The burgeoning industrys position as a global player in the gospel music space is inarguable, so its not surprising that increasingly more Award-winning American artists are willing to collaborate with their African counterparts.

Here are 3 of our favourite collabs:

Tim Godfrey and Travis Greene Nara

Recorded during Godfreys 2018 Fearless concert, Nara is a song of gratitude and thanksgiving. Within 10 days of its release the song was trending with over 1 million YouTube views. In an interview with Channels Television, Godfrey shared that Nara was not the intended song for his collaboration with Greene. Whilst preparing for the concert things became tough and I started wondering whether the concert would happen. God reminded me that He had sorted me out many times before. I then started writing the verse of the song. When I picked Travis from the airport instead of talking to him about the English song that wed planned to sing, I started talking about Nara. I sang the Igbo part and Travis said he was interested in the song so he recorded it on his phone and worked on it overnight, said Godfrey. The rest as they say is history.

Mercy Chinwo and JJ Hairston Excess Love (Remix)

A successful music career wasnt guaranteed when Mercy Chinwo walked off the Nigerian Idol stage in 2012 with the title of Season 2 winner, N 7.5 million and a brand-new SUV. Fast forward almost a decade and Chinwo is now a multi-award-winning gospel artist with two full length projects to her credit. Although the singer racked up over 70million YouTube views for her smash hit Excess love, its the Remix version by JJ Hairston featuring Chinwo that opened her up to the wider international gospel community. Speaking ahead of their 2019 collaboration Hairston said: Our family in Africa has impacted me in a GREAT way this year! So much so that Im looking to bring home some of what Ive experienced there. So very soon Ill be collaborating on an amazing worship song with my new sister Mercy Chinwo!

Limoblaze and Da Truth Bridges (The Album)

Released during the global pandemic, the 9-track project Bridges fuses hip-hop and afrobeats giving urban music fans the best of both worlds. The lead single Sound of Victory which features Travis Greene is an uplifting catchy tune with the preeminent theme of Gods love and victory. ...This album was meant to be a bridge that reconciles man back to God, said Limoblaze in an interview with M&M Radio Live.

Written by Akosua DF, Premier Gospel Presenter

Thursday 22 July 2021

The last few decades have seen the emergence and growth of the West African gospel music scene. Gone are the days when the continents primary musical export was from South Africa.