Reminiscing the good old days when Gospel music was the ish. Any potentially good musician will choose to be a gospel artiste over any other genre.
The pride that came with the tag *’Gospel musician’* alone aside the public admiration and respect was enough to comfort to any of the gospel artiste. I remember how people will troop to a church or any public event to watch a popular gospel artiste perform. It was an exciting and fulfilling moment to be called a gospel artiste.
The current decline of gospel music has become a big mystery to ardent gospel lovers. Secular music has now become the order of the day as most of the youth are now drifting away from being a gospel artiste to being a secular musician.
Event organizers will now choose a secular artiste over the gospel musician with reasons being that secular artiste is more appealing and can get the needed numbers for his / her event.
The said decline has shocked many to the bone. As some think the current crop of gospel artistes lack creativity, others have the belief that majority of the current gospel acts ain’t lead by the Holy Spirit but, gospel musician, Bra Paul has a different opinion.
The *tetelestai* hitmaker in an interview with www.smilecelebs.com blamed the churches for the poor performance the gospel music industry faces currently. The singer in his explanation gave pointers of which he believes are the reasons the gospel music industry is being halted.
“Aside from good content, one thing that puts an artiste on their feet is to know there are people out there who appreciate and believe in their talents. Such things boost the confidence of the artiste to put in their best in whatever they do and this is where the church has failed us as musicians.
A car nor matter how flashy and classy it looks may not move to any destination without it being fueled. We have amazing talents in the gospel industry but those who are supposed to help us reach our full potentials have decided to be selfish, they only think of themselves and their family forgetting that, a child’s appearance in public will either cause people to either respect or disrespect his/her parents” he fumed.
As to why he was this bitter, the *Gyina Pintin* crooner lamented that the church as an entity has all it takes to decorate their music sector in their departments but have decided not to pay attention to the musicians in their churches.
Anytime I sit to watch the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA’s) and their categories, the impression it creates is that ‘ the gospel artiste isn’t doing enough’ but that is a big lie. Infact, most of the good vocalist we hear on daily basis are all from the church, how difficult is it for the church to come out with their own Awards Scheme to honour such talents?
I recently heard a church in Nigeria has a while record label that funds the activities of talents in that church and I am not surprised why their genre is going places though I believe we are more talented than they are content-wise.
Our pacesetters who paved the way for some of us to follow with all their efforts to make this genre stand the test of time have been left to wallow without any honours and you expect the VGMA’s to honour them? Such things don’t encourage an industry.
A musician from the church will have to suffer their way to the top without the support of the church and when they finally make it to the limelight, they do whatever pleases them because they feel they owe no one an explanation. The church should sit up for they have failed us for long” he concluded.
Bra Paul is out with his latest single titled *Bibiaa Beye Fine ( BBF)* and can be accessed on all download platforms.
Follow him on Facebook @ Bra Paul Miniseries and on IG @BraPaul8
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