Stella Damasus "The Alternative" isn't the best option in Gospel music

Artiste – Stella Damasus

Producer – Daniel 'DaBishop' Ademinokan

Record Label – Index Two Studios (2016)

Duration - 79 minutes

Stella Damasus, is one of Nigeria’s most loved and hated celebrities ever. The singer made her bones over a decade ago, starring in the Nigeria movie industry – Nollywood – where she starred in some of the glorious movies to ever come out.

But these days she is a Nollywood pariah. Stella has been accused of husband-snatching, an act deeply regarded as an unforgivable moral crime. Her current partner, movie director Daniel Ademinokan was once husband to actress Doris Simeon. The couple separated in 2010 and divorced soon after. Whilst the actress still lives in Nigeria, the movie director moved with their son to the United States and took with him actress Stella Damasus whom he allegedly married in the heat of all the controversy following the divorce.

Many Nigerians have never truly forgiven Stella Damasus, as her marriage to Daniel is regarded as moral betrayal. She has been taunted at every turn, with social media commentators working up bile every time she puts her name on anything. Whether it’s social activism, or music, the bile plagues her.

What makes Stella Damasus’ music career unique is that she makes Gospel Music, a faith-based genre that speaks about worship to a higher being, and based on the Bible, utilizes morality and worship as tenets. The adherence of these would lead to a higher reward of eternal bliss in the afterlife. Contrasting her Gospel and morality is this husband-snatching that has foully tainted her recent efforts at art.

“The Alternative” is her debut LP. And 18-track EP that starts off with emotion via a prayer by her daughter Isabel in ‘Genesis’. That mild, solemn, feel, backed by an immersive percussive inclination continues through the album, as vehicle to convey worship. ‘Ka biyo osi’, is a spin-off of classic Nigerian Christian worship. ‘I am’, ‘Pure fire’, ‘We cry holy’, ‘Jaa Gi Nma’, are all similar in this regard. A serene beckoning and inspirational song designed to pull at the heartstrings in worship.

When she isn’t worshipping, she offers various brands of mainstream praise single which ups the tempo with background effects of crowd activity, rolling drums and lyrical praises tied to personal well-being. ‘Just Praise’, is a perfect example of this. Supplication, another form of request to God is teary in ‘I look to you’.

Stella Damasus shows off the regular and very little more on this album. She sticks to pre-established templates for Gospel music, and keeps the themes recurrent. Perhaps that is why this project fails to truly fly. Relativity can be found in the sampling of classics, and repetition of themes with very similar instrumentation puts a negative mark on it all. She also dips into the global Trap craze to create a discordant mashup with Electro on‘Get loud’. Originality comes in bits and spurts, but fails to shine through with convincing creativity.

Rating: 3/5

Ratings

1-Dull

2-Boring

2.5-Average

3-Worth Checking Out

3.5-Hot

4-Smoking Hot

4.5-Amazing

5-Perfection