Gospel musician Paa Boateng is puzzled over some people’s resolve to criticize him for changing his style of music to a more funky type.

Describing Ghanaians as hypocrite, the gospel musician who became famous at 15 with his smash hit ‘Onyame Ba’ said it was high time Ghanaians embraced change instead of expecting him to produce songs with the usual highlife rhythm.

“God spoke to me that I have to rebrand myself. He told me he’s done with the old Paa Boateng…” he said in an interview with Abrantepa on Radio Univers’ Brunch2Lunch, Monday. “It is a kind of brand God gave me to attract the ghetto youth, people on the street.

“Ghanaians are hypocrites. Everybody. Same people listen to Kirk Franklin… I think we should stop the hypocrisy and accept the content of the song because if judge a song by the rhythm or the style, then if you go to church and listen to praises, it’s a big sin because gospel is not a genre; we ride on highlife beat.”

Commenting further on concerns raised about how he looks all funky of late, the musician said: “Christ lives in me, you don’t judge a book by its cover. People are too much carnal. They don’t see beyond the outside. When God called Abraham, He called him for a particular kind of people. This song particular can be sang in the church but it’s for the people on the street… People who will talk are those who do not understand the motive behind what I’m doing.”

Paa Boateng who is out with a single ‘Praise Revolution’ – a song which features Ivorian Tiss Wayne – mentioned that he intends embarking on a project aimed at evangelizing to people who may not know Christ.

He said: “Very soon, we’re starting a street evangelism. We’re starting from Kasoa. We’re helping people come out of addiction and we’re using the ‘Praise Revolution’ to evangelize.



Who is Kirk Franklin?

Kirk Franklin is an American gospel musician. In 1993, Kirk revolutionized Gospel Music and bridged the gap between the faith community and mainstream Urban Music culture. Working with such artists as Bono, Stevie Wonder, the late Whitney Houston, Lacrae, Kanye West and Chance the Rapper, the genius fusion of a message hope and hip-hop beats have made him a mainstay atop Billboard charts for more than 20 years.