“The pressure is very strong, people expect me to live lavishly” – Gospel singer, Mike Abdul
Mike Abdul, a Nigerian gospel artist, claimed that he feels too pressured by others to live a lavish and extravagant life.
The “Blessing Now” singer admitted that while he considers offering back to society, actualizing those ideas might not be viable.
Mike Abdul stated in an interview that people assume he lives in a big house, has an expensive car, and has a particular appearance.
He said;
“The pressure is very strong. Many times, one wants to give back to society, but that might not be sustainable. Many people usually expect others to do things that they cannot do for themselves. People expect me to look a certain way, drive a particular type of car, and live in a certain type of house or neighbourhood.”
Additionally, he discussed his musical genre and how gospel musicians lack flexibility because they are unable to easily engage in genres that are more suited to secular artists.
He explained;
“Gospel artistes are not as flexible as secular artistes, because they cannot talk about everything. Gospel artistes are only expected to talk on godliness and the Holy Spirit. Being a gospel artiste, one’s path has already been defined.
On the marketing side, some people don’t want to hear certain statements from gospel artistes. It is secular artistes that are expected to sing about such things.”
When asked how he feels about some gospel singers infusing secular lyrics into their songs he said;
“I am not sure why they do that. For some people, they have been exposed to certain themes and that is all they know. I cannot see a ‘GenZ’ whose musical atmosphere is formed by those vibes, trying to do gospel music, and tell him he cannot do it. That would be difficult.
For instance, I came into the industry doing gospel fuji because that was the kind of music I was exposed to. So, when it was time for me to find musical expression, I did it in fuji. That was the most powerful tool in my hand, and not everyone liked it. Not everyone will like what one does.”
