Many artists have tried to make it big in the gospel music industry and failed. MONEY SHI is not one of them. His wise words, which he speaks with a voice molded by his trials and tribulations, give hope to those who feel they have lost everything. Born Terrance Davis on September 27th, 1991, in a small town in South Florida, MONEY SHI was exposed to music from an early age.
He inherited his African-American father and Jamaican mother’s eclectic taste in music and started singing when he was only 4 years old, inspired by the late Michael Jackson’s album Thriller. MONEY SHI’s love for music would grow over time until it became his lifeblood, the air that sustained him through all obstacles thrown his way when he got older.
“I’m from South Florida, and there’s not a lot to do in Miami besides drugs,” MONEY SHI admits. He explains he was arrested for the first time at age 17 for drug possession (cocaine) with intent to distribute. MONEY SHI spent three years incarcerated in the Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade, Florida, before being released. During his time there, he began writing songs to help him stay positive during such trying times and learned how to play guitar.
It was in prison that he also developed his relationship with God. This change from the party life to becoming an active Christian transformed his life completely by giving him more direction and stability. He wrote his first hit, “Walk With Me,” two months before he got out on prison stationery.
As a freshly minted and ambitious Christian, determined not to fall back into his old ways, MONEY SHI had a tough time adjusting to his new lifestyle. He knew he could not hang out with his old friends without being roped back into their ways, so he made a leap of faith and moved to Chicago, IL, where his cousin lived. MONEY SHI spent the new few months living out of suitcases and sleeping on couches as he struggled to establish his new life. In 2013, he released his track “Too Dazed to Move,” featuring the gospel group New Direction. The song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart and paved the way for MONEY SHI’s meteoric rise in the industry.
He followed up this success with the release of his first album, Man of Sorrows, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart. The album’s title song snagged multiple categories, such as contemporary Christian music and traditional praise and worship awards. MONEY SHI’s career continues to rise by the day. In the past three years, he has made huge strides, such as achieving platinum-selling status, multiple awards, radio play across the country, and collaborations with well-known Grammy-winning worship leaders. MONEY SHI has also sung for some of the most powerful people on earth and played for sold-out crowds worldwide.
From live performances in Japan, China, Thailand, and Jamaica to headlining at some of the most prestigious venues like Radio City Music Hall in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., he’s become one of Gospel music’s most renowned faces. MONEY SHI’s dream is to keep touching lives through music and spreading the gospel of hope to all who feel weak throughout the world.
