Evangelical artist Timi Dakolo responded strongly to pastor Femi Lazarus’s viral comments, who criticized the gospel artist for charging fees to perform at church events.
Debate about whether Nigerian gospel artists should charge fees for performances at church events surfaced on social media, following comments from pastor Femi Lazarus, the Principal Pastor of the Church of Light.
Pastor Lazarus in his current video criticizes the gospel musicians for prioritizing economic interests over spiritual appeals. He expressed concern about the shifting focus of many artists to business. He said “It’s been a show – someone comes here to charge 5 million nn five million to sing.”
His remarks sparked widespread discussion, and many were shocked by whether gospel musicians should receive compensation for their works. Among those who responded to the comments of Pastor Femi Lazarus is Nigerian pop singer Timi Dakolo, who strongly opposes the stance of the priest.
Dakolo believes that gospel artists have made substantial investments in their skills and should be rewarded accordingly. He highlighted the costs of studio meetings, music production and promotions. In addition, he emphasized that musicians also have bills that families need to pay.
“You deserve the salary you deserve. There’s a lot of money for studio meetings, production and promotions. You have a family to feed, you have rent to pay, you have more songs to release. We should stop all these attacks on people’s work. Both the spirit, music is art,” he wrote.
In addition, the R&B singer also advised Pastor Lazarus to use his church choir for activities if he was reluctant to pay professional gospel artists. “If you can’t pay, use your choir members and pay them guest artists Dakolo added.
Meanwhile, the debate afterward sparked a mixed reaction online and provided some support for Dakolo’s views. However, others believe that gospel music should be a ministry rather than a business.
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