Entertainment of Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Source: Adomonline.com
2016-10-25
Esther Smith, gospel musician
It is rare in Ghana for secular musicians to endorse gospel musicians as their favorite and vice versa.
This is because they all see their genre as unique and sometimes look down upon their colleagues from the other side.
But award winning Dancehall artiste, Stonebwoy has endorsed gospel artiste Esther Smith as his all time favorite gospel musician in Ghana and has described her as exceptional.
According to him, Esther Smith’s instrumentals are top notch and that makes her his favourite.
Speaking on the Lazy Show on Hitz fm about his favourite gospel artistes in the country, Stonebwoy disclosed that his love for the singer grew more and more because of her use of Hip-pop tunes which made her deferent from her contemporaries.
Livingstone Etse Satekla who uses the stage name Stonebwoy explained that he also admires her tenacity and ability withstand the numerous criticism she was subjected to by a cross section of people, especially from the Christian fraternity, for using a beat they saw in those days as ungodly.
‘Do you know why I like her? Back in the days, she was bashed for using Hip-pop tunes for her songs but she still stood on her grounds and made sure that she continued her good work’ he intimated.
Esther Smith is a multiple award winning Ghanaian gospel musician who has released several hit tracks Yesu Kristo Asore, Adze Ko, Ma Wo Nsa So, Gye No and Gye No Di.
Others are Befa W’asem, Siesie Me, Agidifour Ataban and Gye No Di.
Her maiden album, Gye No Di, shot her into stardom and won her the Gospel Album of the Year, Gospel Artiste of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance of the Year awards at the then Ghana Music Awards 2003, now Vodafone Ghana Music awards.
She also won the Best Gospel Album of the Year, Best Song of the Year and the Best Album of the year at the 2004 GMA.
This was after several failed attempts to have a breakthrough in the music industry.
She started singing when she joined a choir at House of Faith Ministry in 1990 and later became a member of a singing group set up by Kapital Radio, a private radio station in Kumasi.
According to Esther, she started writing her songs after she had joined the Voices of Faith Choir in the early 1990’s. Ironically, the first song she wrote and which she calls Ewurade Wo Din No Hyeren is still in her drawer.
She is now the director of the Esther Smith Printing Press and Music Production in Kumasi but she is mostly based abroad where she pursues her music career.