The future of gospel music lies in those who innovate

Musicians Willy Paul and Size 8’s new song, "Tiga Wana", has drawn criticism because it deviates from the norm.PHOTO| FILE

What you need to know:

  • Lifelong members of the Gospel High Commission recently decreed Nyashinski’s, "Mungu Pekee", and Sauti Sol’s "Kuliko Jana",  more gospel than "Tiga Wana".
  • Ironically, just a few months ago, the big debate in Christian circles was about the theological soundness of "Kuliko Jana".
  • A lot of energy was spent on trying to parse why “secular” artistes were doing “gospel” songs.

Willy Paul and Size 8 have new song, "Tiga Wana", that the outrage machine has already condemned, declaring that it is not gospel enough. The song’s title is a Kikuyu phrase that you wouldn’t use in front of your parents or in polite company. After all, it is not every day that you tell your elders to stop being stupid. The "Tam Tam" duo has been receiving the same self-righteous criticism that Jimmy Gait has become all too familiar with.

Kenyan Gospel artist Size 8 performing at "One nation one vibe" Peace concert, which was sponsored by Nation Media Group in partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) at the KICC grounds on December 1, 2013. PHOTO | CHARLES KAMAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

A social media search of the two artiste’s names brings up a colourful laundry list of comments about the song. “I would rather listen to someone Vomiting outside Privée (a club)”, tweeted one. “Is it just me or is this song doctrinally wrong?” another wrote on a Christian radio station’s Facebook page. “I do not recall at any point Jesus asking/telling the devil to stop being childish. I thought you thoroughly vet songs before they go on air.”

On YouTube, the reactions below the video were just as judgmental, in spite of  hitting 300,000 views in just five days. “God have Mercy!!!” exclaimed Devance Music. “If you don’t stop, repent and seek God’s guidance, then you shall be answerable to God for misleading His generation.”

How exactly Willy Paul and Size 8 are misleading the flock was not explained. The central theme in all the complaints appears to be that the song is secular, whatever that is. He sings about passing through hills and valleys to preach the word of God. She sings about burning up the devil, kicking him away and promoting the gospel before they jointly do the track’s catchy chorus. “Mostly disappointed with Size 8 she is better than this,” wrote Viola Cheruiyot. “She should be writing and singing deep, meaningful and uplifting music not trying to be ‘hip’ or whatever this pathetic excuse of gospel music is trying to be.”

KENYANS LOVE LABELS

Kenyans love labels. They struggle if they can’t lock you up in one box and keep you there. In the crushing race to be generic by never attempting anything new or different, any outliers are violently opposed. Gospel or secular are both human constructs, limiting labels adopted by Kenyans without any musical background. Neither is a genre of music or even a universally acceptable way of classification.

“I am of a new generation,” Willy Paul told me on Friday. “If God has accepted me as I am, it is alright. You don’t expect me to start singing like the older artistes [just to fit in].” Granted, the young man has plenty of personal drama in his life worthy of criticism. His style of music should not be one of them because he is consistently stretching himself creatively and churning out hits. Whether it is collaborating with Gloria Muliro or Sauti Sol, he is one of the few musicians who refuse to be compartmentalised.

Lifelong members of the Gospel High Commission recently decreed Nyashinski’s, "Mungu Pekee", and Sauti Sol’s "Kuliko Jana",  more gospel than "Tiga Wana". Ironically, just a few months ago, the big debate in Christian circles was about the theological soundness of Kuliko Jana. A lot of energy was spent on trying to parse why “secular” artistes were doing “gospel” songs.

In the court of Kenyan public opinion, you are damned if you do, and doubly damned if you don’t. Kenyans demand that all their Christian artistes sing only hymns from the Victorian era and that non-believers defend the biblical teachings in their music. “Gospel is the message of whatever you’re saying so "Tiga Wana" is gospel,” explained Size 8. “You’re telling the devil to stop whatever he is doing because the Bible says to cast down every thought that raises itself up against the knowledge of Christ.”

It is an important distinction for Size 8 because she is a former “secular” artiste. “What I like about Willy Paul’s music is that it reaches a very lost crowd,” she told me. “This is a tool that I know we shall use to get young people out of clubs, drugs, alcohol and sex.” She talks about the lost generation and how music like this appealing to them is the first step in reaching out to them.

The future of gospel music lies in Willy Paul, Size 8, Kelele Takatifu, Jimmy Gait and everyone else  putting out music that the mainstream resists. There is a space for Mercy Masika, Janet Otieno and Emmy Kosgey’s more traditional worship but there should be just as much room for those experimenting, innovating and trying to make Christian music relevant for a millenial audience.

Next time you want to critique a Christian creative’s work, drop the gospel or secular labels because they show how shallow your argument is. When you discard outdated ideas of what Christian music should be, you open yourself up to where it is heading.

 

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JKIA NEEDS A SECOND RUNWAY - NOW

Air traffic operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport were halted for hours on Sunday evening after a small aircraft from Somalia crash-landed on the runway. An official statement from the Kenya Airports Authority said it landed on its belly and veered off the runway. Because East Africa’s busiest airport has only one runway, flights were diverted to Mombasa and Kisumu as staff scrambled to clear the runway and reopen it. The only challenge is that it took hours and cost airlines millions of shillings in losses. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for cash-strapped Kenya Airways, whose hub is at the JKIA. The airline’s CEO, Mr Mbuvi Ngunze, will be out by March next year, completing a management overhaul demanded by staff to keep it afloat. The last thing it needs is cancelled or delayed flights that keep planes on the ground and force it to pay hotel costs for angry passengers and overtime for staff. What JKIA needs is a long overdue second runway to avoid embarrassments like this. There is talk that construction could begin in February next year but then again, there has been talk like this for at least four years. Time to stop talking and start doing.

 

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FIDEL CASTRO WAS AN UNLIKELY HERO TO AFRICA

Fidel Castro dying at 90 was not unexpected. What is surprising must be the ridiculous nine-day mourning period in Cuba for a man who defied the United States for more than five decades. Also revelatory is the celebration on the streets of Miami, US, where many Cuban-Americans live, compared to the genuine grief in Havana and across the nation he once led. Most interesting were the many African leaders who sent condolences and wrote glowing memories of the communist leader who survived countless assassination attempts. Castro was, after all, a long-time supporter of revolutions in Africa and the receipts are all the pictures with struggle heroes. Nelson Mandela, Sam Nujoma, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere and Samora Machel all had a moment to pay homage. Writing about his legacy in Africa, Quartz called it shrewd power play. “An independent, post-colonial Africa with socialist leanings would have fortified Cuba and the power bloc led by the Soviet Union.”