Chozenn's song being played in buses, taxis - Artiste insists that was his goal

Gospel artiste Chozenn continues to receive heat for his remix of Dovey Magnum's raunchy dancehall hit, 'Bawl Out'. Chozenn's song, although repurposed to talk about Jesus, has been banned from at least one gospel radio station. However, the song has been garnering support on the streets and is now playing in rotation with Dovey Magnum's version, a goal Chozenn says he set out to achieve from the get-go, based on his spiritual mandate.

"The harsh reality we must face is that social media and television has poisoned the minds of our children. Music is powerful, and the core agenda of my music is to provide an option to what they are hearing in our taxis, buses, supermarkets, communities, etc," he said.

"We use songs and methods like these to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Lord works in mysterious ways, and this is another way he is using me (Chozenn) to share His Word radically."

In response to his song being banned by the station, Chozenn described the move as sad.

PROTECT SELF-IMAGE

"We as the church supposed to be the watchmen of this nation, and we play it safe because we want to protect self-image and brand. But even Christ was a radical man when he walked the streets. He was branded the friend of sinners," he said.

"I strongly believe it's the minority (who are shunning the song) because you have a lot of church folks and Christians who really encourage and empower me, so all is not lost. What you have to understand, enuh, is that is Christians did say kill Jesus and give we Barnabas. So all is not lost in terms of the Kingdom standpoint. If other stations ban it, it will be fine because that wasn't the target. The target is the unsaved. The song is blowing up all over the world."

Driving home his point of just how important it is for gospel artistes to use popular songs to win souls for the kingdom, Chozenn pointed to a performance up-and-coming artiste Lalee Ranks did recently at a primary school where he performed his popular Watz On Sale (Cornflakes), track. The gospel artiste said that the children knew all the words to the artiste's song even though it is inappropriate for kids.

"It just sad because our youths' minds are being poisoned subliminally in plain sight, and that's why my mandate is important," Chozenn said.

However, Chozenn made it clear that he has no intentions of repurposing the Lalee track. Nonetheless, he is promising many other songs.

"Some will be more remixes and some will be hard-hitting songs with the Word of God in it on the same beats (cultural beats). The youths hear the bad everyday, and now we're giving them an option to show them that good is alive and well," Chozenn said.