By Chinazam Ikechi-Uko.
A woman’s taking off her shirt, exposing and shaking her tits, she is in a crowd, and she is happy as she is videoed during an artiste’s performance. It is none other than African Giant, Burna Boy, as he rocks the stage at Glastonbury, England. However, in a few hours, his amazing performance would have to share the spotlight with another Afrobeats artiste win— Tems, who has just won her 3rd BET award.
Tems, born Temilade Openiyi, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer making waves in the music industry. She began her musical journey from early choir performances to international recognition, Tems’ career took off with her hit song “Try Me” in 2018. Since then, she has collaborated with Wizkid, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Future and Drake. With the latter winning her a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance.
Tems is no stranger to the award-winning game, nevertheless, her July 2024 award at the BET Awards has taken the internet by storm. Tems, the conceptual Alté singer won her first 2024 award and it was the prestigious Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award. She was awarded for her 2023 single “Me & U”.
What is the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel Award:
The award was originally called the Best Gospel Artist but was renamed in 2017 to honour Dr. Bobby Jones, a prominent figure in gospel music. It recognizes outstanding achievements in urban contemporary gospel music. It focuses on gospel artists whose music blends traditional gospel with contemporary styles like R&B, soul, or even hip-hop. Winners are chosen based on a combination of factors, including the sales of their music and the overall quality of the content they released during the eligibility period.
For a wider context, as Beyoncé to the Grammys, so is Kirk Franklin to the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel Award. So when the nominees included renowned gospel artistes such as Kirk Franklin and Cece Winans, the award going to Tems is astonishing. However, saying the silent part aloud, the question is does she even go here?
How did Tems end up here?
“For me to come out, it means that I’m at the door. I want to show you my world, give me one break, I need faith. Faith to believe you, faith to receive you. Give me something, I’m lacking. I don’t need nothing, you are my everything.” Me & U lyrics (Tems).
The three-minute song never explicitly states the subject of the song and could easily be mistaken for a run-of-the-mill love song. But Tems in several interviews debunked the love interest theories, explaining that the song is about her relationship with God.
“Me & U is about reconnecting with God. It’s a new conversation. It’s about reconnecting with your inner child and the truth. It’s about now being honest with yourself about who you are, and about having faith that everything is going to be okay, as long as you believe.” Tems to Apple Music.
Another controversy was born from the song due to Tems not mentioning what God the song was about. Tems was swift to dismiss the claims on X. After a fan on X compared a photo of Tems in a white dress standing in water to the imagery of Yoruba Orishas Oshun and Yemayá, she explained the meaning behind the photo.
She stated it represented “Jesus Christ teaching me how to walk on water,” emphasizing faith and trust in him. Tems, who directed the accompanying video, showcased solitude and movement across land and water, contrasting it with scenes of female drummers and formations of circles and crosses.
So technically, Me & U should classify as gospel music. But then, there is a long history of Gospel vs Secular music, and this historical battle stems from one single phrase– They never said Jesus.
What is Gospel Music?
“The way Kathie Lee needed Regis, that’s the way I need Jesus. So here go my single dog radio needs this. They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus, that means guns, sex, lies, videotape. But if I talk about God my record won’t get played, huh?” -Jesus Walks lyrics (Kanye West).
Ye formerly known as Kanye West, once said, “I changed the sound of music more than one time…. For all those reasons, I’d be a part of the Bible. I’m definitely in the history books already.” While many saw this as blasphemous, the site, Preaching Today, defended it as Ye stating the obvious, a sinner turning to Christ is in the Bible and always will be.
However, before Ye’s public turn to Christ, Ye had described the very problem that plagues the Gospel music industry in his 2004 single, Jesus Walks. This is the lack of Jesus in Gospel music.
Au contraire to popular belief, Gospel music is not identical to worship music. Worship music is a term for collectively sacred songs; hymns, psalms, chants, psalmodies, carols, and anthems are examples. Yes, Songs Of Solomon qualifies as worship music, and so does Take Me To Church by Hozier. Yet neither of them are Gospel songs.
Gospel music is a vibrant genre of Christian music that originated in the African American churches of the Southern United States in the 19th century. It is characterized by its passionate vocals, often with strong use of harmony, and its uplifting lyrics that celebrate faith and spread the message of Christianity. Traditionally, gospel music is directly tied to Christianity and features themes of faith, salvation, and Jesus Christ. Lyrics often reference scripture or tell stories about religious experiences.
Why no Jesus in it?
The Christian community has struggled with modern gospel music. In February of 2020, Deep Believer published an article titled Shhh…They Can’t Say “Jesus”. It argues that modern Christian music avoids mentioning Jesus by name. It states that it weakens the message of Christianity, after all, if you are so proud of Jesus why not mention him on the track? Why wait until the behind-the-scenes, in-between sets, and the press videos to discuss how Jesus inspired the song?
It also points out that at one of Ye’s Sunday Services, he alleged that music contracts, Christian or not, often prevent artists from saying “Jesus.”
There are several articles about this discussion, a famous situation took place in the 80s when Amy Grant argued after she crossed over to secular audiences. She stated that songs are Christian regardless of their content, as long as the singer is Christian. This angle was easily defeated because Gospel music comes from the word Gospel, which means the teaching or revelation of Christ (Google).
The Verdict:
In general, no. Gospel music traditionally talks about Jesus and Christian beliefs, so Me & U is not a gospel song and many Christians will find this as a mockery of their faith. Jesus is the key of gospel music but where was Jesus in the gospel music?
Even if a Christian artist writes or sings it, the song wouldn’t be gospel if it didn’t mention those themes. But it could be a worship song and Me & U is a worship song to Jesus. It won the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel Award but by definition is not a gospel song.
Worship music is broader. It can be about anything as long as it is sacred to the singer, but gospel is a specific type of worship music and must include Jesus.