issues but also social challenges like racial injustice and mass incarceration.
After his performance at the CITAM, Karen tonight, Chandler Moore takes his Omemma tour to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Their online performances during the Covid pandemic brought their music to worldwide audiences and raised the profile of the group internationally.
Moore’s debut solo album Feelings was released in 2020 featuring popular songs like Lean on You and He Understands. In 2023, he spoke about creating different music that fans don’t expect from him. Instead of the traditional worship song, he said, he wanted to make songs that explore music from a different perspective.
“Music that the world can sing along to, and while they are signing it, God uses it to sneak into the heart of the listener to do what He wants,” he wrote on Instagram. While some fans welcomed the move, other warned him against using that as a ploy to slip in secular music
Moore led Maverick City Music’s performance of Jireh at the 2022 Grammy Awards, the first Christian Gospel group to perform at the Grammys in 20 years. He has won 5 Grammy Awards, 4 Dove Awards, 1 Billboard Music Award and 1 Soul Train Music.
