Judith Gayle leaves the drama behind!

Judith Gayle has stolen away from Jamaica. The gospel artist is in New York, US, and has been living there for the past two years.

"The Lord will make an environment uncomfortable so you can get out of it," Gayle told THE WEEKEND STAR. "Sometimes the Lord will allow some things to happen to us," she continued.

She refused to elaborate on exactly what she was uncomfortable with in Jamaica, but "people" and the need to separate herself from them was the general theme of the interview.

"When Abraham was with his parents, they were idolaters. Go to the next land, you will prosper, the Lord told him ... not saying my people are like that, but you know ..." Gayle continued until her voice tapered from a nervous laugh into silence over the phone.

"People enter Christianity and don't realise that it's a process," the Daddy Oh singer told THE WEEKEND STAR. "You leave all your wealth in the world then think it's gonna be a bed of roses, not realising the process, not realising the reality is that some people in the Kingdom are really not of the Kingdom."

Gayle claims that the move has been a great one for her and that the past two years have been reflective and productive. The relocation has allowed her to "concentrate" more on the things she believes matter most - her ministry and her music.

Now, she is gearing up for the release of her sixth album.

"It's actually gone to press [this week"], Gayle said. "It's called The Winner in Me because I've been through hell and back," she laughed again, still refusing to talk about her hellish experience.

The message of the album, she said, follows the title because "there is absolutely nothing the Lord isn't able to carry you over or carry you beyond."

Gayle told THE WEEKEND STAR that the album will be released on July 23. On that day, she is also scheduled to perform at Grace Baptist Church in May Pen, Clarendon.

Then on July 29, she will perform at Eastwood Park New Testament Church in St Andrew and then at the Open Bible Church in Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland on August 13.

Gayle said she has been ministering and singing full-time and has even been writing books. Her first book, Broken to Be Blessed, Destined to Win, is already published.

Judith Gayle hails from a district known as Chateau in Clarendon. She got involved in music from a tender age, entering the Tastee Talent Show when she was only 14 years old.

In the late '80s, Gayle worked for a number of years as a hotel singer on Jamaica's North Coast circuit, but did not get her big break until she entered the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Popular Song Competition in 1998. She took the runner-up spot with her song, Mi Na Lef Jamaica.

Gayle, who once sang back-up for Beres Hammond and Richie Stephens, became somewhat of a, popular figure in the secular world when she recorded a song called Matey with Lady Saw. But God placed a calling on her life, and she decided to leave the secular world and take up the Cross.

One of her first hits as a Gospel artiste was Jesus Is Alive, which made her very popular on the Jamaica gospel music scene. She has released several albums, including the Sun Shines Again, Jesus Is Alive and Broken to Be Blessed.