+ISSUES +GUEST BLOGGER ::: Wanna switch from Gospel to Secular Music? Think Again - A look at Mali Music's now secular Stance

 Okay, this is quite topical. We woke up to the news of American singer,  Mali Music, switching to secular music.

We had to confirm the report before rolling with it. Mali music has resolved to switch to doing secular music. Here in The CiTy, we do not thrive on controversy and always do our best to bring you good news mainly. 

We were mute on this till we got a heads up from Adebayo Okeowo of Thr3e podcasts and In His Steps Magazine. He let us know that he did a piece as a reaction to Mali's new disposition and we agreed to put it up in the CiTy. 

Yes, we know it could get hard for gospel artistes to stay in line with gospel music but the truth is that it isnt different for secular artistes neither. The glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, as promoted by the media, makes most people who believe the hype think that its all 'cool' and 'rich' doing secular as opposed to gospel. 

The question is, Why do you sing? If you can answer this question honestly , then you'll grow an additional backbone to stick to what you do. If you sing just to make money, your chances for posterity are dubious.

Make music for the greater good of mankind. If you do gospel music and succeed at it then you will confess to the peace that comes with getting paid off doing good.  Giving up and throwing in the towel or switching over to a different twist to your calling might look like a good option to you but believe us, in the long run, you might lose more than your soul.

Our Chief Admin, Philip Asuquo had this to say; 

"Instead of switching grounds, our gospel artistes should work on how they can work with other gospel stakeholders like producers, promoters, OAPs, bloggers, publicists, directors, brand managers etcto make gospel entertainment work . Even the secular entertainment industry went through its dark ages before becoming what it is today. 

In Luke 9:62, Jesus Christ has a word for us:

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

 "Yes, Christ made us know so. So, instead of switching grounds, lets put our hands on the plough and work together with other Kingdom professionals to make gospel music and gospel entertainment ministry work. Its already in place to happen because God made us know so. Let's all align and be counted amongst the ones that made it happen. I tell you, of a truth, the gospel will take over. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is sad that disunity and mediocrity still gnaws at us. This is often a result of unprofessionalism.

"There are people God called to sing, there are people God called to promote, there are people God called to brand, etc. These are people called to professionally advance the Kingdom with their gifts. When we ignore the advantage we can get from them and see ourselves as "I Can Do It All', we undermine the wisdom of our creator and at the end, might get frustrated out of our calling. Let's get wise.

"Another problem is when we mimick efforts done by others in a rather detrimental way. There are a lot of things to be done. We can't all be doing the same thing... I intend to do a post on this so that we can have an advancement. Mediocrity is choking and might cause people to fall off their calling." He surmised.

 Now, check out Adebayo's reaction to Mali's new music.

HOW DARE YOU MALI MUSIC?

By Adebayo Okeowo

You know what? I have no problems with secular artists. As a matter of fact, there are secular artists
whose talents you cannot deny. I respect their talent. I am only wary about their message/content.

However, my problem is with undecided artists! Artists who cross-carpet. Its ok for you to sometimes not be sure how the future will unveil because we don’t see the whole picture now, do we? Only God does and He has asked us to entrust our every step into His able hands. But if you at a point in your life, you stated that you were called into the gospel music ministry by God, I get bothered when you choose to go on a ‘transfer’.

I watched a recent exclusive interview with Mali Music on youknowigotsoul.com and I was disappointed to say the least. All I could say was: ‘How dare you Mali Music?’ I was disappointed not because he was leaving mainstream gospel (he isn’t the first artist to do so). But I was disappointed

because of the reasons he adduced and the statements he made while granting that interview. I am really tired of gospel artists saying that singing gospel music limits them! What?!!! If that is the  trend, is it meant to be the norm? Oh but I hear such statements too! I publish a youth Christian mag and I have heard people tell me to include certain things in our content in order to appeal to a wider circle. Definitely we want to reach out to the unsaved but we don’t do that by losing our message or identity. 

It’s usually a slow fade! You take one step to slightly adjust and before long, you have veered off by a mile from the original vision. If you were called by God, then it’s His applause you should really seek! Stop looking for awards (awesome as they may be)! Be honest with yourself, most times, it’s because we want to hear the accolades of men that we keep attempting to outdo ourselves. No matter how thunderous the ovation of men is, if God doesn’t give you a nod, it will all be futile. Wouldn’t you rather want to get a standing ovation from Jesus Himself as against fickle mortals? Christ, whom the Bible records as being seated at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 1:20), was up standing when Stephen was being martyred (Acts 7:55-56)! Now that’s some off-the-
chain endorsement!

You know why the things that have the tag ‘gospel’ have hitherto been on the back side? Because we defer to the secular; we look up to them! We want to be in their camp. Whereas it ought to be the other way round!

Mali Music says he wants to break through a glass ceiling. Oh wow! Like seriously, God brought you
so far singing gospel music, you hit world acclaim singing songs like ‘All I Have to Give’ (which by the way I still played this morning) and you think that by not being a gospel artist anymore, the glass
ceiling comes crashing? Many of us were proud that as a gospel artist you were invited to platforms
like BET believing that they had come to respect your talent even as a gospel artist. But now you say
wearing a cross around your neck won’t allow you be among music legends like Michael Jackson?

That statement just was the last straw that got me very sad! Maybe Mali Music needs to redefine his measurement of music greats! Greatness is not only about how many people can recognize you or your brand. Greatness comes when you fulfil God’s calling over your life and there are evidences of changed lives as a result (no matter how few). I believe Mali Music has impacted lives. His music has definitely impacted me. Unfortunately he seems to underestimate that amazing influence he has had on both the saved and the lost.

Surely, all of us are not called to own the pulpit or do gospel music. Some of us are gifted for sectors
in the secular. But when we stand there, do men still know we represent Christ? Do we stand there
and hide our identity?

The secular is all up in our faces. They are holding nothing back as they infiltrate every space! But
we? We are dropping our crosses!

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