If I was to misquote American humorist Mark Twain, I’d put it this way; “The rumours of Gospel music’s death have been greatly exaggerated“.

Many have thought it, said it, and even written about it. Gospel music in Kenya is dying! And who can blame them? The scene has experienced its fair share of rumours and innuendo, scandal and controversy. They’ve been stories of sexual impropriety, children outside wedlock, favouritism, clicks, questionable content, and even artisans going hammer and tongs at each other in social media. The writing seems to be on the wall.

Or is it?

A few years ago I stood on the Groove Awards platform and declared something I believed to be true – “We are living in the good old days of Gospel music in Kenya!” And who could argue – Gospel music was enjoying unprecedented levels of growth and success.

 Their artisans had successfully competed for eyeballs with their mainstream counter-parts, and staged a coup on marketing and promotional budgets, this traditionally the reserve of mainstream artists. They had set up audio and video production outfits admired by the whole industry. Many of their artists have become household names, with their songs iconic in our culture. We’ve even seen many of the big-ticket secular names switch camp. Success.

But that was then!

Today Gospel music is less like the cute and cuddly golden child who could do no wrong, and more like the nervy uncertain teenager who has just hit puberty. They’ve stopped entertaining guests at family do’s and acing all their exams, and have started acting and feeling strange – their voice is breaking, their body morphing, and they have started hanging out with questionable company.

But here’s the thing, and quote me if you must. Gospel music is NOT dying. Gospel music is at a CRITICAL INFLECTION POINT. It is at the place where important decisions must now be made about its future. Whose voice it will listen to, who it will hang out with and what direction will it take?

And as it navigates these choppy waters, this teenager is decreasingly in need of critics and naysayers – those are a dime a dozen, and increasingly requiring leaders and visionaries who will mid-wife it through this rough patch and taxi it on the other side.

Call me the eternal optimist – I still believe! And here are three reasons why.

1. MORE GOOD THAN BAD

Winston Churchill is noted for popularising the saying “a lie gets halfway round the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on”.

Bad news sells. And travels fast. That’s just the reality. I suspect many, if not most of those reading this article are familiar with at least one high-profile scandal involving a Kenyan Gospel musician. Unfortunately, and this is not dissimilar to the stories of local pastors and church leaders, the church has never learnt to control and share its narrative. As a result, those scandals have become not just the perception of an entire populace, but also it’s reality.

Yet I’m constantly amazed when I dig slightly beneath the surface and peel back the veneer. For every broken minister I meet, I come across many more who are deathly passionate about the Gospel and are doing it right. I remember sitting with a team who had just come back from missions where over 6,000 young men and women had given their lives to Christ. I was blown away. No one tells that story.

Or what of those who are actively part of discipleship groups. Those that are intentionally mentoring the next generation of artists and DJs. Those that have started foundations to feed and educate needy kids. Those who have quietly devoted themselves to their craft and to ministry, even actively serving in their local churches.

Sometimes we need to learn to listen above the noise.

2. THE FUNDAMENTALS ARE SOLID

The 2013, the PEW Research Center released damning statistics of the US newspaper publishing industry. Everything from advertising revenue and employment numbers, to circulation and readership were all suffering downturn. Numbers don’t lie. All the fundamentals of the that industry revealed a sector in decline.

When I look at our industry, I see glaring challenges, but I also see pretty solid fundamentals. Distribution is good, with Gospel artists leveraging all the existing digital distribution platforms, but also relying on a steady diet of traditional sales platforms – churches, concerts, events, missions, bookstores and the like.

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  I see cutting edge and standard-setting audio and production houses as well as event companies.

• I see Christian artists and producers at the helm of music associations and CMOs, driving policy decisions for the entire industry.
• I see engagement on all levels of mainstream media – where Gospel music and it’s shows have penetrated even the hardest and most barren television and radio spaces. (Only Christian media has been left asleep on the wheel).

• I see exponential growth in exciting and emerging areas – DJs, VJs, hype men, dance crews, and so on.
• I see many flagship events – where mainstream doesn’t have a single steady awards ceremony, Gospel boasts Groove, Kubamba VMA’s, Kipawa, Mwafaka.
• I see the industry’s largest events, mostly Gospel – TSO, Groove party, Groove tour, System Rave

• I see trailblazers who have gone ahead to set standards in the areas of music management, publishing, and digital media
• I see significant corporate and government engagement – with Gospel artists often spearheading campaigns and drives
• I see increasing numbers of artisans leaving traditional vocations to make a living out of Gospel music.

The industry may not be growing as exponentially as it was some years back, but neither is it haemorrhaging or experiencing a significant downturn. I see an industry that is buzzing. One that is solid. Stable. I never want to negate the threat of scandal, controversy and other external factors, but I also want don’t want to be the boy always crying wolf.

3. GOD’S NOT DONE

This is, for me, the most critical reason.

What we have experienced and continue to experience in the Gospel music scene in Kenya is unprecedented. Even in the larger U.S market where artists go multi-platinum and win Grammys, their market share remains small. Marquee artists like Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary cannot boast to being household names across the nation. Yet here, we have encountered an inexplicable growth in market share, with penetration and name recognition even in remote parts.

Over the years as I have engaged with the industry and prayerfully considered the times, I have become completely convinced that the success of this industry is not our making. We are good, but we are not that good. I have come to be irreversibly persuaded, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is God’s doing!

I believe God wants to start an urban youth revival on this continent, and has chosen to start with Kenya, and see this spill over across Africa. I’m convinced that God Himself has hand-picked, selected and favoured the Gospel music scene here, and this for one reason – He has a purpose to fulfil and a dying generation to reach.

We live on a continent not only experiencing a serious youth bulge, but one also bedevilled by the growing forces of secular humanism, Islam and a declining influence of the traditional church. I believe that God, through media and the arts, is raising up an army of urban missionaries who will package the saving grace of the gospel in ways a skeptical and dying generation can understand and appreciate.

I believe that similar to Biblical Israel, God has chosen Kenya to be a light to the young Africa around us. We are similar to that little unlikely Gaulish outpost in French comic Asterix. But we do not just start a resistance, we have been elevated to start a revolution.

So even with the missteps and blunders that come with our puberty years, I refuse to believe that God is done with us.  I believe He is just starting His work, and He calls on many of us not to tear down, but to partner with Him in building this great work.

What this industry needs is not prophets of doom and naysayers, but men and women of discernment. Those like the sons of Issachar – “who understood the times and knew what the people should do” (1 Chr. 12:32).

Let him who has ears, hear!