As Keith Mitchell releases “He’s Alive,” his rousing, praise-filledgospel fired soul debut single as a solo artist, the veteran R&B singer imparts a fascinating, little-known truth about where his journey with the Lord began. He officially met Christ at Zion Tabernacle Pentecostal Church in his hometown of Indianapolis at age seven and spoke in tongues after he was baptized in the Name of Jesus. Afterperforming regularly before the congregation with his brother and two sisters as The Stars of Zion, Mitchell became director of the young adult children’s choir by the time he was 13. Yet he was infused with the Holy Spirit long before that. His mom told him that when he was an infant, just six weeks old, she stood by his crib one night and heard him clearly repeating, in perfectly formed English, “I’m walking in the light.”
Still anointed and shining in that divine light decades later, Keith is finding his own voice as a solo artist and fully embracing his musical destiny after years of success recording and touring as part of the 80’s-90’s legendary, Grammy-Nominated R&B vocal group After 7. Founded in 1987 by Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, and long-time friend Keith Mitchell, the trio was initially produced by mega hit–makers Babyface (the Edmonds’ younger brother) L.A. Reid, and Daryl Simmons in the group‘s self-titled 1989 debut album which spawned the Billboard #1 R&B (and Hot 100 Top Ten) hits “Ready or Not” and “Can’t Stop.” They released two more albums (including the platinum-selling Takin’ My Time) over the next decade before their initial split.
Reforming in the late 2000s, After 7 resumed touring with Melvin’s son Jason replacing him. Melvin rejoined them for their 2015 comeback single with the Top 10 AC hit “I Want You,” and their fourth album Timeless. With a few more personnel changes in the wake of Melvin’s 2019 passing, After 7 released its fifth album Unfinished Business in 2021. Coinciding with the drop of “He’s Alive,” Mitchell officially left the group in January.
A powerful showcase for Keith’s ultra-infectious vocal, rap and songwriting talents, “He’s Alive” – the lead single from his upcoming debut album Food for Your Life – is an overflowing expression of the singer’s great joy over the living presence of God in his life. While the song is his personal testimony, it’s also an invitation for others to invite Christ in and experience the emphatic change for themselves.
In verse one, he reminds us of the first of many great Truths: “No need to feel despair…God will meet you on the road/He’ll never leave you on your own.” All it takes is that we “make a sacrifice today/and learn to love and pray.” Then Keith shares the essence of a relationship with Jesus: “He wants you to live/He’ll give you all you want/And all you have to do is follow the word and praise and thank him and glorify/Lift his name in all you are.” In Verse two, the singer reminds us, “He’ll make you give your love to him/Make you sing his praises when/He will make you change…Glorify the name.” In the dynamic rap section, Keith asks pointedly, “When you find the Lord. . .Will you testify what he did with your life?” before sharing the greatest spiritual reality of all: “Jesus, we know you’re alive…”
“With After 7, we did a very prolific job illustrating the power of love between men and women and how it affects people in romantic relationships,” Keith says. “But from my many years of faithfully serving the Lord, I have found that nurturing and developing a relationship with Jesus and the Word of God is far above and beyond the experience of loving a person. Learning to love God as I have and having the opportunity to record ‘He’s Alive’ and the other songs on the album have been powerful, life-giving experiences. I’m grateful for the success I achieved with the group, but the opportunity to write and record this project has given me a sense of creative and spiritual freedom I never felt before.”
Keith chose “He’s Alive” as his introductory post-After 7 single because as the music instantly engages the senses, the lyrics have the potential to run deep into our heart, mind and soul by echoing the greatness of the titular message. “The fact that Jesus is alive is the most fundamental aspect of anyone’s belief in Christ,” he adds.
“If you just spent your childhood hearing stories about the Cross and his Resurrection and Ascension, it’s sometimes hard to visualize, and those stories come from those telling the original tales. But in reality, the Spirit that lives in Jesus and comes from the Father is the same Spirit that allows us to live. As I got older, I had greater awareness that the Spirit in me is alive and it’s the same as the Spirit in Jesus. If you believe He is alive and you lift him up and praise Him, your life will be a reflection and illustration of that Spirit. How He lives should echo how we live. This phenomenon of life makes me excited to sing his praises. There’s no greater honor and privilege than to use music to minister to someone’s heart.“
“He’s Alive” is just the entry point for all the incredible, mostly up-tempo praise and worship-driven songs on Food for Your Life, which Keith is currently putting the finishing production touches on for release later in 2025. His song titles reflect the beauty of the many glorious truths he shares throughout – “The Kingdom,” “I Owe Him My Life,” “I Just Love to Love the Lord,” “Waiting On Ya,” “Rescue Me,” “I Love Him” and, as something of a fresh thematic outlier, “Virtuous Woman,” which draws inspiration from Proverbs 31:10, which states, “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.”
In listening to “He’s Alive” and any of these other tunes, listeners might be inclined to believe that Keith has been a faithful, committed Christian throughout his life – but he admits he left the church in his mid-teens and spent several decades away from his relationship with God. He felt spirit filled at a young age but didn’t have a complete fundamental understanding of how that relationship worked. Spending many years away, working on his worldly career pursuits (first in finance, then in music) led him to appreciate God’s presence in his life all the more when he returned to a committed faith at age 40 through the life-changing teachings of Atlanta megachurch pastor CrefloDollar.
“Not until I started taking his sermons to heart did I fully understand what I had been through as a child,” Keith says. “Many of the messages in my songs were inspired by Creflo’s profound ministering, for which I am eternally grateful. Now I’m sold out on my beliefs and ready to shout and sing them to the world. I think folks that listen to He’s Alive‘ and the other songs on the album are gonna find out that I’m in love with a loving God and a genuine praiser of God. Taking His Word and putting it into words and melodies has truly helped me find answers to who I am, what my purpose is and why God is such an all-encompassing Presence in my life.”
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