28 Jul 2021
Akosua DF: Many of us are familiar with the Gospel Hydration success story . Tell us how you got started & what you wanted to achieve?
Derrick Tchie : Gospel Hydration started as a platform to support Christian musicians of all different genres because I felt Christian Hip Hop, Christian R&B , Christian House music etc wasnt supported as much as Christian worship. I wanted to provide the Christian audience an alternative sound which they could listen to. A sound which they would have heard on mainstream radio, but this time with a Christian message. At first it was just meant to be a blog for myself via which I would share some of the music I was listening to, but its grown much bigger and turned into a platform that can help people discover new music. Right now we're supporting Christian artists from different countries.
Akosua DF: Youll be joining the Premier Gospel family next week. What can listeners expect from your new show ?
Derrick Tchie: Im really excited to join the Premier Gospel gang. Ill probably be showing people the different sides of Christian music; the new and upbeat type of music that people may be missing . I'll be introducing listeners to the variety of music out there. The show will consist of new tracks centred around christian R&B, Hip Hop and Afrobeats, giving people a new flavour and something different for their afternoons.
Akosua DF: Alot of brilliant new talent has emerged on the UK gospel scene over the last few years. Which of these artists excite you the most?
Derrick Tchie: Yeah the scene has really exploded in the UK and I love that. It shows that we do have Christians who love to make music. This is a really tough question because I'm excited about a host of new talent, but to name a few I'd say Ryan Hylton and Paul the Messenger. I think both of them have great growth potential and are gonna storm through the UK gospel scene.
Akosua DF: What can we expect from Gospel Hydration over the coming years ?
Derrick Tchie: Over the next few years we want to expand and build a team to help fuel the culture a bit more. We want to create more content; not just music, but short films and short series as well. We want to create programmes and really become a network of great christian content. So thats our focus over the coming years - content creation.
Catch Derrick Tchie on the Gospel Hydration Takeover weekdays from 12-2pm starting Monday 1st August.
Written by Akosua DF, Premier Gospel Presenter
Wednesday, 28 July 2021