Waje reflects on how her pastor rebel against video with Burna Boy

In a recent interview, Nigerian singer Waje discussed her music career and the role of her faith in shaping her artistic choices.

She recalled the release of her debut album W.A.J.E in 2013, which included the song “Grind” featuring Burna Boy.

Although the song was well-received, Waje chose not to create a music video for it due to concerns raised by her pastor.

Waje explained that her spiritual leader had discussed the song’s lyrics with her, leading her to decide against making a video. She emphasized her commitment to her Christian faith and her desire to create music that aligns with her values.

The singer described three categories of music: gospel, conscious, and sensual. She identified herself with the conscious category, which includes artists who create clean music that appeals to a broader audience.

Waje stated that she will never create sensual music, prioritizing her faith and the impact of her art on others.

“One of the biggest breakthrough years of my career was 2013, that was the year that quite a number of things happened for me. But there were a lot of songs that I didn’t even touch, because of my faith.

Do you understand? The song with Burna Boy [titled “Grind”], I didn’t shoot it. Because at the time my album came out and I had a conversation with my spiritual leader, by the time Pastor Tony had spoken to me, he explained why to me and the way my understanding is: there are three boxes.

There’s the gospel box where people in the church edify the people in the church. Those are the gospel singers reaching people in the church. Then you have the conscious box, and these are the people who are also believers of the Word, but they also do love songs because even if you’re a Christian, you’re not doing wedding vows with the verse. You’re not saying “taketh thou”, you will write down your vows because these are real feelings you feel for the person that you love and you want to be able to express that.

And I kinda see myself in that box and we have a few people in that box like the Johnny Drilles and the Timi Dakolos. We’re not only called to Christians, we are called for people who really just want clean music. And then there’s the sensual box and that’s the box I will never go.

Sometimes you as the creative, you have to sit down and think about the lyrics because you can have something you have in your mind but the person receiving it is receiving something else. And the truth is if you truly love God, you will care more about the person releasing it than you do about your art. [And that’s the reason why I didn’t shoot the video for “Grind”]. I had to grow to that point.”