Mentor X contestant AJ is out to change the perception about gospel musicians. He hopes to show that the gospel is love in the purest form through the sweetest soul music ever heard in Ghana.
23-year-old James Apraku disclosed that he became aware of his talents per-chance at a very young age when his father caught him singing absentmindedly. His father then encouraged him to join that church choir. And that was when his musical journey began. AJ has a deep-seated passion for Christ and wants everyone to know that love and Christianity are not mutually exclusive.
“I want to bring a twist because I naturally write gospel songs, and I write soul music too. Inspirational and love kind of Beyonce-Celine Dion type which is not profane. But I am not going to stop talking about Jesus, though. So I can do gospel, and I can do soul music. I want to bring a different picture that doing love songs doesn’t mean that you are a sinner.
Actually, love is in the Bible. You can find it in Songs of Solomon. So it genuinely understanding means that the Holy Spirit is dropping it in me to help someone. If you are broken-hearted, you can really relate to this. If you need something, you can relate. And I still sing about Jesus.”
According to AJ, being a level 200 student at the University of Ghana and being so far away from home (Obuasi in the Ashanti region) has not dented his pursuit to upstage the world. He appreciates the efforts of his management team, headed by his pastor.
Speaking about his inspiration for coming on the Mentor X reality show, AJ applauded the media entity for providing a platform for people to showcase their talents.
“Coming to Mentor X, I heard that the winner is going to be a global icon and TV3 is a very big platform. Millions of people watch TV3. And for a small boy from a small town called Obuasi, if you want to come out with your sound for people to hear you, you need a big platform. And Mentor is a big deal in Ghana. If you want to check real reality shows in Ghana, Music is Mentor. So I decided to come for Mentor. It’s time that the world gets to know that I have something.”
By Grace Somuah-Annan|3news.com|Ghana