Over the past half decade, contemporary Gospel has been one of the fastest growing segments of popular music, and, other than Kirk Franklin, no act is more responsible for popular acceptance of the genre than Mary Mary.
 Consisting of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Tina Atkins-Campbell, Mary Mary has brought a fusion of gospel themes with soul and
hip-hop sounds that has resulted in exceptional music that has crossed not only the Gospel/Soul boundary, but has even brought a level of pop radio acceptance to God-based music.
The Atkins sisters were raised in Inglewood, California, the middle daughters of an Evangelical minister and part of a well-known singing clan locally. They began singing in the church choir as young children, while learning about the progression of Gospel music beyond traditional boundaries by listening to albums by the Winans, Commissioned, and others.
Their first break came when they and their siblings appeared on BET's “Bobby Jones Gospel” show. Soon, they were seeking additional performing opportunities, and scored spots in the
mid-90s in Gospel road shows Mama I'm Sorry and Sneaky.
They then separately landed gigs as backing vocalists for various Soul and Gospel performers, including Brian McKnight and Kenny Lattimore.
While they were known mostly as singers, the two were also developing their songwriting skills, and a chance meeting with hot young producer Warryn Campbell (Brandy, Boyz II Men) helped them to land a publishing contract (Erica Atkins would later marry Campbell while Tina married unrelated drummer Teddy Campbell). Their song Dance was included on the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack, and they wrote and performed Let Go, Let God for the movie The Prince of Egypt . Deciding that they would be forthright and uncompromising about their purpose; to preach the Gospel through their music. They chose the group name Mary Mary in honor of two women in the Bible: Mary Magdeline and Mary the mother of Jesus.
With their star rising in the Gospel world, they signed with Columbia and began working on their debut with Warryn Campbell producing. Their 2000 album, Thankful, was a smash, breaking the invisible barrier that kept Gospel music off of popular radio. The first single, the jubilant dance cut Shackles, scored on the Gospel, Soul and Pop charts and established the duo as a hot commodity. The rest of the album was equally engaging, as the combination of the sisters' strong lyrics and killer tunes with Warryn Campbell's exquisite production created the best Gospel disc of the year, and one that would earn them a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel album.
To further cement their growing reputation, the Atkins sisters also contributed the two best songs Time to Change and Yeah; from Yolanda Adams' groundbreaking 2000 album Mountain High…Valley Low. They also wrote for or appeared on the albums of a number of other artists, including Kelly Price and Dru Hill's Woody Rock.
Mary Mary returned in 2002 with Incredible , another solid disc of soulful Gospel that featured the dance hit In The Morning and a nifty cover of Stevie Wonder's You Will Know. Amazingly, it hit the Top 20 on the pop album charts, a rare feat for a Gospel album, and again showed that this duo was capable of writing and singing great music that appealed beyond traditional Gospel boundaries.
In late 2003, Mary Mary contributed the song Dance Dance Dance to the Gotta Have Gospel CD and were subsequently nominated for a 2004 Dove Award. On Sept. 13, 2004, Erica gave birth to new daughter Krista Nicole Campbell.
Their Junior project was self-titled, and dropped mid 2005. The disc's best moment is on the first single, Heaven, a transformation of the Honey Cone's "Want Ads" into a joyous proclamation of faith. It also includes Biggest, Greatest Thing, a surprising, well-performed swing-era style, as well as The real party and Yesterday.
A lot of good things have happened in contemporary Gospel since Mary Mary released Thankful, with the emergence of exciting new artists such as Kierra Kiki Sheard, Deitrick Haddon and Smokie Norful. However, their new self-titled album happily brings Erica and Tina Campbell back into the mix, reminding us of the accessible, joyful sound that they helped introduce in modern Gospel and, ultimately, reminding us of their importance to the genre.
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