Gospel music demand high
PRAISING the lord has become the way to go. Even revellers in bars enjoy dancing to the tunes of Jose Chameleone and Tikitah’s Naasinzanga (I’ll always praise).
PRAISING the lord has become the way to go. Even revellers in bars enjoy dancing to the tunes of Jose Chameleone and Tikitah’s Naasinzanga (I’ll always praise). According to the Uganda Music Publishers’ Association, Gospel music is the fastest-selling genre after pop and kidaandali (Afrobeat)writes Vision Reporter.
The ‘Yello Top Ten show’, a grand countdown of the top gospel tracks, has become one of the most sought after FM radio programmes. And secular pop stars are rocking FM radio station charts with songs about Christ.
Kid Fox, who used to mime Afro-Caribbean dancehall music at Ange Noir discotheque, has a debut gospel track, Abooluganda n’emikwano (relatives and friends). Why is Gospel music ‘hot’? “Gospel music is catching up with current lifestyle trends,†says John Bash, a lead guitarist at Kampala Pentecostal church. “We are shifting from the choir ballads to hip-hop and the more upbeat r & B.†Martin Seku’s latest song, Koona endoongo, is a danceable song that sends your heart palpitating. New Age Gospel music was started by Limit-x with their hilarious chant, Malibongwe. They fused Luganda, Luo, Zulu and Lingala folk songs to western r & B. The result was an exciting beat that took the world by storm. New age Gospel music ignited society with the positive energy the society lacked: “People had had enough of the overtly sexual performances by secular artistes and they were yawning for songs, which had positive message,†says Humphrey Kiingi (alias HumKay), a gospel artiste.
Kirk Franklin, a US-based Gospel legend, topped the R & B charts on FM radios with songs like Lean on me. During an interview on Music Television, Franklin said his song was aimed at “giving hope to families whose members are languishing in jail or dying of HIV/AIDS.†Producers like Eddie Yawe and Steve Jean have also blended Gospel songs with trends from dance music. Steve Jean produced Juliana Kanyomoozi’s Say it, which was a thriller in night clubs.
While he was producing Hum Kay’s Took me by the hand, we knew what to expect: a revitalising upbeat R & B track that leans heavily on melodic interplay and upbeat vocals manufactured in the studio.
Grace Morgan, who was nominated to the PAM Awards last year, sung karaoke in night clubs and did a stint with Power Pro Pals band before turning to Gospel music. The greatest influence of gospel music in Africa are the cultural rhythms that fuses melodies from the harp or adungu with the flute and the akembe. The best example is George Okudi’s Wipolo, which catapulted him into the limelight.
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The ‘Yello Top Ten show’, a grand countdown of the top gospel tracks, has become one of the most sought after FM radio programmes. And secular pop stars are rocking FM radio station charts with songs about Christ.
Kid Fox, who used to mime Afro-Caribbean dancehall music at Ange Noir discotheque, has a debut gospel track, Abooluganda n’emikwano (relatives and friends). Why is Gospel music ‘hot’? “Gospel music is catching up with current lifestyle trends,†says John Bash, a lead guitarist at Kampala Pentecostal church. “We are shifting from the choir ballads to hip-hop and the more upbeat r & B.†Martin Seku’s latest song, Koona endoongo, is a danceable song that sends your heart palpitating. New Age Gospel music was started by Limit-x with their hilarious chant, Malibongwe. They fused Luganda, Luo, Zulu and Lingala folk songs to western r & B. The result was an exciting beat that took the world by storm. New age Gospel music ignited society with the positive energy the society lacked: “People had had enough of the overtly sexual performances by secular artistes and they were yawning for songs, which had positive message,†says Humphrey Kiingi (alias HumKay), a gospel artiste.
Kirk Franklin, a US-based Gospel legend, topped the R & B charts on FM radios with songs like Lean on me. During an interview on Music Television, Franklin said his song was aimed at “giving hope to families whose members are languishing in jail or dying of HIV/AIDS.†Producers like Eddie Yawe and Steve Jean have also blended Gospel songs with trends from dance music. Steve Jean produced Juliana Kanyomoozi’s Say it, which was a thriller in night clubs.
While he was producing Hum Kay’s Took me by the hand, we knew what to expect: a revitalising upbeat R & B track that leans heavily on melodic interplay and upbeat vocals manufactured in the studio.
Grace Morgan, who was nominated to the PAM Awards last year, sung karaoke in night clubs and did a stint with Power Pro Pals band before turning to Gospel music. The greatest influence of gospel music in Africa are the cultural rhythms that fuses melodies from the harp or adungu with the flute and the akembe. The best example is George Okudi’s Wipolo, which catapulted him into the limelight.
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