A Gospel Artist Not Bound By The Rules
It is a known fact that when you a gospel
artist there are ways you are expected to do things, or do your music. There places you are limited to perform and here in Botswana those rules seem to be strictly adhered to by the gospel artist. Well that has been the case until new kid on the block and hit maker arrived to the industry.
The 24 year old gospel singer, Ezra Neethings as he is commonly known aside from being called the Danko artist, the hit song we all know him by came into the game but to be a little different than
the others. The star has defied the rules by oddly performing in clubs, shows with no gospel artist and all through that he has experienced nothing but love from everyone and has surely impacted many.
According to him in the latest interview
we had with him the gospel industry need
to allow artists to be their creative selves
while still spreading the word of God and
spreading positivity as well. The afro gospel singer also has faith that he has yet to be a part player in rebranding or developing the industry and is yet to experience so much as an artist.
Tell me more about your background
generally.
My name is Ezra Neethings, but formally I am called Esere Diloro and I was born on the 30th of August in 1998 from a Town named Selebe Phikwe.
When was your love for music discovered?
The love for music came when I started
singing in church and that was around 2015. That’s when I started feeling comfortable enough behind the mic and growing up I do not remember thinking if I was capable of singing, I was just a love developed from singing in church.
As a musician what inspired you to choose the gospel genre?
I love the gospel genre because it is true to me and since I developed that love in Church.
And speaking of the genre, what type of
gospel do you make?
I actually can write any type of genre and
types of gospel because it is broad, but
when I started I started off with soft rock. I
then shifted to the genre I do now which is
Afro Gospel that has afro beats. The genre
originates from Nigeria.
Any particular reason behind that?
I chose that because it kind of resonates
with a lot of people is common to a lot of
countries in the African continent.
So as a recording artist how many songs
and albums if there is any have you
released?
I started my music in 2019 when I moved to South Africa and since then I have managed to release one album and the went on to release a since and I still have an EP on the way to be released soon which is called “TheNeethings”
You became quite popular amongst
Batswana through the hit, Danko, so
what’s the story behind that song?
Well there is not much of a story behind the song Danko which of course was released early this year, it is only that the word “danko” is a very commonly used word and I decided to make a song around the word just like that. I did have to use a sound or melody that kind of resonates with everyone.
How did it came by gaining so much
popularity and love even among nonchurch goers?
Well as I said the song’s melody kind of
resonates with everyone, everywhere even in clubs and being recognised by everybody that’s when you know that you have made good music as an artist which amazing which why afro beats is for me one of most comfortable zones I found in my music career.
So you stayed in SA for some time, was it
for you to grow yourself musically?
Well my stay in South Africa was to go there to do music and ministry. As for now however I am really invested mostly into music and it’s not that I have abandoned ministry, my music still serves as a way of ministering because there is positivity in it.
What is it you learnt on your stay in SA?
What I learnt in South Africa well there
actually not much I can I learnt there apart
from having had the opportunity for real
exposure I my music as an artist and into
many things and having a better view of how things are looking at how more developed a country like South Africa is.
Now coming back to our local music
especially gospel, what can you say about
it?
Well the gospel music industry in Botswana has so many rules, I think there just so many rules governing the genre here and when 10 Celebrity World Magazine
http://www.celebrityworld.co.bw/Cover Story you are a gospel artist you shouldn’t have rules. You need to break out of the system and be able to explore greater heights, which is what I did with Danko.
Duncan Sebeso