Each week the spotlight will be on...

Each week the spotlight will be on musicians who are making a commercial breakthrough.

CHRIS LEE

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“A Piece of My Passion”

Juanita Bynum

Flow Records

Artist info: Can she get a witness? “Prophetess,” as Bynum calls herself, is one of the hottest female evangelists in the country. She’s the founder and president of her own ministry in Georgia, a frequent lecturer and bestselling author whose conferences draws tens of thousands of devotees. Bynum, whose core audience is made up of African American women, insists that her no-nonsense Biblical teachings -- and straight-ahead gospel recordings such as “Passion” -- are nondenominational.

Back story: An entrepreneur with proven commercial instincts, Bynum launched Flow Records in November. The label’s first and only release, “Passion,” (actually her third CD) rocketed from No. 124 to No. 40 on Billboard’s album sales chart this week as sales more than doubled, largely through faith-based marketing and word of mouth. She’s been plugging the double album at speaking engagements and concerts.

Influences: RiZen, Yolanda Adams, Kelly Price (all gospel artists Bynum is performing with on the Sisters in the Spirit Tour).

Trivia: Bynum -- a former flight attendant and hairdresser whose sexual escapades are detailed in her bestseller “No More Sheets: The Truth About Sex” -- says that actress Angela Bassett and Mary J. Blige have separately told her that her book changed their lives for the better.