The reason secular singers like Vivian turn to gospel as they get older

GEOFFREY MBUTHIA ENTERTAINMENT SUB-EDITOR

13 September 2021

Singer Vivian is the latest secular female musician to join the gospel ranks. The Accelerator (serereka) singer explained her choice in a recent interview with the entertainment site, Kelebrity.

She said;

"Change of heart is the best way to put it. I think it's a new energy that has come with the changes the world is generally experiencing with the pandemic as it gave a lot of us a lot of time to reflect. Especially with me and people like me, I feel we put so much energy into the things around us and forget to look within and focus on God who made us. Of course, like so many of us I have a Christian grounding and grew up in a Christian family with Christian grounding so that... You sit down sometimes and remember as you're reflecting. I hope that answers that question."

While what she is saying might be true, I believe there is more to it than meets the eye. Let's not forget that Vivian joins the likes of Wahu, Amani and Size 8 who all switched genres after getting a lot of success in the secular world.

Why could that be? I think the reason is pretty simple and it is a pragmatic one at the end of the day. The secular music industry is a young girls' game with rare exceptions.

It is super-rare for you to see a much older lady banging out the hits consistently in the secular industry. It just doesn't happen and if it does, it is normally in collaborations.

The reason for that is the simple truth that s3x (or the promise of it) sells, a rule that is still very much in play eons after the term was coined.

The prettier and younger the musician (as she is the new hot cake), the higher the chances are that her music will sell, something that is only upended by generational talents like Adele.

So what Vivian and the plethora of other female musicians did changing genres was practical. It might have indeed being caused by a change of heart but let's not kid ourselves that the gospel industry isn't begging for redemption stories, which they are.

Also, being in the gospel industry allows for one to get family-friendly endorsements as brand influencers. Just look at all the work Size 8 gets and even Vivian has been.

At the end of the day, joining the gospel industry for any forward-looking secular female musician is a win-win. The drawbacks are minimal if any.

This is just my opinion, I could be wrong...