Celestine Donkor, one of the household names when it comes to gospel music in Ghana is readying to hit the Ghanaian music scene with her second album this December.
She made this revelation in an interview, she has one album �Gye wo deε�, an 11-track album released in 2007 to her credit and hopes to release her second album �Wa gye me� a 10-track album with an initial music video for the title track, �Wa gye me� by the end of the year.
This comes after she released a single, �Supernatural� earlier this year. She said the inspiration of the supernatural track came from this year�s theme of her church, International Central Gospel Church (ICGC).
�I attend ICGC church, Christ Temple, and this year 2009; our theme was �Supernatural�. I thought being a member of the church and a talented singer as well; I could put the theme in a song so that people will have it easy to get into the theme. That was the purpose behind the composition of the song �Supernatural�,� she said.
She said the song was a personal song to the church not the general public, the public�s interest in the song pushed her to release the song, �I didn�t intend to bring the song out publicly, I did it for the church. But some way somehow, the public rather turned out to like it more. So I decided to release it.�
About the inspiration behind her new album, Celestine says she wants people to know that the only person they can rely on is God, �the only person who we can depend on at all times is God. I believe and hope that by the end of the day those who listen to the album will have a change in their heart about who they actually put their trust in. I believe they will be able to take a decision after listening to the songs on the album,� she said.
She says it has been a childhood dream to do music, �It has been my childhood dream. I started singing at the age of 9. I was recognized in the music scene or showbiz 8 years ago.�
She holds part of her music talent to her family, Elder Gabriel Akakpo and Mrs Hanna Akakpo who are also 'into' music. Her mother helps her with her ewe compositions, �My mother composes a lot. Most of my ewe translations I do, I get support from her.�
She has featured on popular songs like; �Hena ne wadamfo pa� by Rev Prince Nyarko, �Go High� by Philipa Baafi and has also worked with; Isaac (The show Boy), Isaiah Kwadwo Ampong, and Cee.
As much as she is basking in the success of her work, all has not been rosy for her, �It�s been very challenging for me especially when sometimes before you come out, you expect help or support from people who are very close to you. It is actually challenging when people you actually look up to disappoint you by not giving you the support you expected.�
Celestine expressed worry about some people�s intention of going into gospel and the messages in some of the gospel music being produced. Some go into gospel music because of fame and not to propagate the word of God but she says her intention is to preach the word of God.
�My intended purpose is to reach out to the world or to spread the gospel of the Lord through singing. Information is carried easily with a song in that, when God lays a message in your heart and you put it in a song, you are able to �sell� it quickly than when it is in any other means. My purpose for doing music is to preach the word of God,� she said.
She said one of the biggest challenges and threat facing the Ghanaian music industry is that, �even those who are not supposed to be musicians are doing gospel music...I have seen artiste who don�t have the qualification to do gospel music. Songs that come out, nobody checks it to see whether this is the right kind of songs to be put on to the market...�
She made this revelation in an interview, she has one album �Gye wo deε�, an 11-track album released in 2007 to her credit and hopes to release her second album �Wa gye me� a 10-track album with an initial music video for the title track, �Wa gye me� by the end of the year.
This comes after she released a single, �Supernatural� earlier this year. She said the inspiration of the supernatural track came from this year�s theme of her church, International Central Gospel Church (ICGC).
�I attend ICGC church, Christ Temple, and this year 2009; our theme was �Supernatural�. I thought being a member of the church and a talented singer as well; I could put the theme in a song so that people will have it easy to get into the theme. That was the purpose behind the composition of the song �Supernatural�,� she said.
She said the song was a personal song to the church not the general public, the public�s interest in the song pushed her to release the song, �I didn�t intend to bring the song out publicly, I did it for the church. But some way somehow, the public rather turned out to like it more. So I decided to release it.�
About the inspiration behind her new album, Celestine says she wants people to know that the only person they can rely on is God, �the only person who we can depend on at all times is God. I believe and hope that by the end of the day those who listen to the album will have a change in their heart about who they actually put their trust in. I believe they will be able to take a decision after listening to the songs on the album,� she said.
She says it has been a childhood dream to do music, �It has been my childhood dream. I started singing at the age of 9. I was recognized in the music scene or showbiz 8 years ago.�
She holds part of her music talent to her family, Elder Gabriel Akakpo and Mrs Hanna Akakpo who are also 'into' music. Her mother helps her with her ewe compositions, �My mother composes a lot. Most of my ewe translations I do, I get support from her.�
She has featured on popular songs like; �Hena ne wadamfo pa� by Rev Prince Nyarko, �Go High� by Philipa Baafi and has also worked with; Isaac (The show Boy), Isaiah Kwadwo Ampong, and Cee.
As much as she is basking in the success of her work, all has not been rosy for her, �It�s been very challenging for me especially when sometimes before you come out, you expect help or support from people who are very close to you. It is actually challenging when people you actually look up to disappoint you by not giving you the support you expected.�
Celestine expressed worry about some people�s intention of going into gospel and the messages in some of the gospel music being produced. Some go into gospel music because of fame and not to propagate the word of God but she says her intention is to preach the word of God.
�My intended purpose is to reach out to the world or to spread the gospel of the Lord through singing. Information is carried easily with a song in that, when God lays a message in your heart and you put it in a song, you are able to �sell� it quickly than when it is in any other means. My purpose for doing music is to preach the word of God,� she said.
She said one of the biggest challenges and threat facing the Ghanaian music industry is that, �even those who are not supposed to be musicians are doing gospel music...I have seen artiste who don�t have the qualification to do gospel music. Songs that come out, nobody checks it to see whether this is the right kind of songs to be put on to the market...�
Celestine said it was also worrying to see people reproducing old songs without respecting the intellectual property rights of the original composers.
She is a level 100 student of the University of Ghana pursuing Social Science and she says she is comfortable and does not seem perturbed by the attention she may get on campus.
Celestine said it was also worrying to see people reproducing old songs without respecting the intellectual property rights of the original composers.
She is a level 100 student of the University of Ghana pursuing Social Science and she says she is comfortable and does not seem perturbed by the attention she may get on campus.
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