Ghana’s gospel music has been one of the nation’s most significant music genres over the past three decades. In recent times, that section of the industry has seen a continuous evolution of the music and craft while maintaining its core mandate of evangelizing the message of Christ and the salvation he offers to everyone.
In a recent editorial by Ghana Music, we spotlighted some new-age gospel artists who are embracing the evolution of music while keeping their core vision and message alive. One such artist spotlighted was Kyei Mensah, a gospel artist whose sound is heavily influenced by R&B, soul, and highlife.
The Ghanaian who recently released a joint two-pack track Luigi Mclean and Niiella, will on September 13, host his annual “Sound & Faith Concert” at Tang Palace. The annual concert offers fans a night of intimate fellowship through music. According to Kyei, this year’s edition is primed for a solo-ministration showrun from him.
In an extended conversation with Ghana Music, Kyei Mensah opens up about his style of music, the Sound & Faith Concert, his new collaborative project with Luigi Mclean and Niiella, as well as recent debates surrounding gospel music, among other things.
GM: How would you describe the current gospel landscape?
Kyei Mensah: I believe we are thriving. I believe that right now, diversity is being applauded. I believe that right now, people are branching out and, you know, doing different things, which is still centred on the gospel. And I love it. Like, you know, people like Kofi Bohan, people like Craig Osei, people like myself, Anaya Oforiata, Niella, Luigi. Everybody’s doing, really, really amazing things, and, yeah, it’s getting better.
GM: What informed the decision to create this collaborative project, and why Niella and Luigi?
Kyei Mensah: Niiella came down to Ghana, and she had, like, two weeks in Ghana, and she and I were like, you know, let’s just focus on some music together. We later realised we needed to add one more person to it and at the time, Luigi best suited the sound so we just called up Luigi and he hopped on it. It was an exciting process also because it was something we had mentioned before, especially between myself and Luigi. I think the internet knows that the three of us have a relationship. So it makes sense that the three of us would do some music together, and, yeah, it went well. We had a producer who happens to be my manager, David Dankwa who beautifully put together the music. Niella wrote the first one, “Say You Love Me” and I wrote, “Speak to me” while we had Luigi lay over his inputs, you know, vocals and everything, it was beautiful. It’s massive.
GM: What were some challenges and highlights of putting together the project?
Kyei Mensah: I think the challenges were the time. We literally put everything together in two days. We had to put everything together in two days, which was like the instrumentation, the singing, and everything together in two days. And it proved a little difficult, but we’re able to make it work. It was a very, very hectic two days.
GM: Speaking of collaboration, how important is it for artists to collaborate and create together?
Kyei Mensah: I think it brings the best out of us. The bible says that iron sharpeneth iron. And I believe with this record, the reason why it’s so beautiful is that Luigi brought soul to it. Luigi is a soul singer, he sings with a lot of meaning. Niella brought together her writing skills and her, you know, ability to, like, you know, direct vocals. And with myself, I would say I just really brought in the music factor. Our individual qualities made everything work together. So yeah I think that it is so important that gospel artists collaborate more often and, you know, like, we need more of that.
GM: There is always push-back when people make Gospel music that doesn’t fit the stereotypical gospel music. How do you deal with those push-backs?
Kyei Mensah: I’ve had those push-backs a lot, especially when I was, you know, championing this whole R&B thing. I think Niella also went through the same thing when she started, with people telling her that, like, how gospel music sounds. And I think it’s a Ghanaian thing, unfortunately, where I beat myopia when it comes to choosing the music that we listen to.
GM: There’s evidently heavy Soul/R&B influences on the songs. How do you deal with genre boundaries to ensure that despite where the influence is coming from, it ends up being a song that speaks on Jesus Christ and the gospel?
Kyei Mensah: It will be the song that speaks to you. I think you would know what type of music that we are trying to put out. When you hear us sing, you’ll know what type of music is coming from the three of us. We love R&B and soul music. A few of us absolutely adore the genre. And, when we initially came together to do the music, we knew that this was the direction we’re going to go.
But we also knew that it would be more of a blend of international and local sounds because that’s what we’re going for. A lot of Ghanaians really loved the music that we put out, which was very, very shocking to me because I felt like it would get a little pushback, but, like, people really love the music. And, yeah, it was beautiful.
GM: The central theme is an intimate conversation with God. But what other themes can listeners draw from the songs?
Kyei Mensah: I think with telling the other distinguished child’s line, a lot of people have been using it and with “Say You Love Me” they’ve used it for their weddings. That’s one thing I was telling Niella that, a lot of Christian couples would be taking the hint that this is a song I can also sing to my spouse. But when it comes to “Speak To Me”, I would have something in a very, very desperate moment.
GM: Could this two pack serve as a taste of more joint collaborative projects in future?
Kyei Mensah: Of course. If we are able to find ourselves in the same country, again, it’s definitely going to work because we work best when we are together. So, yeah, it’s definitely going to happen.
GM: What can fans expect at this year’s Sound and Faith concert?
Kyei Mensah: Really good music, a time of intimate fellowship with God. This year’s song is different too, because there are no guest artists. It’s just me ministering at Tang Palace on September 13. It’s going to be amazing. I will be singing these two songs there.
