The soulful all-female gospel group
Zie'l was formed in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1998 while members were still in their early to mid-teens. Noted for their striking multi-part harmonies and impressive range,
Christina Bell, her sister Crystal Bell, Aphten Jones,
Keyondra Lockett, and Undrea Northcutt signed with Light Records for their 2006 debut,
Genesis, which included a cover of
the Clark Sisters' "Is My Living in Vain." After a hiatus with little word of their status, they returned in mid-2013 with a funky stand-alone single, "Redeemed," now a trio without Northcutt or Jones. A single written by
Lockett and produced by Drathoven (
Yolanda Adams,
Tyrese), "State of Emergency," appeared in the spring of 2014 on Dream Records, and the album Zie'l (Pronounced Zy-El) arrived that fall. A mix of contemporary gospel and contemporary R&B, it featured Louisiana hip-hop artist A1 Bold on the highly processed electro-R&B track, "Determined." "State of Emergency" went on to hit the Top 20 of Billboard's Gospel Airplay chart in 2015. ~ Marcy Donelson