What is important is the message of a song; not the genre – Yaw Sarpong

Veteran Ghanaian gospel artiste, Yaw Sarpong, has urged people to focus on the message that a song carries.

He stated that the message is more important than the genre in which the song is coming from.

His comment follows Rex Omar’s assertion that there is no genre of music known as gospel.

“I agree with him [Rex Omar]. There are several songs which motivate and educate but they are not gospel songs. Whether highlife or whatever genre, it is the message that matter,” Yaw Sarpong said in an interview with DJ Murphy Lee on Bohye FM’s Midmorning Groove in Kumasi.

He explained: “Gospel song is any song that people can take advice from and also propagates the word of God.”

In a recent interview, highlife artiste, Rex Omar argued that gospel comes from the highlife genre.

“There is no genre of music called Gospel. If you listened to any of my albums, you will know that I have what Ghanaians call it gospel on it. There is not a single album from me which doesn’t have a gospel song.

“Even ‘Nhyira’ that I came out with is highlife but it is gospel. The genre is highlife but it is the message that determines whether it is a gospel song or not,” he stated.