At 82, veteran Gospel Singer, Evangelist Deborah Adebola Fasoyin fondly called “Mama Odun nlo sopin” still Dazzles on stage, keeping her audiences on their toes to praise God Almighty. She doesn’t love her age at all. She loves to be addressed as sweet sixteen to tell that she is truly young at heart. Many people are marvelled and quest to know how the veteran musician keeps fit at that graceful and what worked for her and her contemporaries in the industry as their music top the chart of evergreen Gospel songs of all time.
In a chat with City People reporter, JAMIU ABUBAKAR, she advised the new generation of gospel artists on how to go about preaching the gospel of Christ through music. Below are the excerpts:
At 82, what has kept you this long as a gospel singer?
Being this vibrant and active at 82 is through the grace of God. I don’t know why God wants it so, but it’s God.
What is the major difference between gospel songs of those days and the ones sung today?
There is a great difference between gospel singers of our time and the ones making waves today. Before we go to the studio then, we read the Bible, we pray and we fast. All our songs are extracted from the Bible. The Bible is a two-edged sword that pierces any soul. Before we record, the difference is we go to the studio, we have to pray and fast and look at our environment. Whatever inspiration we have is what we put into releases. But now, I don’t think our gospel musicians these days border on praying or fasting or reading the Bible. We submit totally to the word of God before we go to the studio at all. And it is what the spirit tells us to record that we record. What the holy spirit tells us to sing is what we sing.
Tell us a bit about the popular Album “Odun lo sopin”. How did you come about it?
The popular song “Odun lo sopin” will be 43 years old this year. I am not the composer of the song. CAC owns the song. In the 70s, when the year was winding up, if you went to any revival of CAC, you would hear people singing the song. From September to December it always trends. We don’t know who sang it. We only added verses to it. It is a CAC song. It’s the grace of God.
Most of your songs stand the test of time. How do you do it?
“There is nothing that has kept my songs up there if not for the Holy Spirit. Since you have been reading the Bible, have you ever gotten tired of reading the Bible? The word of God is new every day. If you read it today, if you read it tomorrow, it gives you another meaning that will work in your life. If I read it, it will work in my life. If you read it, it will work in your life. And the word of God is evergreen and becomes new every day. Because songs are taken from the Bible that is why they remain evergreen.
What lifestyle did you adopt that keeps you this agile at 82?
“It is the grace of God and nothing else.
Is there any particular food you eat or any of your routines that did the wonder?
If you want to know the type of food I eat, I’m a native of Oyo town. I eat Amala, Gbegiri, Abula, and I married Ibadan people. We eat Amala, Gbegiri and Ewedu a lot. Those are my foods. It’s the grace of God. I don’t know how God did it, and I don’t know how He used to do it. When you pray, continue to ask for the holy spirit. He will renew you every day. He will renew your spirit every day in the Bible. with the word of God, you are good to go.
What would be your advice to today’s gospel artiste?
When people say they want to go into music, I used to tell them it was because of money? If it is because of money, it will fade away. When we started we didn’t depend on money. We don’t take money, we don’t rely on money. We contribute our own quota. So gospelers of today, if they want to preach the gospel through music, yes. But if they have the mind of extorting people, and taking money, it won’t work.
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