Gospel singing cop wants to win souls for Christ

Gospel artiste Silhoete is lamenting the challenges that Christian recording artistes have to endure as he aims to win souls for Christ through music.

However, the Linstead, St Catherine, native is not your average singer, as he is also a serving member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) with more than 29 years of service.

Born David S Long, he is currently assigned to the JCF Chaplaincy Unit as a peer counsellor, mediator and motivational speaker. He is also an ordained pastor who believes that his music is medicine.

"Being a Christian artiste in Jamaica is very challenging because of a number of reasons. Airplay is limited because of the limited number of gospel stations. If they don't know you, they are not playing you even if the song is great," he said. "There are a few established gospels shows to promote your songs and the hypocrisy of the Christian as it relates to the musical sound, for example, dancehall gospel versus reggae gospel versus the contemporary gospel. All of this because of how we were cultured."

Despite the limited platforms for his genre, Silhoete reasoned that he finds satisfaction nonetheless.

"The joy is knowing that your song can touch and change someone's life and introduce them to Christ from a place of experience. That benefit is priceless," he said.

"Even though I'm looking for a very big break in the gospel music industry, my first intent is not to leave the JCF. I would want to do both as much as possible. If I'm at the point where I'll have to choose, definitely the music will win," he said.

He shared that before he started doing gospel music, he was just as talented in other genres.

"I used to do lovers' rock and cultural songs. I will still be doing some biblical gospel, lovers' rock and cultural songs. I really think that married couples would want to hear Songs of Solomon put to music," he said.

Silhoete revealed that he started singing at church and in the school choir but later branched out to secular music in the early 2000s where he got the moniker. During that time, he performed with several popular local musicians and has released several songs namely Run Red and Roll Dancehall on the Payday label.

He said his material changed in 2012 when he was redeemed by Jesus Christ and has been serving the Lord ever since. He is preparing to shoot a music video for Praise Him which has been getting some airplay on local radio stations. He is also working on an album.