RADIO 316 AND TUNE INN SHOWING THE WAY GROUP 1 CREW LIVING OUT THEIR DREAM
Radio 316 and Tune Inn all have one thing in common: great music! If you listen to the kind of music played on Radio 316 – which is also available at Tune Inn – you'll discover what it means to praise God and have fun doing it. Let's take Group one Crew – the Dove Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year Award winners – for example:
Their unique hybrid of hip-hop, rock, funk and soul separates award winning Group 1 Crew from the crowd. At this year's annual GMA Dove Awards held in April, the group won the Dove Award for “Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year”, for the third year running. Their passionate message of hope and encouragement can't help but set them apart – especially as long-time advocates for dreaming and experiencing the plans that God has for His people.
Group 1 Crew's Manwell Reyes, Pablo Villatoro and Blanca Reyes have teamed together for one unified purpose (the two Reyes are not related). Unlike many popular groups where members individually vie for the spotlight, Group 1 Crew even wanted its name to have a singular message that communicates the band's desire to shine the love of Christ through the power of song. Their captivating and relatable songs like “No Plan B”, “Everybody's Gotta Song to Sing” and “I Have a Dream” encourage listeners to pursue their God-given ambitions, no matter how outlandish they may seem.
Founded in a rather unlikely way, the group got its start when Manwell, a former solo artiste and veteran party emcee started a Bible study with his friends and fellow musicians Pablo and Blanca. Not long after that the band signed a recording deal. With the natural camaraderie that comes with friendship and long hours of making music together, the group shares a passion for making a unique contribution to the Christian and mainstream hip-hop scenes.
“Before I became a Christian in high school, I didn't know anything about God at all,” Manwell confesses. “I was a horrible kid. I was kicked out of three schools, did the whole crime thing – robbing, stealing, trading merchandise and all that jazz.” But after going to summer camp before his senior year hoping to hook up with a girl, he met God instead. “The first night there, God showed up at the camp. I say ‘showed up' because I still remember it,” Manwell adds. “The entire room was just on its face – it was a moment of pure humility. All I could say was ‘I'm not worthy' and ‘I'm dirty.'”
For her part, Blanca's sole desire while growing up was to be the next Mariah or Whitney. She tried out for every talent show imaginable – yes, even American Idol – only to hit brick walls. While Blanca didn't exactly share Manwell's tendency to get in trouble, she also didn't grow up in a Christian family. Her parents divorced but the family was later reunited at a high school play. After seeing the spiritually themed show, Blanca says that “God hit me, and I knew it was time to get right.” And from something she describes as ‘so simple', she got saved and wanted to give her singing talent back to God. “Once I got saved it was a big difference because God just showed me that He had a plan for me. Everything just fell into place as soon as I started singing for Him,” she recalls.
Unlike Manwell and Blanca, Pablo grew up a little differently – as the son of a pastor. But like many teenagers who embrace faith early on, Pablo went through a rebellious phase where he followed the crowd instead of Christ. But when he was 19, Pablo, a former supermarket attendant, says he “started going to church because I wanted to and not because my parents woke me up to go. My faith was becoming my own, and there was a hunger to know more.”
“We're still ordinary people, but we're doing extraordinary things,” Manwell says.
“Nobody's born a star. Nobody's born famous. It's just normal people who've done amazing things and are now esteemed for those amazing things. We feel that everyone has that possibility.” Pablo adds: “Now that we're all living in that dream that we've all wanted to achieve, now it's just become an even bigger dream, a bigger passion to use music as a stepping stone to advance the Kingdom and empower the generation that's coming up behind us.”
From passion to passion, from glory to glory, Group 1 Crew hopes to continue to march onward and upward, seeking not earthly recognition but an even deeper understanding of what matters most. Ultimately, Group 1 Crew hopes, too, that even people who don't normally attend church will easily be able to identify the hope in Jesus that has personally changed each band member's life.
Today, Group 1 Crew wants their combined testimonies and victories to be a catalyst for all the dreamers who happen upon the group's music. Their music is available at Tune Inn music store , Yaya Centre, 1 st floor. You can also enjoy Group 1 Crew's music on Radio 316 where it played regularly.
