Maria Haipinge
Dee’A’s ‘Evaengeli’ album tour is heading to Otjiwarongo on Saturday.
The tour of ‘Evaengeli’ – a word which translates to “the gospel” – serves the purpose “to present the love of God to the people”.
Thrilled to perform at the Memoirs Restaurant, Dee’A, real name Leopold Vatilifa, said he aims to let people know that gospel music too can bring the best in art and entertainment, saying “when it comes to performances, we don’t play, we do not play!”
Joining Dee’A on this tour will be his manager Ekandjo Hainghumbi, North Side Rabbi (Franklin), DV8,
Big Mitch, also known as Lil Swartbooi, and his dancer. There will also be a few opening acts by locals from Otjiwarongo.
Bearing in mind the album’s secular features, Dee’A said it attracted a lot of questions from his Christian community in a bit of controversy because of the fact that he believes in the gospel and still mingles with secular individuals.
“The purpose of the gospel is that we bring the word to the people who we feel or think do not have the word, or do not have God or don’t have a relationship with God, or they do have God, but they probably don’t have a relationship with God,” he said.
Dee’A, who won the Best Gospel Rap award in the 2016 Namibian Gospel Music Awards, said he focuses on being practical in showing the love of God, rather than just in words by going to the people and different places besides churches to show them that God does love them.
“We just want to let people know that Jesus Christ loves them, that he died on the cross for them and that he is willing or that he wants to create a relationship with his people,” he explained.
On why and how he decided on Otjiwarongo, Dee’A said he hasn’t seen much going on in Otjiwarongo in terms of gospel shows, and he has been finding it hard to get hold of both gospel and secular artists in Otjiwarongo, as most of them are based in Windhoek.
“So, we decided, you know what, let’s do Otjiwarongo, let’s see what we can do there; maybe to boost the confidence of the people.”
“So, we are definitely going there just to lift up the spirits in terms of gospel music, gospel events, gospel concerts,” he added.
The gospel sensation said this event will be different from the last and “it’s going to be sort of classic and a bit reserved this time, but we turning up.”
His tour kicked off in Rundu on 11 June this year.
– emariahaipinge@gmail.com