Ghanaian ace gospel musician, Joe Mettle has been accused by a Ghanaian- American based gospel singer, Pastor Fletcher, of using his song without his approval.
Speaking in an interview, Pastor Fletcher disclosed that his song, ‘Meyi waye’, which several people believe to be Joe Mettle’s song is his. He further revealed that Joe Mettle called him to commend him on the song and requested to perform the song at his concert. However, he told Joe Mettle that he would get back to him because he needed to pray about it.
“‘Meyi waye’ is my song. So, Joe Mettle called me some years ago and told me that he loves the song and wanted to do it. I was like okay that’s fine, but we have to do things the right way. He told me that he had a program called ‘My love gift’ and even wanted to know how much I was going to charge for it. I was like I need to first pray about it and get back to him. Before I realized he used the song”.
When asked if he took Joe Mettle on, he said “you know how things work in Ghana”. He disclosed that he was in America when people shared videos with him of Joe Mettle’s performance. He said that he was deeply disappointed about the turn of event.
“I believe the truth is the truth and nothing can outlive the truth. I was in America when people sent the videos and stuff like that. In America, you can’t do that. Your craftmanship needs to be respected and given some credit. But in Ghana, everyone does what he wants”.
Pastor Fletcher gives background of the song
Speaking further about the song, pastor Fletcher noted that he went through a lot of struggles and had to pray fervently to get the song from God. Therefore, he is the only one who knows the story behind that particular song.
“I am a man of God but also as an artist, you know how you feel when you are like, I know God gave me this, and I know what I went through to get the song, and people take it and don’t even honor you for it”.
Disclosing the story behind the song, Pastor fletcher noted;that he had been called into the ministry at a very young age. But he and his family were going through a lot of struggle as his father lost his job and everything he owned. He stated that it happened because his father had disobeyed God’s calling upon his life, therefore, he was being punished. Pastor Fletcher further noted that the song came to him like a dream and he wrote it. However, because he wasn’t fluent in the Akan language, he had to get someone to help him with it.
“My father lost everything at once because he was running away;from his calling and we were going through a lot and so much pain. But as a young boy, I went into ministry and at age 16 I had my first crusade at Tema. Then God gave me the song through a dream-like vision but my;‘Twi’ wasn’t good so I got someone to help me learn the ‘Twi'”.
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