Tasha Cobbs Leonard

If Tasha Cobbs Leonard were just a powerhouse singer, then her legacy in urban contemporary gospel would be all but solidified. But she is also an adept worship leader, and it’s the two gifts combined that ultimately make her the once-in-a-generation talent she is. For Cobbs Leonard—who got her start singing and leading worship at her father’s Georgia church in the early 2000s—the two are in fact inseparable missions. Grace, her 2013 debut for Motown Gospel, is proof of this. While it’s anchored by a massive hit single (a radical reworking of Will Reagan and United Pursuit’s stately “Break Every Chain” that sounds capable of moving mountains), the album isn’t a collection of songs but rather a complete worship experience. Pressing play is, in this sense, akin to attending church on Sunday morning. It’s a concept further developed on 2017’s Heart. Passion. Pursuit., with Cobbs Leonard skilfully building her love of the Lord into a succession of large, cresting waves, one of which is “I’m Getting Ready”, a time-stopping power ballad that combines rock-inspired heaviness with a cameo from hip-hop star Nicki Minaj. This ability to blend unique sonic flavours pops up throughout Cobbs Leonard’s work. She has even teamed up with Hillsong Worship for “Awake My Soul”, a collaborative single dropped in 2020 that finds the superstars boldly bridging the divide between gospel and praise & worship. It’s this kind of artistic risk-taking that proves that Cobbs Leonard, while certainly one of the most glorious voices in all of modern Christian music, is so much more than that.