Songs produced in English not enough to go international - Gina Idan

A Ghanaian gospel artiste based in the US, Gina Idan has advised musicians not to focus only on producing songs in their local dialect but to equally pay attention to English songs in order to gain global acceptance.

Her comments come at the back of a recent suggestion by celebrated Nigerian gospel artiste, Nathaniel Bassey to Ghanaians.

Nathaniel Bassey in a concert held in Ghana recently urged Ghanaian gospel musicians to write songs in English.

‘I know you love your local dialect, Twi, but there is an anointing on you and the world needs to hear your songs”, Nathaniel Bassey urged.

Gina Idan who recently released her single in an interview with the DAILY GUIDE said “I think those who have issues with our brother’s advice have failed to situate the advice in its proper context. Nathaniel is a big artiste whose music continues to gain global attention partly due to the use of English or a blend of English and his local dialect”.

The gospel artist said Statista shows that English is the most-spoken language with over 1.4 billion speakers across the globe.

These statistics she explained give English songs a wider market and audience compared to songs produced in local dialects.

She added that though there were a number of songs from Africa in the local dialects that have gained international recognition, musicians cannot discount how the English language transcends cultures and geographical boundaries.

‘We can all observe that a lot of musicians in recent times have made attempts to translate their songs in local dialect to English in most music videos.

Translating the song into English has far-reaching consequences that will not only attract and impact more people but will also go a long way to influence people beyond the local setting', she added.

She however stressed that singing in English alone has little or no effect on the global music stage if it lacks elements of quality music and good promotion.

Gina Idan who is promoting her single titled ‘Wo So’ is the host of Thanksgiving Worship, an annual gospel concert organized as part of activities to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US state of Georgia.

‘Wo So’ translated You’re Great, produced by the multi-talented Ghanaian sound engineer, Morris Babyface has a reggae upbeat that eulogizes God’s supremacy and sovereignty.

The song is available on all popular digital music platforms.