Musician Billy Kaunda says there is no need for him to announce that he has joined the gospel music fraternity, arguing he has always been a gospel musician.
In an interview with The Nation on Sunday when he spiced up the DVD launch of The Great Angles Choir at BAT ground in Blantyre, Kaunda blamed ‘character assassination’ and mistaken definition of gospel music as factors leading to growing misunderstanding and condemnation of most gospel musicians.
“There is no need for one to announce that he or she has switched to gospel music or not because this is a personal covenant with your God. Therefore, there is no need to announce. Billy Kaunda has all along been a gospel musician,” he said.
The former Parliamentarian for Mzimba West, said he has observed negative attitude towards the term ‘gospel musicians’ and those who sing gospel music.
“For example, people condemn you if haven’t announced that you are a gospel musician. Some even think that every gospel musician is holy or a born again Christian, which is always not the case,” he schooled.
Kaunda said most of his songs border around the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Take Mwapindulanji for example, it advances the very same agenda of the Holy Bible which says do not kill. But because it is delivered in a danceable tune, some quarters may dismiss it as secular. The same applies to Lupanga, the Bible warms that the one who uses a sword to kill or scare others will be killed by the similar sword.”
He added: “It all depends on how one defines gospel music and personality behind such composition. But I am saying gospel music is the good news of Jesus Christ which can be delivered in different forms and mediums. Better still, we should not judge based on the fact that one has announced or not to be a full time gospel musician.”
During his act at the Great Angels Choir’s DVD launch, Kaunda made an impressive performance by dishing most of his popular songs such as Mwapindulanji and Lupanga. He received overwhelming response from fans as they resonated well with every song he performed.
Kaunda started his music career while in school and church. He was part of Jerusalem Baptist Choir and Prophets Acapella in 1980s before joining Lucius Banda’s Zembani Band.
He then quit Zembani to form his own group known as Armageddon and released 12 albums with it.
Kaunda is famous for speaking on behalf of the poor masses in songs such as Mwapindulanji, Kumidima, Agalatia and Lupanga.
