Maverick City
Maverick City Music is an American contemporary worship music collective founded by Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay originating from Atlanta. The collective made its debut in 2019 with the release of two extended plays, Maverick City, Vol. 1 and Maverick City, Vol. 2. In 2020, Maverick City Music released two live albums: Maverick City Vol. 3 Part 1 and Maverick City, Vol. 3 Pt. 2, with the former featuring the singles, “Man of Your Word” and “Promises“. The collective later released their first collaborative EP with Upperroom, You Hold It All Together (2020) which was followed by the holiday-themed EP, Maverick City Christmas (2020). In 2021, Maverick City Music released several projects, the most notable being their second collaborative EP with Upperroom, Move Your Heart; a collaborative album with Elevation Worship titled Old Church Basement which contained the hit songs “Jireh“, “Talking to Jesus” and “Wait on You“; and Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition, which attained commercial success and garnered widespread critical acclaim.
Maverick City Music was launched in 2018, After hosting seventeen songwriting camps which brought together over one hundred Christian artists and songwriters the result was the creation of over one hundred songs and a label was started. Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay intended to create space for diversity by including creatives who are often marginalized such as black people and women who are CCM singers and songwriters, and bringing attention to their voices and ability. Maverick City Music released their first extended play, Maverick City, Vol. 1, on July 29, 2019. The EP debuted on Billboard‘s Top Gospel Albums Chart at number ten. On November 12, 2019, Maverick City Music released their follow-up EP, Maverick City, Vol. 2. The release debuted at number 35 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums Chart.
On April 17, 2020, Maverick City Music released their debut album, Maverick City Vol. 3 Part 1, independently. In the United States, the album debuted at number six on Top Christian Albums and number two on Top Gospel Albums charts. Maverick City, Vol. 3 Part 1 also debuted at number 15 on the Official Christian and Gospel Albums Chart in the United Kingdom. On July 27, 2020, Maverick City Music announced that the song “Man of Your Word” which features Chandler Moore and KJ Scriven, would impact Christian radio stations on August 21, 2020, being their debut radio single. “Man of Your Word” peaked at number 18 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, and spent a total of twenty-six non-consecutive weeks on the chart. Maverick City Music garnered two nominations for the 2020 GMA Dove Awards, with “Promises” being nominated in the Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year award and Maverick City Vol. 3 Part 1 being nominated in the Gospel Worship Album of the Year award.
On October 9, 2020, the collective released their second studio album, Maverick City, Vol. 3 Pt. 2. The album debuted at number four on Top Christian Albums and number two on Top Gospel Albums charts in the United States. Maverick City, Vol. 3 Pt. 2 also debuted at number eight on the Official Christian and Gospel Albums Chart in the United Kingdom. Maverick City Music and Upperroom released their first collaborative extended play titled You Hold It All Together, on November 20, 2020. You Hold It All Together debuted at number twenty on Top Christian Albums and number two on Top Gospel Albums charts in the United States. Maverick City Music released a holiday-themed extended play titled Maverick City Christmas a week later, on November 27, 2020. Maverick City Christmas debuted at number four on Top Gospel Albums charts in the United States.
At the 2021 GMA Dove Awards, Maverick City Music received three nominations: New Artist of the Year, Worship Recorded Song of the Year for “Jireh” alongside Elevation Worship, Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine, and Worship Album of the Year for Old Church Basement alongside Elevation Worship; the collective won the GMA Dove Awards for New Artist of the Year and Worship Album of the Year for Old Church Basement with Elevation Worship. At the 2022 Grammy Awards, Maverick City Music received four nominations across the Christian and Gospel categories, ultimately winning the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Old Church Basement with Elevation Worship. Maverick City Music also performed “Jireh” at the 2022 Grammy Awards, becoming the first Christian gospel group to perform at the Grammy Awards show in 20 years. At the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, Maverick City Music received six nominations across the Christian and Gospel categories.
At the 2022 GMA Dove Awards, Maverick City Music received seven nominations including Artist of the Year, Worship Recorded Song of the Year for the radio version of “Jireh” alongside Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine, Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year for “Breathe” with DOE, Chandler Moore, and Jonathan McReynolds, Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year for Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition, and Gospel Worship Album of the Year for Tribl Nights Atlanta alongside Tribl the collective ultimately winning the GMA Dove Awards for Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year and Gospel Worship Album of the Year. At the 2023 Grammy Awards, Maverick City Music received five nominations across the Christian and Gospel categories: Best Gospel Album for Kingdom Book One (Deluxe) with Kirk Franklin, Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Breathe, Best Gospel Performance/Song for “Kingdom” with Kirk Franklin, and two Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song nominations for “Fear Is Not Future” with Kirk Franklin and “God Really Loves Us (Radio Version)” with Crowder and Dante Bowe.
