How Kenya’s gospel music industry fell into ruins

Most gospel musicians feel more comfortable performing and hanging out in bars, than in church. 

A week will not go by without a scandal involving a ‘top’ gospel musician hitting the blogs or social media platforms.

At the centre of the most recent controversy is one Samuel Muraya, popularly known as DJ Mo. 

Gospel singers Willy Paul and Bahati have also officially crossed over to the secular side.

DJ Mo - gospel musician Size 8’s husband- has been implicated in a serious scandal by bloggers.

Stop the hypocrisy

Although he says that to err is human and no one is perfect, the controversy cost him a job as the resident DJ on NTV gospel music show Crossover 101. 

“First of all, for the record, I am still a born-again Christian. The bloggers, and people in general, can say whatever they feel like, whether true or not,” he says.

“But let’s stop the hypocrisy. No one should feel privileged enough to judge the other.”

On the current state of the gospel music industry, DJ Mo feels it is just taking a shift, and not necessarily dying.

“Every four to five years, the gospel music industry changes gears and follows a new direction,” he says. “That’s what we are experiencing right now.” 

The changes include how the music is composed, played and artistes’ lifestyles.

“Five years ago, a musician would not launch their new videos without going through us (TV gospel show hosts) and other music gate-keepers,” says DJ Mo. 

“Technology has allowed musicians to have online launches on platforms like YouTube. Such changes are normal, and they come with their baggage, including controversies.” 

His sentiments are echoed by veteran gospel musician Roy Smith Mwatia, popularly known as Rufftone. However, Rufftone feels that the problem is deeper than meets the eye.

“We just need to go back to the basics on why some of these artistes are in the gospel music industry in the first place,” says Rufftone, who has been on the gospel music scene for more than two decades. 

“Some started because it was an easy way out of poverty. When everything else failed, gospel music was an easy way to succeed in life.”

He went on: “A very good example is my brother Daddy Owen. It’s on record that he was involved in crime before getting into the gospel music industry. He joined when the gospel scene was just about to explode and it really worked well for him. The last 10 years have demonstrated that very well. We can now tell who came into the gospel music industry for money and fame, and those who initially had a calling.”

He also feels that the people who were meant to guide or mentor the artists, including the church, have failed. “The gospel industry adapted to the worldly ways of doing things too fast and too deep,” he laments. Reverend Mugambi Muku, the director of National Youth Christian Network, agrees.

“The clubs are playing more gospel music and paying the artists better than the church. Let’s be honest with each other,” says Rev Muku, who is also the senior pastor at Glory Christian Church in Nairobi.

“My organisation, for about 10 years, from 2004, had one of the biggest monthly gospel concerts at the Nairobi Cinema, called ‘Jesus Night’,” he says.

“I have videos and pictures to show you that this is where big names like DJ Mo, DJ Sadic, Alemba, comedian MC Jesse, Jimmy Gait, DK Kwenye Beat, among many others, got the first platform to showcase their talents. Jimmy Gait’s first big song, ‘Wakati’, which came before ‘Muhadhara’, was sponsored by Jesus Night to celebrate its first anniversary.”

Churches have big budgets and can afford to pay the artistes better than the clubs, but they choose not to, he adds.

“You find in most cases, they are just given a pat on the back for doing a good job and that’s all. We should pay them better and they will stick in the church,” says the Rev Muku.

However, he adds, money is not the solution. Christian entertainers need to go back to the basics.

“We can pay them a lot, but they will still go to the club to enjoy the money. The church leadership has not done enough spiritual mentorship to retain some of these artists.”

Individual choices

But celebrity fashion designer and events host Fundi Frank, who has been hosting the weekly Mseto Wakilisha show in different clubs before the Covid-19 pandemic, feels the recent scandals involving top gospel artists boil down to individual choices. 

“During our shows, we gave the platform to both secular and gospel to launch their videos. We ensured that gospel artistes were given early performance slots, to allow them to leave the club early,” he says.

“However, there are a few artists, who we now know have been hiding under the gospel umbrella. They hide, drink alcohol and do immoral things -- Individual choices, but unfortunately, those choices have given the larger part of the gospel music industry a bad image.”

Fundi Frank also feels that the gospel music industry is at a crossroads because music advanced rapidly, and the gatekeepers, including pastors were either not able to catch up or got involved in the mess as well. 

“How can a pastor, who is involved in a bigger scandal than the gospel artist, have the audacity to call them out?” Frank asks. 

“Some artistes even grew bigger and have been commanding a bigger following, becoming hard to be mentored by pastors. It’s a big quagmire.”

Generational gap

Peter Mulei, the founder of Xtreme Music awards, feels that the generational gap has majorly contributed to what is currently going on in the industry. The Xtreme Music awards started as a pure gospel outfit, but started awarding secular artistes last December.

“There’s a difference between religion and gospel,” he says. “Gospel is all about good news, but religion, which is associated with the older generation in the music industry, is set on certain grounds that are not ingrained in the young people today.” 

Mulei believes that performing in clubs should not be demonised, since the gospel is supposed to be preached “everywhere and anywhere”.

“In my opinion, because I have worked very closely with both Willy Paul and Bahati in the past, among other artistes, the reason they are now singing secular music is that the people who question them when they do wrong, do not take time to congratulate them when they do good. Let’s be honest with each other,” he says.

He says Xtreme started to award secular artistes last year because a decision was made to be awarding art, and not whether it’s gospel or secular. 
However, among the few people who strongly believe that gospel music in Kenya is at a better place, is TV producer Arthur Kamau, popularly known as Arthur K. 

“Mark my words,” says Arthur K, who pioneered NTV’s gospel show, The Stomp. “Gospel music industry is about to explode and become bigger and more rewarding than what it has been.” 

He argues that the “wheat has now been separated from the chaff”.

“We are talking about just two artistes, Bahati and Willy Paul, who have just started singing secular music, showing their true colours. We have lots of great artistes still in the game. Gospel music fans have not stopped listening to gospel music,” he reasons.

“If they feel disappointed by Bahati and Willy Paul, they just switch to Mercy Masika, Eunice Njeri or Solomon Mukubwa. The church is still big. The day you will tell me that the numbers in the church have been reduced by half, that’s the day I will be ready to listen to you.”

Arthur K opines that Willy Paul is just “a young man who lacked recognition at the right time and he just reacted”. “Willy Paul, knowing that his songs were big hits, watched other people being awarded by awards organisers who awarded their friends. By the time he was getting recognition, it was too late. The damage had been done.”

“Bahati, a very ambitious young man thought that starting a record label, just like what Diamond Platnumz did in Tanzania, would change his fortunes. But the Kenyan system is not set to favour both secular and gospel musicians. Sadly, artists are not paid well compared to many other countries. He cannot sustain himself with revenue from gospel music, let alone a whole record label. The only way out was to diversify and start singing love songs, which is paying him well now,” he reasons.

Unlike his counterpart Willy Paul, who publicly announced his exit from the gospel scene, Bahati has remained mum on the issue. 

“Do not refer to me as either a gospel or secular artiste,” insists Bahati.

“I am just a Kenyan artiste who is trying to make good music and do great things. Anything beyond that is just speculation and opinions, and everyone has a right to that.”

Is there a way forward for the gospel music industry? “Let’s pay the gospel musicians well and they will do better,” says Mulei. “The artistes should also know that they are not as bad as media portrays them to be.”

DJ Mo also thinks that more money for the gospel musicians would help in stopping them from moving to secular. “We also have responsibilities and bills to pay, just like everyone else,” he says.

The Rev Muku says the problems started when gospel music became an industry as opposed to a ministry. 

“Let it start with the word of God. Gospel musicians are like preachers. They should not be competing against each other, but complement each other instead. The rest will just fall into place,” he says.

And according to Arthur K, the restructuring of the gospel music industry has started. “I will not divulge much information on this, but big things are coming,” he says. 

“However, artists need to be honest with themselves now, more than ever. Are they in the industry because of the money and fame, or do they have a real calling from God? If it’s the former, they are free to leave happily and move on.”