Undoubtedly, Joe Mettle and Diana Hamilton are among the top gospel artists we have currently in Ghana and they have and still contributing their bit to gospel music and most importantly they are a blessing to the body of Christ.
The thing about doing gospel music is, first of all through a genuine calling, Grace, skill and strategy as opposed secular music where most of their works depend on skill, opportunity/connection and strategy. And these people have demonstrated that in all angles as far as their ministries are concerned.
This article is not written to prove they are the two top gospel artists in Ghana (which of course is relative to individual preference) but to highlight some of the top and highly patronized gospel songs from these artists and the possible reason(s) these songs have become very popular both in Ghana and outside Ghana.
JOE METTLE
1.Bo noo ni:
Funny enough, for some fans, the song Bo noo ni is kind of synonymous with the name Joe Mettle. Well, it couldn’t have been far fetched as the song has enjoyed massive attention for a good two years. Joe released this song in September 2017, a time he was still the VGMAs artiste of the year, and this was an added advantage. Within the first week of its release, ‘Bo noo ni’ comfortably sat on the first spot on apple music. The song is good and to most people, one of the best songs he ever wrote. Another reason for the high patronage is the collaboration with Luigi. Some people appreciated the song more because of the soothing and appealing vocal of Luigi Maclean on the song. Currently, the song has a whooping 7.9M views on Youtube.
2. My Everything
Joe tried something Afrobeat with this song released from the Wind of Revival album. A beautiful and top composition by all standards of music quality. This song had been on people’s lips the whole of 2019 because of its ability to move you unto the dance floor. ‘My Everything’ also competed with other popular secular songs for top spots on well-recognized music charts. Promotion for this song was ‘tight’ especially after the video was released. This alone gave the song much more popularity and attention because a lot of people fell in love with the stunning video. Though some are of the view that anything from Joe sells, he perhaps did not pay attention to that, instead, he started pushing this song and encouraged the hashtag #myeverything on Twitter and Instagram way before the song was released in August 2019.
3. Onwanwani
Onwanwani is a very good contemporary worship song from Joe Mettle with a very brilliant arrangement. The instrumentation was on point with every moment and detail well captured by PL Crew (Joe Mettle’s official band), and has become Joe’s song with the highest instrumentation cover and still being covered. One of the selling points of the song is the melody and lyrics. Most people can relate with the content on personal basis because it does not have complicated melody lines. Though there was enough promotion from the team, this song basically pushed itself easily through and quickly became an ‘anthem’ in our churches. I strongly believe that the popularity of ‘Onwanwani’ in 2016 was one of the reasons Joe Mettle stood out and subsequently won the VGMAs in 2017, also winning the gospel song of the year.
DIANA HAMILTON
1.Mo Ne Yo
‘Mo ne yo’ was released at the point where Diana Hamilton caught the attention of many people, both from the gospel and secular fraternity. One of the reasons was her stunning performance at her ‘Experience with Diana Hamilton’ worship concert in 2017 and 2018. At this point, ‘Work in progress’ released in 2015 became popular in 2016 and she performed it live with other songs at the event in 2017/2018. More people became aware of her ministry and brand as a gospel artiste right from the release of ‘Work in Progress’, therefore the popularity of ‘Mo ne yo’ released in August 2018 has a foundation to step on. One key thing to remember is the production of the song. This song came with the highest production quality.
The video is another factor to consider because it gave the song a great visual interpretation. In concluding this part, Diana actually took time to promote this song. Consider the many wedding ceremonies where the ‘to-be’ couple used this song as a matching/welcome song. She posted these videos each and every time, thus creating a form of ‘bandwagon’ around the song. No wonder she won the Gospel Artiste of the Year and Gospel Song of the Year at the VGMAs all through ‘Mo ne yo’ in 2019.
2. W’asem
‘Wasem’, the latest studio release of Diana took a lot of time to gain momentum to appeal to most people as compared to ‘Mo ne yo’ but at the end of the day it did pick up. This song came in at the later part of 2019 accompanied by a beautiful video. The major selling points of this song points to the artiste and her promotional unit/team, the Afrobeat nature of the song produced by Kaywa which offers a dance-oriented arrangement and the content of the song/lyrics.
3. Nsenkyereni Nyankopon
‘Nsenkyereni Nyankopon was recorded live during Diana’s annual worship concert, the Kumasi edition in 2019. This is an old public domain song Diana covered and she did it beautifully through the fusion of contemporary and local indigenous elements. Her rendition became popular because she sort of brought an old pentecostal song back to life and engaged many in the medium of prayer to God through the song.
