Gone are the days when the number of Gospel musicians could be counted. Now, whenever you tune in to either your radio or television set, you hear some gospel song of a sought.
Some of the songs are nothing to be sung in the bathroom let alone played on air for people to ‘soak’. Why the recent influx of gospel musicians in the country?
Help me answer this question asked by one-third of the Ghanaian population; are the gospel musician propagating the word or making money? This question, which people started asking more than a decade ago, has still not been answered. Perhaps no one knows the answer or if you don’t answer it to suit the musicians then you are not a child of God. Hmmm…
I am very tempted to mention the names of some of these overnight gospel musicians but let me give them the benefit of the doubt and continue… I wonder the kind of producers who produce these songs. Some are just too horrible to be the word of God.
Immediately someone is able to put some Bible quotations together or better still memorize a quotation then the person believes he/she is proclaiming the word through singing. This particular act by some of those who claim to be Gospel musicians cannot be overemphasized because the more you think about who really is proclaiming the Word, the more new entrants join the bandwagon.
Where has it been written that every chorister should be a Gospel musician? This is also worrying me very much because some of these Gospel musicians feel because they sing in church and the congregation love it, then automatically Ghanaians as a whole will enjoy it. No way! All the musicians who think this way should revisit their thoughts because we have choices.
Personally, I don’t feel too good when after a hard days work I tune into a radio station or turn on my television set and hear terrible songs in the name of God. With those played on radio, at least you cannot see the musicians but for those on TV the least said about them the better. Some awkward off the beat dancing, poor location, bad directing (where the musician is looking straight into the camera or staring at the director while singing) and so on.
In contrast, I doubt if credible directors direct the music videos. This is because the things seen in the name of video clips cannot be desired. Have those caught in this web never heard that you use money to pull money? (Akan proverb translated).
Why waste precious money when you know you are not up to the task. For some of the TV and radio stations, you are wasting airtime. Viewers and listeners are very concerned so do your best to work on the content you put on air for viewers and listeners.
In a video clip I saw sometime ago, I felt very much ashamed of whatever was going in the name of singing to glorify God. This is because, the musician himself was behaving as if he was confused and the dancers and vocalists who looked like immediate family members (that is wife and kids) were managing mediocrity by adding their voices and appalling skills.
Let’s come to the point where these people think the songs will generate some income. Even if you have no idea about the composition of music, it does not mean you cannot tell when a song is poorly sang and the video woefully made. This will in no way bring money since the public is widely awake.
So that some people who call themselves gospel musicians started singing for years now but have not sold any of their cassettes and even those sold out were obtained on credit. What then are you wasting your time for? People will in no way go for some bogus music on the market because it is mentioning Jesus; they will always go in for the best.
Even those gospel musicians who have been in the industry for ages have themselves to blame if they don’t do better compositions. That is why some of them have sunk so low and are finding it difficult to resurface. The upcoming ones should learn from those surviving in the industry and come out with the best.
Free advice, in case you are part of the ‘confused’ on the bandwagon and do not know whom to look up to; then you can try looking at Kweku Gyesi, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Nii Okai just to mention a few of the best in the industry. These people if you ask me, pray for the discernment of the Holy Spirit and do thorough research before they come out with any song. That makes them the toast of the public.
To conclude, I want to entreat all those already in the industry who are not performing and those yet to join to desist from saying that they have been singing since childhood. Ask why? This is because I believe if you started singing from childhood then, you should by now be a genius not otherwise.
If you are a gospel musician, ask yourself if you are propagating the word or making money? Work on your answer for success.
