Mary Mary

When it comes to urban gospel superstars Mary Mary, everything is done on a big scale. All of their pursuits-musical, spiritual, or otherwise-are larger-than-life: not a single thing is left to chance. For them, there's simply no room for halfway, half-done, half-baked efforts. No matter the venture, the bar is always sky-high. Absolutely everything must be handled with an utmost sense of excellence.

This commitment to greatness isn't novel for them. As far back as their breakout, career-defining first single, "Shackles (Praise You)" in 2000, Mary Mary have time and again gone for broke. Their landmark fifth album for Columbia Records, THE SOUND, is no different. Hands down, the project is their boldest, most complete work yet-a remarkable milestone in their now decade-long trajectory in music.

"We represent a great, big God who is excellent, so we like to think that our work represents that, too," says Tina Campbell, one-half of the best-selling duo. "God's blessings are new every day. He's blowing our minds every day. We should be able to speak to a new day in a new way." Her sister Erica Campbell can't help but concur: "I wholeheartedly agree," she says.

With nothing to prove, Mary Mary could very well rest on past successes and settle for the middle-of-the-road. After all, they are Grammy, Dove, Stellar, MOBO, and American Music Award winners, and all of their studio albums-2000's Thankful, 2002's Incredible, and 2005's Mary Mary-are either platinum- or gold-certified. But independent of older glories, THE SOUND proves they go it all out, all the time.

Beyond the music, THE SOUND also marks the launching point for a new phase in the sisters' career. In addition to it, the singers hope to continue to expand the Mary Mary brand to territories once uncharted for the duo, into areas such as a bath and beauty line, a designer t-shirt collection, children's books and music, interactive computer games, stage work, television, and much more.

"We don't want to limit ourselves to just singing," Tina says. "All the gifts and all the talents and all the great entrepreneurial ideas that God has given us, we want to use them. I don't care if you're making a statement in fashion, doing movies that reflect who you are, whatever it is that you decide to do outside of just one thing-if God has gifted you, you should do it all to bring Him glory."