A Primer on Maverick City Music: The Church Coming Together
1 min read ⭑
We’ve spent years in conversation with many hundreds of Christian thought leaders, asking them questions. Among these questions is this: What resources have made the biggest difference in your spiritual life? Their answers have been remarkably consistent. This is one of the most recommended.
For decades, worship music in America often reflected the same divide that marked the church itself: white congregations sang one set of songs, Black congregations sang another, and the two streams rarely crossed. The music was good. But it was separate.
Maverick City Music was born to change that.
A Collective Built on What Was Missing
In 2018, Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay launched Maverick City with a simple conviction: the worship music industry lacked diversity, and that absence was impoverishing everyone. They envisioned a collective where Black and white, traditional gospel and contemporary worship, spontaneous prayer and studio craft could exist in the same room — and on the same track.
The roster they assembled reads like a who’s who of next-generation worship leaders: Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine, Brandon Lake, and dozens of others, each bringing distinct influences and backgrounds. What holds them together is not a label contract but a shared commitment to writing and worshiping across the lines that usually divide the church.
Raw Rooms, Real Worship
Maverick City’s sound is unmistakable — and intentionally unpolished. Many of their songs emerge from spontaneous worship sessions, recorded live with all the imperfections intact: a voice cracking with emotion, a melody discovered in the moment, a prayer that becomes a chorus. The result feels less like a produced album and more like an invitation into someone’s encounter with God.
This approach has resonated far beyond the expected audience — their collaboration with gospel legend Kirk Franklin on “Kingdom Book One” bridged generational and stylistic divides. Partnerships with Elevation Worship and Bethel Music have extended their reach into churches that might never have encountered their sound otherwise. And the Grammys have taken notice — multiple nominations and wins have brought Maverick City into mainstream visibility without smoothing away what makes them distinct.
Maverick City Music
Why It Matters
The impact is hard to overstate. In churches across the country, congregations that once drew from entirely separate hymnals now sing Maverick City songs side by side. Worship leaders who grew up in one tradition are learning the vocabulary of another. And listeners who had grown tired of worship music that felt safe and predictable have found something that moves them again.
The appeal has crossed into unexpected places. Justin Bieber, who has been open about his Christian faith, has praised Maverick City for its authenticity and has incorporated its music into his own worship. But the more important endorsement may be the quieter one: the thousands of small groups, youth ministries, and Sunday morning services where Maverick City songs have become the common language of prayer.
An Invitation to Join
If your worship diet has grown stale — or if you have longed for music that sounds like the diverse, Spirit-filled church you believe in — Maverick City offers a place to start. Their catalog is vast, their collaborations wide-ranging, and their willingness to be vulnerable in the recording room is contagious.
This is worship music that believes the church is better together. And for many listeners, that belief has become a sound they cannot stop singing.
Maverick City Music is available on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, and at maverickcitymusic.com.