MINNEAPOLIS — Singing from the heart, north Minneapolis native Jovonta Patton is now topping the gospel charts, but his love for singing started when he was just 4 years old.
"You know how kids want to be a doctor or a firefighter, I always wanted to be a singer," he said. "My first opportunities of getting ready to sing were at my church Berean M.B. Church, in north Minneapolis, on 30th and Lyndale so being there my whole life, singing and directing in the choir, those were my first opportunities to sing."
This week Patton's hit song "Always" off his new album 'Established' reached #1 on the billboard gospel airplay charts.
He also had the honor of attending the acclaimed Stellar Gospel Awards – in July.
"I got a chance to perform on the preshow, I'm so grateful and excited for that," he said.
Standing alongside his idols - one moment stood out the most. "Kirk Franklin is like the Michael Jackson of gospel music. I had an interaction where there was an interviewer that was trying to be nasty, and Kirk was like let him go. To get that push was a moment," he said.
Patton's influence goes beyond music, he's instrumental in the community - helping to encourage people to use their voices at the polls.
"I want Northside to know I'm tangible but I'm also someone that has done it and has always been doing it," he said.
As far as his legacy. "I hope my music is sung in churches used in films, that it is used in movies, moments in time when people can always have a booth of faith and I also want my children to hold on to the legacy as well," he said.
And the people in his community who have "always" lifted him up. "North Minneapolis has created me. I'm from we like to call it the hood, most people don't make it out, and there's not a good story, and it's grit and I probably couldn't have gotten anywhere else and the support is unmatched," he said.
For more information on Patton, visit his website here.