At the age of 13, popular Ghanaian gospel musician, Diana Antwi Hamilton, started her singing career at the Pentecost Church, where her father was an Apostle. One year later, she became a professional singer as a back-up vocalist for Francis Adjei.

She released her debut album, titled: ‘Osoro Bekasa’ in 2007, which enjoyed massive airplay in Ghana and across the world, and, since then, she has never looked back, going on to win several awards.

At the just-ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), Mrs Hamilton emerged the biggest winner, walking away with the Gospel Song of the year, the Most Popular Song of the year, the Gospel Artiste of the year and the ultimate, the Artiste of the year awards.

By winning the artiste of the year award, she becomes the second gospel artiste to win that enviable award, after Joe Mettle, and also the second female artiste to win it, after Ebony.

Appearing on the Springboard, Your Virtual University, Mrs Hamilton shared her behind-the-scenes story on how her music journey started and the efforts that had gone into it to get to where she was.

Read: Apostle Eric Nyamekye not surprised by Diana Hamilton's VGMA

Giving it my all

She said her life had always been centred on the present and not the future.

“For me, it has never been about where I am going; it is about enjoying the now, giving it my all and trusting the hand of He who gives me life to take care of the rest. When I am writing a song, I think about who is going to be blessed by it.

“When I started singing, I was just happy singing in my church, but then one thing led to another. I knew I could sing, but I never had the chance until I was 13, at which time I was in Accra. By 14, I was doing professional singing,” she narrated.

She said she was very particular about the present because she believed that was what determined the future.

“So I always pay attention to what I am doing now, making sure I am giving it my all. I have lived to realise that every stage of my life has actually opened the door to the next stage and if I had missed just one of the things that happened to me, I wouldn’t be here.

“Every stage of my life has landed me where I am and if we had taken out one, I wouldn’t have been here,” she stated.

Read ; VGMA22: Diana Hamilton is Artiste of the Year

Back-up singer

Commenting on how she had met Francis Adjei, she said she used to go to the Macedonia Prayer Camp to sing as a young girl and that was where she met him.

“He was about to release his first album and he picked me to be his backing vocalist. I sang for him for ten straight years,” she said.

On how she mastered her craft, she said: “There was a woman in the Church of Pentecost called Eunice Addison who received most of the church’s songs by inspiration during prayer time, so my dad took me to her and asked her to pray for me.

“When we got there, she asked me if I wanted to sing, saying the songs were plenty in heaven and they came in verses and stanzas. She then hit me at the back and told me to go and sing. When I got up, my dad reminded me of what she had said about songs coming in verses and stanzas and warned me that he never wanted to hear me sing a two-worded song.

“So anytime I try to write a simple song, it never happens for me because by the time I am done, I’ll have a verse, stanza, bridge and a chorus,” she noted.

She said another thing which helped her master her craft was the Church of Pentecost.

“The Church of Pentecost will never give you a heads up that you are singing today. They just see you in church and they call you, so like a soldier, you need to be ready all the tim. So whenever I am going to church, I have a song or two in my mind.

“My dad, who was then a pastor, was never blatant with me but he found a way to let me know when I didn’t sing well. I also have a family who support and pray for me, but they can be very harsh with their comments. My mother and my sister do not sleep until I have left the stage, but when I am done, they tell me what went wrong and what went well,” she explained.


Mentoring

Mrs Hamilton pointed out that mentoring was very instrumental in her life.

“Mentoring is so important, but in recent times, people don’t want to finish the mentoring stage but want to get to the top. I served Francis Adjei for ten years, and during that period, I was just happy to be singing with him.

“If there is one thing I learnt from serving him, then it was waiting and also the chance to be around producers and singers. My dad introduced me to pastors and the church, but Francis introduced me to the industry.

“It is very important you stay under people; not just pastors but people who you can look up to,” she stated.


Top 10 lessons  

The top ten lessons learnt from Mrs Hamilton’s story include:

1. Mentoring

2. Mastery through service

3. Readiness

4. Feedback

5. Divine orchestration

6. Respect

7. Timing

8. Purpose

9. Learning

10. Finishing spirit