by Jazmine Otey
“God may allow us at times to hit rock bottom, to show us He’s the rock-at the bottom,” Kirk Franklin, a well-known gospel musician expressed.
Roanoke resident and rising musician, Willie Brown aka M-Pact, brought to life the depth behind these words through his overall tenacity to transgress from his secular style of music and instead use it to spread the word of God.
Brown had an intense passion for music ever since he was nine years old. But it wasn’t until the age of 20 that he started producing and writing music. However, his first CD “Misunderstaning,” wasn’t religious based and was something put together while he served jail time.
Brown claims that a random interaction in jail is what inspired his stage name “M-pact” stating that he was previously addressed as “Chill.”
“This guy came up to me while I was locked up and told me that God wanted to change my name to impact and that I was gonna have an impact on the world with my music,” Brown explained.
The name ended up growing on Brown and eventually he changed his nickname from “Chill” to “M-pact,” but it wasn’t until he was faced with a life altering experience that he decided to transform his music to worship God through ‘M-pact Your Life Ministries’ and second CD ‘Testimony.’
January 25 2016 marks the day his life changed. During a state emergency snow storm, he was called in to one of his previous jobs Berglund Body Works. He ended up slipping on a patch of ice and breaking his ankle. He couldn’t walk for about five months and had to go through a 7-hour surgery. But it during that time that he found God.
“It changed my whole life, it changed my thinking and how I looked at things in life and from that point on I put in my spirit to birth this ministry,” Brown said.
A myriad of people stood alongside Brown in his journey to create music that represented his personal experiences with God such as his family, spiritual father and mother, Ray McQueen and Sharon McQueen and his wife, Barbie Brown, especially. Brown and his wife coincide each other and she has her own segment called ‘The Word of the Spirit.’
“It’s really neat to see how God works in your life when you’re living his purpose instead of your own agenda,” Barbie stated.
Brown has done many projects already with his latest album Testimony. He shot a video in Roanoke for his song ‘I Believe’ and one in Charlotte, VA for his song Grinding. In the video Grinding they went live on the streets and told random individuals of different backgrounds about their movement.
Brown will be performing ‘Testimony,’ live at the Berglund Center along with special guests Jamal Nubi and group’ Revelation Praise’ on June 10 from 7pm-10pm. Tickets are $27 dollars and a partial amount of funds will be given to the Salvation Army. Free Appetizers will also be served.
“My expectation is to bring the community together under one umbrella. We’re bringing different ethnic groups together. Im hoping that we can unite the community and see that we can all come together,” Brown said.
