Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

Ryan Mark at 'Recharge 5', held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, Hope Road, St. Andrew, on Saturday, August 19. - Nathaniel Stewart/Freelance Photographer

In case you have not been to one of his concerts, he could be classified as the Sean Paul of gospel music.

Gospel artiste Ryan Mark has the pizzazz to get his young female fans into a wild frenzy that could send chills down anybody's back. He probably generates more hype than any other gospel artiste, but says that is not enough to make him lose his ground. "Mi haffi present miself proper. I appreciate it when they do it because it shows they appreciate me," Ryan Mark said. "I have to make sure though that during the hype I squeeze the word in there."

Ryan Mark started out in entertainment imitating his older brother and now fellow gospel artiste, Goddy Goddy. He said he grew up in a home where his parents frequently held dances with major sound systems. As a result, he and his brother started with a love for secular music and seemed destined to make a career there.

His older brother, however, became a Christian and started singing gospel music instead of going to the beat of secular music. Like a typical little brother Ryan Mark followed. "I started going for my own selfish reasons. I was looking girls. If God didn't intervene I would have gone down the secular road," he said.

While he did not know he would become a gospel DJ, he always knew he wanted to be a DJ. "I knew from school days but I couldn't tell dem I want to be a DJ; you would think seh a cruff. I told them I want to be a doctor," Ryan Mark said.

Trying to touch people

But that would not have worked for Ryan Mark. He wanted to be able to express his creative side, something that would take him from beyond the limit of what is taught from a textbook. "I always want to be the trendsetter. Bob Marley used to speak from the heart and that's the way I want to touch people," he said.

So while he may not be the medical doctor he told people he wanted to be, Ryan Mark has been helping to repair broken spirits and aching souls. When asked what makes his message so special, he said it is the idea of mixing everyday experiences with the word of God. This approach helps his fans to better identify with his music.

However, Ryan Mark, among other radical gospel artistes, has been getting a tongue-lashing for their non-traditional gospel music. Some say gospel and secular music need not have any resemblance, but to combat that Ryan Mark and other radicals say music started in the church and they should not be criticised.

"Different things are for different people. You have Moses set of people and the Joshua generation. I am catering to the Joshua set. I wish everybody like it, but dem can't stop mi from doing what God call mi fi duh," he said without apology.

He said the Lord has been blessing him in many ways. He is especially pleased that at 21 he owns a car and not by ill-gotten means.

Ryan Mark is now working on his second album, set for release in 2007. Of course, the minister wants the fans to "keep their eyes on Jesus. Everybody will have their opinion, but at the end of the days, it's all about Jesus."