Adekunle Gold: How Church, Despite His Muslim Upbringing, Sparked His Love for Music

Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold has opened up about how his unconventional religious upbringing and experiences in church played a major role in shaping his passion for music.

The singer revealed in a candid interview with One 54 Africa that although both his parents were Muslims, his father allowed him and his siblings to attend church, describing his late father as a liberal-minded man who viewed religion as a form of education.

“My dad and mom were Muslims, but my dad somehow allowed us to go to church. He was a liberal man. He always said that he believes that religion is an education. You learn. There are things to pick from each religion,” Adekunle Gold recalled.

According to the singer, attending church introduced him to the world of music, particularly through the teens choir.

He said he became fascinated by the choir leader’s ability to engage and control the congregation, and desperately wanted to occupy the position.

“I saw the teens choir, and I was so interested. A bunch of kids come out every Sunday, and then we sing, but somebody will actually lead the teens choir and I wanted to be that guy so bad,” he said.

However, despite spending 11 years in the church and repeatedly demonstrating his interest, Adekunle Gold said he was never selected to lead the choir.

“I was in the church for 11 years, and they didn’t think I was good enough to be that guy,” he said.

The experience, however, did not discourage him. Instead, it pushed him to study the choir leaders and understand what made them effective performers.

“I always wondered, like, what do they have that I don’t have? They knew how to move the crowd, control the crowd. I was fascinated by that, so I would do the most every time we had our choir practice so that my choir mistress would notice me,” he added.

Adekunle Gold also credited his aunt, who was a member of the choir and lived with the family, for helping him develop his vocal abilities.

He recalled how she taught him and his siblings how to sing and harmonise, although her feedback was not always flattering.

“My auntie taught us how to sing because she was in the choir too. She lived with us, and then she would teach us how to sing in different harmonies,” he said.

But in a humorous twist, the same woman who helped develop his musical foundation would sometimes criticise his voice.

“And then the same person who taught me how to sing would now tell me, ‘You sound annoying.’ I’m like,” he recalled.

For Adekunle Gold, what began as an unexpected exposure to church music eventually became part of the foundation of his journey into professional music, turning an experience in which he was repeatedly overlooked into an important lesson in performance and musical development.