The anticipation for new music from celebrate vocalist Mandisa is great. Aside from last year’s critically-acclaimed holiday project It’s Christmas, the AC and pop-flavored Freedom is the follow-up to Mandisa’s 2007 debut, True Beauty, an album that created history by becoming the highest chart entry and made her the best-selling debut artist in the life of her label, Sparrow Records. It also became the only female debut to hit No. 1 in the 27-year history of Billboard’s Christian Retail Chart. True Beauty received a GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album,” the single “Only the World” became a Top 5 hit at Christian radio, and Mandisa was lauded one of the “Best New Artists of 2007” by multiple media outlets.

Needless to say, Mandisa has been established as one of the most promising new talents in the Christian music industry.

NRT’s own Andrew Funderburks had an opportunity to speak with Mandisa about her sophomore album, Freedom, and the prominent themes throughout the eleven tracks. With a focused message that can apply to any listener, Mandisa is poised to not only continue her incredibly fast-start to her music career, but influence and encourage the lives of many with her own personal testimony and experiences.

Hi, Mandisa! Thanks for joining us today on NewReleaseTuesday.com. Your sophomore album is called, Freedom. Explain what this word means to you and why you chose it as a title for the new project.

I’m calling the CD Freedom because it’s an area in which God has been working on me for the past few months. I’ve battled with my weight my entire life, and it’s something that has held me captive for so long. Being a heavy person on American Idol was sort of like “the elephant in the room,” but Simon said some things about my appearance that made the issue public. I feel like God is setting me free from the weight issues now. Dealing with childhood matters, that had me turning to food in the first place, has been a very big part of the process. I’ve changed the way I think about food and changed the way I move my body. I’m exercising more. I’m being set free because I’ve changed my entire mindset. As a result, I’ve lost about 65 pounds! It’s definitely been a journey, and it just seems that my music is going along those lines with the songs that I wrote and the songs that I was drawn to. They all deal with freedom. I didn’t plan that, but it seems that God did.

Do you feel as if Freedom continues where True Beauty left off in the story of your struggles?

Absolutely! I’m so thankful that my first CD was True Beauty, because I feel like God first had to show me where my value comes from. If I was just losing the weight, it could very easily become about looking a certain way or trying to fit into society’s standard of beauty. However, since I now know where my true beauty comes from—that God is much more concerned with my inward appearance than my outward appearance—I know that I am on a journey of freedom, as opposed to just a journey of losing weight. I find that as He’s setting me free from a lot of different things, the manifestation is that I am losing weight. I’m not confused about the purpose of this weight loss. This is about me being the whole and healthy person He’s called me to be.

“My Deliverer” is the first single, and it addresses how we have all been set free by our amazing deliverer, Jesus Christ. Tell me what inspired the writing of this song.

It’ll help to tell you a little about the writing process. You see, there were some songs that I wrote on this CD and some songs that I didn’t. For each CD, I gather a group of writers at my record label, EMI. I write a document about all of the things that God has been dealing with me in my life, and we use that as a template for writing the songs. One of the things that I put on that document was that I have a food addiction, but that God is setting me free from that addiction. The writers of this song looked at the words I wrote. They listened to me when I told them that it’s about so much more than food and exercise, and that it’s really a spiritual and emotional issue for me. The end result was this song and, the moment I heard it, it resonated with me. It really isn’t about a diet or exercise program. It comes down to the fact that my deliverer has set me free from all that has held me captive for so many years! I feel like there is no better song that demonstrates what He’s done in my life than this song, so it’s the perfect first single to demonstrate to the world what He’s been doing.


When I first heard it, I thought, Wow! This is a really good song! You see, I myself have been going through some battles, and it really touched me.

I’m so glad! I love that! Even though not everybody has an issue with food, there’s always something that has us bound, in a sense. But Jesus says that He came to give us life abundantly and He’s come to set the captives free! He sets us free from sin, but He doesn’t stop there. He sets us free from anything that binds us—alcohol, drugs, or whatever. It doesn’t have to be a substance. We serve a God who is able to set us free from whatever has us bound.

“The Definition of Me” is an amazing song addressing the subject of how we’re constantly pressured by the world to look, dress, and act a certain way. It explains that the beauty that truly matters is the inside beauty that comes from Jesus. What place does this song hold in your heart?

I think the issue of true beauty will always be important to me and will always be a big platform for me. I know that you men deal with this sometimes too but, for women in particular, there’s this standard of beauty that we feel we have to live up to. We see it on the magazine covers and in the music videos. Society is always telling us how we’re supposed to look, and I’m tired of it. That’s why my first CD, True Beauty, meant so much to me. I don’t feel like I have to live up to that standard, because God values more than anything what’s going on inside of me. He doesn’t value my outward appearance. I think that this is where we should place our value. This is what I want to define me—not anything that can be seen with the naked eye.

The title to “Dance, Dance, Dance” is perfect. I absolutely love that song because it really does make me want to get up and “dance, dance, dance!” What inspired its creation?

Well, I’m a huge fan of MaryMary, and I sang their song, “Shackles (Praise You)” on American Idol. I also recorded it for my first project. “Dance, Dance, Dance” is one of their songs that not a lot of people know about. I was singing this song for an aerobic workout when I first heard it. I thought, This is my testimony. I felt the same way about “Shackles (Praise You),” because God has set me free from so much. The song “Dance, Dance, Dance” shows people that, even though they may not understand all of the things that God has done in their lives, they can still praise Him with their dancing. It’s like David in the Psalms. I love that! This song resonates so much with me, because my great God has set me free. I’m going to praise Him with dancing because of all that He has done in my life.

Tell us about the inspiration of the song “You Wouldn’t Cry (Andrew’s Song)” and what it means to you.

“You Wouldn’t Cry (Andrew’s Song)” is probably my favorite song off Freedom. It was written by Cindy Morgan, Cat Gravitt, and me. It was inspired by a woman I met at one of my shows. This woman was about to deliver her first baby the next week, and she was going to name the baby Andrew. I got a message three days after I met her, saying that she had given birth early and that Andrew was stillborn. I thought, What can I say to this woman that will give her hope and encouragement? I then thought about where Andrew was, and about what he would say to his mom if he could. So that’s how this song was birthed. It’s Andrew talking to his mom. I’m a little preoccupied with the thought of heaven, so that’s why “Only the World” meant so much to me. I cannot wait to see my Savior, face to face, and to be in my eternal home. I also think that the song “You Wouldn’t Cry” speaks to anyone who has had a loved one gone to be with the Lord. There is a place waiting for us that our loved ones are in right now, a place that far surpasses any pain we’re going through on this side of heaven. I think that “You Wouldn’t Cry (Andrew’s Song) will bring encouragement to those whose loved ones are with the Lord right now. This song gives them hope knowing that they will get to see them again one day, along with our Savior.

“Freedom Song” is described by you as a “praise-party” song. How did you make this song fun, while still keeping it meaningful?

I wrote this song with Matthew West and Sam Mizell. I absolutely love writing with them. I remember when we got together, we sat down and I said, “I need a song that illustrates what God is doing in my life, in the light of setting me free.” When we wrote this song, I wanted to lift my hands in the air, and shout hallelujah! I don’t know how to adequately describe this feeling of being set free from something that has held me captive for so long. The result is just shouting hallelujah, and thanking the Lord. When I feel Him setting me free, my reply has to be one of worship. This is what “Freedom Song” is about.

I hear that you will be performing on the Women of Faith Tour this year. Are you excited about the tour?

I did several Women of Faith events last year, so when they asked me to do a majority of the events this year, I felt honored. I absolutely love getting together with a room full of women and lifting up our Savior’s name in worship. I think that there’s a freedom present when there are no boys around [laughs], and we can let our hair down, have a good time, laugh, cry, and completely be ourselves. When you add the fact that we are all sisters in Christ, and we are able to worship together, it adds an element of freedom that is not there all the time in everyday situations. I am really looking forward to meeting thousands of my women friends this year. I’m going to have such a great time with them!

With all the attention you’ve been receiving recently, what is one way that you have kept yourself accountable and humble, despite all of the limelight?

If I were to name one area that God has been teaching me about, since being on American Idol, it would be humility. Philippians 2 has been a lifeline for me. That bible chapter shows me that, even though God has given me a platform, I need to remain humble. Jesus, who was the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God and made Himself a servant. He’s called me to be a singer. He’s given me a voice and given me opportunities to perform in front of thousands of people. How much more should I then, being simply a singer, lower myself and consider myself a servant to those who I minister to? I’m so thankful that He is teaching me these lessons, because if there is anything that can be a downfall to anybody in the music industry, it’s pride. I know that everything good that I am, and everything good that I have, comes from the Lord. I’m thankful that He’s keeping me humble and teaching me that I’m really here to serve the people that He’s called me to minister to.

What do you feel that God has been continually speaking to you, starting from your first appearance on American Idol to now, upon the release of your second CD, Freedom?

He’s speaking a lot of things to me, but I think that it’s all culminating now in the fact that He is setting me free. Being on American Idol was difficult in a lot of ways. On that show, you open yourself up to a whole lot of attack. Dealing with that can be difficult, but God has shown me that I’m not defined by what other people say about me, good or bad. If I listened to all of the praise, I could easily fall into pride, and if I listened to all the horrible things people say, I could easily fall into depression. But God is showing me that my value, my dependence, and my satisfaction, need to come from Him. Satisfaction doesn’t need to come from food. It doesn’t need to come from what other people think about me. Finding satisfaction in God is what true freedom is.


Other than Phillippians 2, do you have a favorite Bible verse that has been an encouragement to you through some of the tough times?

Psalm 139 is my life chapter. This chapter hits every single area that is important to me. It makes me understand that my validation needs to come from the fact that God knit me together in my mother’s womb, and that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. This chapter deals with the feelings I sometimes have of wanting to flee from everything, including the Lord. It says, [paraphrased] “Where can I go from His Spirit? Where can I flee from His presence? I can’t go anywhere that He is not.” That brings me comfort, even when I am in the pit of despair. It helps to know that He is always with me, and that He’ll never leave, nor forsake me. That psalm means the world to me because it shows me that. It also ends with my heart’s cry and my life prayer when it says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting.” If there is anything that is my prayer, or the prayer of my life, it’s definitely the ending words of Psalm 139.

What personal or scriptural encouragement would you like to give people who have had the same struggles that you have had?

I would say that if you find yourself bound or shackled by anything—food, alcohol, drugs, money, or what other people say about you—there is great hope in knowing that Jesus has come to set the captives free. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon Him, and He came for the captives. He came to release the prisoners of darkness. In Galatians 5:1 it says, “It is for freedom Christ has set us free.” Also, Philippians 1 tells me, “He who began a good work in you will carry it into completion, until the day of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” We are a work in progress. God, every single day, wants to set us free from the things that bind us. I find great hope and encouragement in knowing He’s not done with me, and when He is done with me I will be seeing Him face to face.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with NRT Mandisa! I hope that Freedom will shine into people’s lives and that they find the One who can truly set them free! God bless!

Thank you!