Tasha Cobbs Leonard Welcomes John Legend, Lecrae & More on Genre-Spanning First Studio LP ‘Exploring Different Ways of Expressing Worship’

Over a decade since gospel singer-songwriter Tasha Cobbs Leonard released her debut record, she’s become known for her live worship albums, recorded in churches and venues including Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. But on her latest project Motown Gospel project Tasha, which comes out Friday (July 25), she and her husband, producer Kenneth Leonard Jr., stepped into a new creative challenge: her first album recorded fully in a studio.

“At first I was super nervous about it, I guess because it was just new,” Cobbs Leonard tells Billboard. “When you do something for the first time, just going in with the unknown, [you think] ‘How do I fit in the whole studio idea?’ But I quickly became very comfortable with it because I realized that it was just exploring different ways of me expressing worship.”

Recorded at Capitol Music Group’s studio in Nashville, the 15-song project features an eclectic mix of pop, hip-hop and ‘80s R&B. The album’s first single, “Already Good (Tasha Slide)” is a slice of uplifting Motown-esque pop and R&B accompanied by a line dance she calls the Tasha Slide. It also features collaborations with gospel music luminary Kirk Franklin, and R&B/pop hitmaker John Legend, Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae and worship artist Chandler Moore.

Tasha’s wide-ranging sounds reflect the myriad of musical experiences the three-time Grammy winner has participated in over the past few years from performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the 2024 NFL season opener to appearing on the Jennifer Hudson show and taking part in the 2022 Soul Train Awards’ “Soul Cypher” segment alongside Muni Long, Durand Bernarr and Alex Vaughn. Though cross-genre collaborating isn’t new for Cobbs Leonard — she’s previously worked with artists including Common and Nicki Minaj — she took those recent creative opportunities to heart.

“Though I was used to leading worship on stages, it felt like God was showing me: ‘You’re also able to do this type of music that would reach a different crowd, someone who wants to meet God through the sounds that they enjoy,” she says.

The Georgia native, who co-pastors The Purpose Place Church in South Carolina with her husband, earned her first hit in 2013 with “Break Every Chain,” which spent seven weeks atop Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart. She’s sent five projects to the pinnacle of the Top Gospel Albums chart and issued chart-topping songs including” The Moment” and “Burdens Down.”

In 2024, Cobbs Leonard shared her story in her memoir Do It Anyway, where she opened up about her struggles with anxiety and depression, as well as her experience going through a miscarriage. Writing the book served as a change agent for the new album.

“What I didn’t expect going into it is how vulnerable I would have to be in writing that book,” she says. “When you get to that place, it’s hard to go back to being closed. The book set me up for this place of transparency that I’m in with my testimonies, so people can glean and grow and be encouraged to keep doing it anyway.”

On the new album, songs including “Do It Anyway,” the piano-led ballad “The Hand That Keeps Holding Me” and “Broken Pieces” touch on that journey and the spiritual faith that brought her through those struggles.

The album-making process started with a week-long songwriting camp, with Cobbs Leonard inviting Gospel singer-songwriter Travis Greene and five-time Grammy-winning worship group Maverick City Music members Naomi Raine and Chandler Moore (Moore is also featured on the album’s “I Want More”).

“I wanted writers that I love, writers that I knew would be able to come in and hear the vision of the record and the stories and testimonies of my life and be able to write songs that would fit the telling of that story,” Cobbs Leonard says.

She specifically brought in members of Maverick City Music because “the lyrical content of the songs Maverick City released, there’s no denying their gifts are so much greater than just the singing ability,” she says. “I felt like that purity and transparency was required for this album — songwriters who could dig deep into their emotional space and pull out songs people could relate to.”

Cobbs Leonard and Lecrae, who previously earned a Grammy for their collaboration “Your Power,” teamed up again on the new album on “I Needed God,” which features a rap interlude from Lecrae. The new pairing came after Cobbs Leonard appeared on Lecrae’s The Deep End podcast in February.

“At the end of the podcast, he looked at the camera and was like, ‘How many of y’all want to hear me and Tasha do something else together?’ and I was like, ‘Say less. Let’s do it.’ I did my vocals first, sent the track to him and he shot it right back with his verse and it worked like butter.”

Legend guests on “Church,” a song with a traditional gospel sound juxtaposed with lyrics that question how to sustain a spiritual connection beyond a Sunday morning church setting. After Cobbs Leonard asked her social media followers who they would like to see her collaborate with on the new album and Legend was the answer, a mutual friend of the two artists connected the pair.

“She grew up with John and they sang in church and in choirs together and had remained friends over the years,” Cobbs Leonard says. “He has been such a joy to work with. Him and his team, they are incredible. They have supported this song and album fully and that’s been such a blessing. I sent him the song and he sent his part back, and I was floored the way he brought this song to another level.”

Recording the album in a studio versus live gave Cobbs Leonard and her husband the opportunity to showcase the musical talents of their extended family, with the background vocals on “Church” featuring uncles, aunts, cousins and other family members.

Cobbs Leonard says sharing her story through song, in connection with blending different styles of music, helped her craft a multi-faceted project that showcases a fuller spectrum of her creativity.

“When I listen to it, it just feels like Tasha,” she says. “You get your worship, but you also get worship through a hip-hop track with Lecrae on it. One of the things I loved so much was getting to explore so many creative expressions of worship.”

Going forward, Cobbs Leonard says she’s open to recording more studio albums, but live remains her focus.

“I love them both now, and that would be interesting to mix both. But I’m a worship leader at the core. I love the local church. I love standing before crowds and introducing them to the awareness of God’s presence. So, whether it’s the next album or the one after that, we’re always going to get a live album from Tasha.”