Approaching Christmas in 2020, it occurred to gospel singer-songwriter Clarence McGhee Jr. that it would be nice to write a Christmas song. Over the next few weeks, God gave him 12 of them.
“I Got Love on Christmas” was one, and it is a Christmas song like maybe you have never heard. It has a fast-moving pop melody set to a distinctive hip-hop beat.
It was released on December 6. The album it comes from, A Christmas Celebration, will be released soon.
“It’s the story about when I was a child, and I used to be so anxious for Christmas Day to come around so I can get to the gifts under the tree,” he said. “Then, as I got older, I found out the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world — the savior that’s come to save us from our sins.”
When Clarence says that God gives him songs, he means it. That has been true since the first song he wrote, in 1984, which was when he rededicated his life to Christ.
That song was called “More Than a Conqueror.” He was heading home from church where the pastor had preached a message on that theme.
“I’m driving home, singing, ‘I’m more than a conqueror, ’cause Jesus lives in me / I’m more than a conqueror, ’cause he has set me free.’ And I said, ‘That sounds like a song.’ When I got home, I just continued on — that was the chorus — into the verses.”
He has been writing the songs God gives him ever since, almost 800, he says.
The way it works is God gives him the lyrics and the melody. He records it a cappella. Back then it was on tape, now it’s Voice Memos.
Nowadays, too, he can send the recording to his daughter, Bryttani Clarice McGhee, a music producer in San Diego. She, he thinks, is where the hip-hop came in.
“All the songs I send to her,” he said. “She’s a talented singer-songwriter herself. I sing the song from the beginning to the end. She listens to it all the way through — the melody, how it’s going to end. She has the tempo and the beat, and she might start with the chords or the beat. She can hear the music.”
He began work on A Christmas Celebration on December 15, 2020.
Clarence received a total of 12 Christmas tracks from the middle of December 2020 to the end of January 2021. For the album, he added a song from 2012, “Merry Christmas,” the first Christmas song he ever wrote.
One of the tracks Clarence wrote and composed, “Christmas Is,” was recorded and produced by Bryttani. It will be a bonus single on the album.
“It came to me that it would be nice to write a Christmas song. God had been giving me original gospel songs, so He could also give me original gospel Christmas songs.”
When God put it on his heart to write a Christmas album, he figured God would give him the songs the same way He always had.
“He gave me 12 more songs in December and January,” he said. “He told me He wanted me to write a Christmas album, and He gave me song after song.”
He, his daughter, Bryttani, and Beverly Williams recorded them in a week during October 2021, but the pandemic interrupted other aspects of production. All three also sang backup vocals on the album. The album’s release was delayed and rescheduled for 2022, but other challenges intervened that year, pushing the release to this year.
Music has always been part of his life. His father was in the gospel group The Golden Keys, and his mother sang in the church choir. So did young Clarence, who also sang on local Oakland, California, television. A recording contract was offered to him, but his mother turned it down to keep the family rooted in gospel music.
Clarence heard the calling to be a gospel recording artist in 1986, the same year he was ordained as a minister, and he hopes still that he will be able to sign with a label.
“In the meantime, I’m the worship leader at my church, singing in the choir, still writing songs and just being led by God each day.”
He listens to God’s Spirit, he writes the songs.
“I’m doing it so I can be heard, so people can hear the songs that God has given me. God’s songs come from heaven, through God, using me to put them out into the world.”
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