I won’t hesitate to work with secular artistes – ACP Kofi Sarpong declares

Ghanaian gospel artiste and senior police officer, ACP Kofi Sarpong, is striking a bold chord in the evolving conversation about collaborations between gospel and secular musicians, a topic that continues to stir debate across Ghana’s music landscape.

Appearing on The Career Trail on Joy Learning TV and JoyNews, the Aseda hitmaker didn’t mince words about his readiness to blur the traditional lines dividing musical genres.

“If the opportunity comes, I will not hesitate or if the time comes, I will not hesitate at all,” he said.

With a career rooted in both faith and public service, ACP Sarpong explained that his openness is rooted in a holistic view of music as a conduit of wisdom, life experience, and shared human expression. To him, boxing music into sacred and secular categories misses the bigger picture.

“All these words that we put together, and put rhythm on it to become music, are all languages that we speak or things that we experience. If it comes to marriage and how couples should live, we get them from songs of Solomon. Motivations and proverbs are all there. So I don’t know why we should even say that we have gospel and we have secular, that we have drawn the line,” he submitted.

He admitted that some secular tracks carry an irresistible energy, something even he, a devout gospel artist, can’t ignore.

“Some of these secular songs, when you hear the beat you cannot stand,” he added.

While the idea of gospel-secular collaborations often draws criticism within religious communities, ACP Sarpong pushed back against dismissive attitudes toward secular artists. He argued that shutting them out only distances them further from spiritual influence.

“These people, if we even perceive them to be what we perceive them to be, if we do not go to them, if we do not get close to them, how will you get them to where you want them to be. Because even those that are in the church we are not able to keep them, we allow them to go because of the mindset we have developed about them,” he noted.

He was also careful to respect the convictions of others who may be hesitant about cross-genre collaborations. Still, for ACP Sarpong, the potential to inspire, especially among youth, is worth exploring — as long as the message remains aligned with his values.

“If we are to do something that will especially encourage the youth and motivate others, I will do,” he affirmed.

That said, he drew a firm line on lyrical content, making it clear that any potential collaboration must reflect positive and purposeful messaging.