Sonnie Badu: Don’t commercialise gospel music too much, add spiritual elements

Acclaimed gospel musician Sonnie Badu has issued a clarion call to fellow gospel artistes, urging them to strike a balance between commercialising their craft and maintaining the spiritual essence of their music.

While acknowledging the importance of financial rewards for their hard work, Sonnie Badu cautioned against prioritising commercialisation over spirituality. 

He noted that gospel music should remain a vessel for spreading the message of faith, hope, and redemption.

 “The spirit-filled could be commercialised and its rightly so and good to do that. That’s how you benefit from your gift and craft.

“You need that balance there, don’t be totally commercialized to forget about the spirituality, you have to blend the two,” he said in an interview on Star FM, November 13, 2024.

The renowned gospel musician pointed out that distributing music on digital platforms comes with expenses, and as such, gospel artistes should reap the financial rewards of their labor

 “I think there is the now realisation that the spirit-filled gospel music can be commercialized. Anybody who puts their song on a digital platform is not doing it for free.

“If you are super spirit-filled you end up regretting not doing what you could have done when you had the opportunity to,” Sonnie Badu added.

The gospel musician disclosed that he is gearing up for the second edition of his ‘Rhythms of Africa’ at the Independence Square on Friday, November 29.