Khul Rhema of ‘Dem Ziklag Boyz To Release Debut Solo Album

Established urban gospel artist Tico Hudson, aka Khul Rhema (pronounced ‘kool ray-mah’), the founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated group Ziklag Boyz, is excited to announce the national July 3, 2007, release of his debut solo album What The World Needs Now (Provident-Integrity/SONY BMG).

Tico’s own imprint, Powwerhouse Productions, entered into a joint-venture agreement with Gozpul Music, LLC (headed by “Big Earl” Franklin and Terry “Did’um” Bolen) in the winter of 2006 for the release of the album.

What The World Needs Now adds a bit of maturity to Khul Rhema’s characteristic energetic crunk sound. With a rap moniker that literally means “keeper of the word” in ancient Aramaic, his goal is to maintain the same party feel he’s known for while including a thread of God’s greatest commandment—to love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves—throughout the entire project.

Although What The World Needs Now is Khul Rhema’s solo debut, he is an established artist as the founding member of Ziklag Boyz, one of the originators of infusing the crunk sound into Holy Hip Hop. Ziklag was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2005 and has independently moved over 20,000 units internationally. As a result, Khul Rhema’s fan base encompasses the globe as he has been called on to perform in most major U.S. cities and abroad in countries including Kenya, the Virgin Islands and Costa Rica.

ImageLike most sold-out believers, God’s love is something that Tico is intimately acquainted with, but it wasn’t always that way. Through a series of events that included dealing drugs, death threats, gang affiliation, and homelessness—Tico eventually accepted that the power of God could change his life. It is this acceptance that led Tico to the artistry that is admired by so many today.

After encountering gospel rap for the first time, Tico’s initial negative reaction to the genre turned around when he realized that it was God’s will that he get on the mic and use his gift of making music to represent the Kingdom of God. “This is what I want you to do,” said the still, yet recognizable voice of God.

Since then, Tico has set out to fulfill this great call of God on his life, winning souls through his music and dynamic performances, for the most part alongside the legendary Ziklag Boyz group that he founded in late 2000 on the campus of World Changers Church International. Before their retirement, Ziklag garnered such honors as GRAMMY and Stellar award nominations in 2005, as well as reportedly being the first gospel rap group to gain regular rotation on a secular station.

Under Tico’s leadership, Ziklag received love and admiration from believers and non-believers alike and was courted by the likes of Lil’ Jon’s independent label, BME Recordings, Outkast’s now defunct independent label, Stankonia.

Since Ziklag, Tico has worked diligently at developing his career as a producer. He won a Stellar Award in 2006 for his production work on “The Sequel,” the LP release by Lil’ I Rocc (Authority/Whitaker) which earned two Stellar Awards, one of which was for ‘Best Hip Hop/Rap Album of the Year.’ Tico has also produced work for renowned superstar producer, Dallas Austin, (TLC, Michael Jackson, Outkast, Boys II Men, Mariah Carey, etc.), contributing to Dallas’s first gospel endeavor, Darlene McCoy, remixing the hit single, “Fallen In Love,” which originally gained much attention and fanfare on the soundtrack to the blockbuster Tyler Perry big screen debut, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. He has also worked with other artists such as Ghetto Mafia and EJ the Witchdoctor of the Dungeon Family.

After a much needed sabbatical dating from mid- to late-2005, Tico received instruction from God to get back to the business of doing damage to Satan’s stronghold in urban music and entertainment as a frontline ‘souljah.’ In 2006 he independently released The Incredible HudRock, an EP release chronicling his bout with betrayal and his own ‘self-destructive’ habits.

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