The event, scheduled for 5:00pm will feature other prominent gospel musicians such as Eugene Zuta, Pastor Helen Yawson, TVO Lamptey, Olivet Voices, Overflow Incorporated, LIC Choir, Winneba Youth Choir, and the Harbour City Mass Choir.

Hymns Unlimited, which is held annually to coincide with the Easter celebration, will treat the audience to soothing and uplifting hymns of praise and worship to God, both age-long ones and those produced locally by Ghanaian composers including Nii Okai himself.

Nii Okai, who recently launched his ‘Yesu Hi’ album, said the purpose of the concert was to revive the tradition of hymns and also get young people to appreciate the value and power of hymns as a form of worship and praise to God.

Speaking on Rivers of Worship on Sunday, he said there was the need for churches to strongly hold on to hymns as a key part of their services.

While extolling TVO Lamptey and other composers in the country, he said he was optimistic of the presence of God at the upcoming event.

The theme for this year’s event is “Hymns of everlasting praise”.

Proceeds from the concert will be used to support his ‘Saving Hearts Foundation’, which is a non-profit organisation established to raise funds to support Ghanaians who need heart surgeries.

The event is being held in partnership with the Strategic Communications Africa Limited, (Stratcomm Africa).

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nii Okai hosts ‘Hymns Unlimited’ concert on March 25 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In a post he made on his Facebook page on 5^th March, 2018, the ‘Moko Be’ singer said some gospel musicians were embarking on a campaign called ‘Play Ghana’ to encourage the play of more Ghanaian songs.

Play Ghana, he stated, is a campaign initiated by an Association of Christian Musicians in Ghana to inspire a cultural change as regards music made by Ghanaians.

“Though this campaign well extends beyond the area of music, we believe we can inspire this change from our area of influence well into the total social fabric of Ghana,” he wrote.

He further lamented that even though Ghana has a lot of talented musicians, just a handful are able to excel.

“Ghana is blessed with many gifted musicians and yet only a notable few are able to get their music played. We reckon that there’s a general neo-cultural affinity for foreign or imported goods and sadly our music is not spared either,” he added.

According to him a similar campaign like AGOA (Friday Wear) which they championed has redeveloped interest in the Ghanaian fashion and clothing industry, and hopes if all stakeholders of the music industry put their hands on deck, ‘Play Ghana’ will be fruitful.

He also acknowledged the fact that efforts have been made by several stakeholders to engage the issue but a lot is still left to be done for music produced by Ghanaians to be played by Ghanaians.

Nii Okai is known for songs such as ‘Gye W’ayeyi,’ ‘Makpasa Le,’ ‘Okokroko’ and ‘Yesu Hi.’

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nii Okai spearheads ‘Play Ghana’ campaign appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The cause dubbed “40 hearts campaign” is put together by his Nii Okai Saving Hearts Foundation and it also marks his 40th birthday.

Speaking at a press conference, Nii Okai revealed that the foundation is embarking on a 40 hearts campaign through a grand album release concert themed YESU HI.

The event will be held on Sunday 24th September, 2017 at the Morning Star Cathedral of the Qodesh Family Church.

He did the first campaign when he celebrated the 10^th anniversary of his debut album ‘Moko Be.’ The proceeds were used to do open-heart surgery for 10 people.

The statistics from the National Cardiothoracic Centre that indicated that a lot of people suffering from heart-related diseases could not get money for surgery was what motivated this campaign.

He expressed gratitude to the National Cardiothoracic Center and the Ghana Heart Foundation for their role in reducing heart related conditions in Ghana.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nii Okai to save hole-in-heart patients with 6th album appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The summit is themed on Philippians 1:21: “More than a song – A life of Worship” – “For me to live is Christ to die is gain.”

Danny’s schoolmates at Accra Academy with whom he ministered from his early days, Pastor Abu Baku and Pastor Andy Yawson, will be speaking at the event.

Ministering at the summit are Pastor Helen Yawson, Nii Okai, Patrick Masoperh, Calvis Hammond, Teddy Zaroe and Joycelyn Armah.

Danny Nettey has contributed immensely to the gospel music industry and has inspired many through his songs. He is among the people that fronted contemporary gospel movement in Ghana.

He started music by forming his own group, “Danny Nettey and Pals.” The group took the gospel to the Secondary Schools and ministered in churches across West Africa through the word and song ministration.

He has three albums to his credit: “Positive Change”, “This Time” and “I believe”.

On July 15, 2016, he passed away at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Danny Nettey to be celebrated today with ‘Worship Summit’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They translated the word of God into melodies attached with great Ghanaian rhythms heavily laden with percussion beats and Yaa Amponsah melody ( original guitar piece that is used as the foundation for many Ghanaian music).

Pioneers of this music includes Bro. Asiamah And His ‘Som Nyame’ Gospel Band, The Ahinsan Happy Gospel band, Esther Nyamekye, Prof. Kofi Abraham, Yaw Sarpong, Wofa Asumani, Comfort Annor, Mc Abraham, YABS, Helena Rabels, Joyful Way Incorporated just to mention a few.

Then came another breed of the Genre in the early 80’s with a fusion of contemporary music through to the late 90’s. These breed included , Tagoe Sisters, Bernice Offei, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Amy Newman, Rev. Thomas Yawson, Rev. Kusi Berko, Elder Mireku, Stella Seal, Rev. Mary Ghansah, Soul winners, Danny Nettey.

In the early 2000’s The Baton was handed over to another generation of gospel musicians who fused a bit of the generic rhythms and foreign styles to meet the rising demands of the new Ghanaian whiles the old folks were adapting to the new trend of the industry.

For the past 15 years, some of these new faces have been, Christiana Love, Cindy Thompson, Esther Smith, NanaYaw Asare, Nii Okai, Evangelist Diana Asamoah, Philipa Baafi, Lady Prempeh, Uncle Ato, Joe Beechem, Ohemaa Mercy.

In recent times, the industry has witnessed a crop of Gospel musicians who have incorporated foreign styles and beats into our conventional styles, this kind they call Contemporary Gospel Music. Some of these songs has a mix of genres like RnB, Pop and ballads. In the last five years, such record producing artists include Cwesi Oteng, Joe Mettle, No Tribe, Eugene Zuta, KODA, Joyce Blessing, Sonnie Badu amongst a few other contemporary choirs.

I was surprised to find available copies of Gospel songs recorded in the 70’s by Bro. Asiamah And His Som Nyame Gospel Band and The Ahinsan Happy Gospel band on the famous e-commerce platform, eBay. The shocker made me conduct a thorough research into the commercialization of Gospel Music in Ghana and why the current breed of Gospel musicians are struggling to breakthrough into the mainstream music scene.

Speaking to a few of the successful pioneers, I discovered these were people who had a sense of direction guided by industry technocrats who helped to shape their art and brands. These industry experts knew what talents/gifts were when they came across one and in a short space could turn raw talents into valuable assets. A few names come to bare with respect to these artist managers.

Kofi Apeadu, manager of the Daughters Of Glorious Jesus, Rev Thomas Yawson, manager of Tagoe Sisters and Winfred Daniel Nii Adjaye, former manager of Sonnie Badu.

In recent times, artists managers like Kwesi Ernest, manager of Kofi Sarpong and Joyce Blessing has also taken the baton and achieved a great deal of success in the industry. Charles Sarpong, owner of Cebex Music Production and manager of artists such as Selina Boateng and Cecelia Marfo can’t also be left out of the equation.

These guys work hard and make huge monetary investments to put an artist out there on the market and they are major stakeholders of the financial inclusion associated with the music industry.

In the modern Gospel music environment where artists like Joe Mettle, Koda, Denzel, Akesse Brempong, Francis Amo, Pastor Isaiah, Eugene Zuta, Cwesi Oteng and a lot more exist, the industry is been faced with great challenges. Most of these artists have no management systems. They are their own artist managers, brand managers, event managers, production managers, creative directors, publicist and what have you.

They find it difficult to differentiate between business and ministry as they call it. These artists have failed to hire the services of technocrats to handle the commercialization of their art. They cry out loud on radio stations and other platforms about sabotage, fairness and indiscrimination denying themselves of the fact that the biggest part of the problem exists internally.

My question to all these contemporary gospel artist is, who will buy your product if no one knows it exists? Certainly not me. They spend all their investments on concerts rather than promoting the songs to be heard around the world as a form of evangelism.

Truly if the real essence of producing Gospel music is to preach the word of God through songs then I don’t think recording songs, sharing them amongst friends, playing them on sunny fm and sweet melodies and having annual concerts is doing enough in preaching the Gospel and impacting the world at large.

The annual concerts are filled by same audience that cut across every concert and that brings patrons of these environment into a very small circle with a delusion that once the songs are been sung in a few modern day churches, the songs are known. This frame of mind has influenced the actions of the contemporary Gospel artists and has deterred potential investors from plying the industry.

Truth be told, If these artists don’t realize the dynamics in music business and adapt to standards, the industry will continue to suffer and might go worse. Apt managers must be hired for the job of pushing one’s art, music and brand to join the mainstream music industry.

Success has already been achieved, no need to reinvent the wheel. It can be done because it has been done before. Gospel Artists should be willing to listen to technocrats and adjust to constructive criticisms to help shape their career and build a better industry to transcend generations.

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By: Nick Solomon

The post Is there a future for Ghana gospel music? [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.