Ghanaian director and filmmaker Socrate Safo has said that comments made by Nigerian gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey for Ghanaian acts to compose more songs in English is not a prophecy but just a bit of common business advice.

Speaking on the United Showbiz show on UTV, the Director for Creative Arts at the National Commission on Culture shot down claims by gospel artiste Celestine Donkor that Nathaniel Bassey’s comments were a prophetic message.

According to him, the advice was common for business and was not in any way “prophetic”.

He further said that the choice to switch languages is a logical business action and he would not fault anyone for whatever decisions they make.

“What Nathaniel Bassey said is not a prophecy, it is just ordinary business advice. Don’t garnish it with the word “Prophetic” it is just common sense.

“In business, there is a primary market and a secondary market. Media houses like UTV or PeaceFM produce their content in Twi because their primary market is Ghanaians who speak Twi. There is nothing bad in satisfying the primary market first.

“I see nothing wrong with someone doing songs solely in Twi because he/she may have studied the market and decided that doing songs in Twi is best. Same way if you want to go international and you

“In the same way, there is nothing wrong if another artiste wants to appeal to the secondary market by doing songs in English. It’s just business,” he said.

Background

Nathaniel Bassey, during the Jesus Christ Encounter event at the Accra Sports Stadium on December 2, advised Ghanaian gospel artistes to sing in English to reach more people around the world. He also hoped that Ghanaian gospel artistes would host their concerts in Nigeria and other countries in the future.

His comments, however, sparked debate about the use of language in music and how it influences the marketability of songs from Ghana.

Many argued that singing in English was not necessary, while others sided with Nathaniel Bassey and claimed that singing in English boosts the international appeal of the songs.

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Nathaniel Bassey's advice is pure common sense and not prophetic - Socrate Safo#UnitedShowbiz pic.twitter.com/8Q7ulY6LLr

— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) December 10, 2023