With security fears over threats from Al-Shabaab putting paid to plans to hold the annual New Year Gospel shindigs, celebrations were relegated to TV screens. As it turned out, that was not altogether a bad decision – all local TV stations (save for Kiss TV) had a live in-studio show, featuring performances purely from Gospel artists. It was a good pointer to the status that Gospel music has continued to enjoy throughout the year, and hopefully an indication of what 2012 portends.

Frontrunners: Daddy Owen and Juliani dominated Gospel headlines in 2011

The year certainly saw more Gospel artists headline non-Gospel corporate and social events than ever before, with Daddy Owen, Juliani, Jimmie Gait, MOG and later on BMF being the main beneficiaries.  Other than appearing at gigs, most of the Gospel world was also busy releasing music and videos, though at a slower pace than happened in 2010.

Jimmie Gait’s Furi Furi video, MOG’s Pick My Call and Kris' Mmh Baba were some of the most played videos of the year, with several singles ruling radio airwaves. A number of new albums were released, among them Juliani’s Pulpit Kwa Street, Daddy Owen’s Utamu Wa Maisha and Number 8’s Rebuilding as well as Astar’s Letting It Go and Neema’s Dawn. There was also the pleasant return of Five Oh One to the music scene with a new single, Nakiri, and notable success for newish band Adawnage with their Uwezo jam (and accompanying Safari album, reviewed here by DJ Sparxx).

2011 will also probably go down as the best year for Gospel in terms of music awards beyond the annual Groove Awards. Part of that was brought about by the inauguration of the East African Music Awards and the return of the once famous Kisima Awards, now in its 9th edition. Gospel artists garnered a whooping 13 Kisima nominations, with Juliani walking away with the top prize of Sh. 1 million and being declared Kenya's top artist.

It wasn’t all roses though in the world of Gospel this year. Controversy rocked MOG earlier on in the year, followed by more-than-the-usual grumbles about their absence (and that of other artists) from the Groove Awards list. But the bigger concern is perhaps the fact that Gospel scene also started to show signs of content strain in this year, receiving flak from both ardent fans and mainstream media.

The run that Gospel music has enjoyed over the last two years is well deserved. Pundits agree that there simply hasn’t been enough in the secular world to give Gospel a serious run in that time, and most of this is attributable not only to appeal but also to content. And therein lies the biggest challenge for Gospel music if this year is anything to go by: At the end of the day, Gospel artists have to work hard at, as was recently observed elsewhere on this site, ‘saying something.’

It’s not enough to just look like, dance like and shout like secular artists. The thing that distinguishes the two, and it’s an important thing, is the content of the music Gospel artists churn. Now that they have proved they can top charts, dominate playlists, win awards and generally populate secular turf, the next battlefront is to prove that it can all be done while keeping the message of the Gospel out front – as it should be.

2 Comments