Afro-fusion artiste, Akinade Ibuoye, aka Gaise Baba, has said that God is behind the new set of urban music makers known as “afrogospel”.
He told Saturday Beats, “There was a group of gospel artistes we knew that were at the forefront back in the day. Then, it switched to worship around 2011. Then, the leading voices in Christian were Rooftop MCs, Midnight Crew, Dekunle Fuji; before there was a shift to worship music.
“That’s when Sinach, Nathaniel Bassey, and the likes came to the forefront, which wasn’t random. I believe that God was behind that. However, God is now raising again a new crop of urban music makers. Now, we have that term— afrogospel. So, you have people making alternative Christian music, including hip-hop and afrobeats. It’s a new wave, but God has carefully curated it over the years. We are glad to be part of that group.”
On the reception of this new kind of gospel music, he noted that every new thing often met resistance, adding that people were free to choose what they wanted to listen to.
“People will fight change. We don’t move with the mentality of trying to make people who are fighting it accept it. If they come to the understanding of what it is, that’s fine. If they don’t, that’s fine. We have our audience, and it is expanding. We are reaching young people, and are speaking the language of a generation.
“As long as the people we are sent to can hear us and we are able to influence their minds in the right way, then we are fulfilling our purpose, and executing the assignments that God placed in our hands. Anybody who wants to stand on the sidelines and criticise can go on; I’m not listening to that. We are on the field. We are playing the game, and we are focused on the goal,” he said.
Gaise Baba is a cultural architect, creative entrepreneur, Afro-Gospel musician, and the organizer of a unique Christian music festival that intertwines the vibrant rhythms of Afrogospel and the energetic vibe of youth called the Aramanda Festival.
Speaking at a pre-festival party on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in preparation for the Aramanda Festival set to hold today, Gaise stated that the event is a “celebration of the work going on in the contemporary faith-based scene in Africa”.
Although the festival began in 2019, this year’s edition had the new addition of the pre-festival reception, which was attended by stakeholders, business leaders, government officials, and members of the diplomatic circle.
