Waje Reflects on Her Pastor’s Objection to Her Video with Burna Boy

Nigerian singer Waje recently spoke out on the intersection of her music career and her faith, emphasizing how important her spiritual beliefs have been in determining her artistic choices.

Reflecting on the release of her debut album, W.A.J.E, in 2013, she discussed the tale behind her song “Grind” starring Burna Boy and why she finally decided not to make a music video for the track.

Despite the song’s positive reception, Waje revealed that concerns raised by her pastor influenced her decision. “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,” she stated.

Waje explained that her spiritual leader, Pastor Tony, had a profound conversation with her about the lyrics of “Grind.” “By the time Pastor Tony had spoken to me, he explained why to me, and the way my understanding is: there are three boxes,” she elaborated.

She described these three categories of music as gospel, conscious, and sensual. Waje sees herself in the conscious category, which includes artists who produce clean music appealing to a broader audience while upholding their Christian beliefs. “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,” she explained.

Waje emphasized her commitment to creating music that aligns with her values, avoiding the sensual category entirely.

“Sometimes you as the creative, you have to sit down and think about the lyrics because you can have something 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,” she said.