I have been listening
to a variety of African musicians over the last few weeks. These guys know how
to make beautiful music and the interesting thing is that I don’t have to
understand what they are singing to appreciate it. It is as diverse as the countries
they come from. Some of the music is raw African flavour while other songs have
an amazing fusion of African and western rhythm. My emotions have been played
with, and I watched helplessly as my heart leaped with their joy and sank with
their sorrow.
I felt unaccomplished
as a musician once I had listened to their music and couldn’t bring myself to
sing or play anything for a few days. Comparing yourself with other people will
always do that to you. I wanted to listen to my own album but thought I would
be disappointed when I did, these guys are really awesome and I consider myself
to be quite normal, fruits of being your own harshest critic.
I somehow managed to
bring myself to listen to my own album and what I realized surprised me. I
didn’t feel inadequate as a musician. I didn’t feel proud either; I know there
was a lot of help received in bringing the album to birth. When I listened to
the first song on my album (Shelter), I became extremely calm. I remembered
that the song is inspired by Psalm 91 and Romans 8. When a song is born of
scripture, it has the effect of scripture. The words of those Bible passages
calmed me as if I was reading the scripture. The tune was calm and
uncomplicated, not a musical masterpiece by a long shot, but quite a blessing
nonetheless.
I would love to
develop a signature kind of sound but I know this takes time and a lot of
experimentation before it becomes a reality. The one thing I know is that
irrespective of the genre and production expertise, any song born of scripture
will always have a divine effect on its listener. In light of this, which songs
are you listening to? What is the source of their inspiration?
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