Afrobeats gaining grounds all over the world and it is fast becoming a recognized and structured genre, Christians and people of faith are not missing out on this “Afro-fever” as some young, free-spirited Christian artists with urban sounds are pushing a rather new sub-genre termed ‘Afrogospel’. One of the foremost of these acts is Gil Joe who also happens to be the pioneer of the sound.
Afrogospel is a direct expression of faith and religion using African percussion in fusion with neo-Western melodies. This fusion of Afrobeats and popular music, conveying the message of Jesus has fast been gaining lots of acceptance both in Africa and beyond her.
Perhaps, it’s as a result of how its creators constantly push out projects and lift the bar of its reach with every single song released. The latest of which is “Eternal Life & Vibrations” EP by Gil Joe.
‘Eternal Life & Vibrations (EL&V)’ is a five-track EP cooked by chef Joe with the primary aim of killing religion and establishing Christianity as a lifestyle. This is most evident in track two, ‘Atlanta Judger’ where Joe addresses methods, traditions, and church culture being mistaken for Christianity. “Judger” is an innuendo for “Georgia”, but made to represent a person who judges others.
The project was released on February 26 and has been doing remarkably with numbers ever since. It seals the notion that Gil Joe is constantly representing as the premiering creator of the genre, project after project. The first was his ‘Maturity’ album released in 2016 which contained 16 tracks in it. It was Gil Joe introducing the world to an entirely different kind of gospel music.
Ever since, Gil Joe has been regarded in the words of many as a “natural superstar” and this Afrogospel pioneer has continued to live up to that standard. ‘EL & V’ is proof that he’s not backing down and that there’s so much still ahead of him. All we can do is sit back, watch it happen and share Afrogospel songs with loved ones like me who are suckers for good, African music.
