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11 Questions with Muma Lucee
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Muma Lucee
1At what point in your life did you know that you should be doing music for God?
I began music in 1992. By 1995 the Lord had mercy on me and saved my soul and from that point I knew that everything was not the same anymore including my music; not the genre, but the spirit. I remember the Lord specifically asking me to go back to the studio and wipe out an entire album that was already set for release. Funnily enough it took me about a year to do that. I needed God to explain to me how He was going to give me back my money! I remember one day He said to me: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one cometh to the Father except through me.” At that point I knew that I wouldn’t have been able to go farther without doing what He 46 | KW MagazineJuly 2020 wanted me to do. It became a paradigm shift for me. That was how recording music for God and God alone began in my life.
2What is your understanding of worship from the heart?
Worshiping from the heart takes place when worship is born out of the heart of gratitude; when worship is born out of a heart of love for God; when worship is born out of a knowing. There has to be a knowing. In John 4:22 Jesus says something very crucial to the woman at the well of Samaria with regard to
worship. He said to her: “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship.” There has to be a knowing; a deeper revelation of who God is and what God will always be for worship to come from the heart and for worship to be true. You can’t worship what you don’t know. You can’t worship what you do not really understand.
3How strong is the European influence in the Nigerian worship space?
We had a situation where choirs and worship leaders would do more of foreign worship songs. But to the glory of God, a few years back, we came up with a lovely situation where a number of Nigerian gospel artists began to record a number of wonderful and powerful worship songs, and that automatically changed the atmosphere, because suddenly the church began to do a lot of songs that are Nigerian worship songs. Bringing back numerous languages into our worship became a natural thing that came with the new songs. It has been a wonderful experience that in a way took off the serious European influence that used to be there.
4At what moment did you come to the realization that reggae music was the genre you wanted to pursue? Reggae music has always been my passion. From 1998 when I had released my first album, some of the most popular songs were reggae songs. But specifically in 2007 I had an encounter with the Lord. Before then I wasn’t really ready to take up reggae music. I thought - what if everybody looked at me and thought that I was a Ras? I was really afraid because of the misconceptions over the issue of reggae music and the lifestyle of the Rastafarian. So I had an encounter in 2007 where the Lord visited me and He said to me: “Reggae music is my music.
Do it well because if you do it well, the rich will come, and the poor will
come.” I was shocked to hear God say this, and He explained to me further: “What happened to reggae music is like what happened in the parable with the sower, where the sower went to his field and sowed good seed; but while men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares. So now we’ve got the wheat and the tares doing reggae together.” That opened my eyes of understanding and gave me the confidence and strength I needed to do what I do the way I do it today without being apologetic about it.
5With your understanding of what God wants from us when we worship, how do you facilitate a deeper, more authentic worship experience for believers in your country?
Going back to John 4:23, Jesus said something again about worship. He said “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” And in :24 it says “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” Knowing that we are a generation that is called to worship in spirit, having no confidence in the flesh, what I do to facilitate this kind of worship experience is to stand in the place of worship in spirit and in truth.
6How does the perception of reggae music in the world affect the impact of your message?
Generally, and particularly on my side of the world, people think that if you do reggae, you are either a Rastafarian, or you are not actually born again. But to the glory of God, it’s gaining acceptance. I want to testify that I took a stand where God wanted me to stand and God is glorifying Himself by making people fall in love with reggae today more and more and more. I’m actually amazed right now how reggae is now gaining acceptance even in my own local church.
7As one who understands the misconceptions surrounding the use of reggae for worship, what would you say to those who are still uncertain about it? I would tell them to be focused, live a life in Christ, continue to improve on what they do. Be ready to take a stand that will work by paying the price. Let them strive to carry the presence of God. I’ve seen situations where you stand to worship in reggae, and the whole atmosphere goes on fire, and people begin to fall on their knees to worship. So it is when we pay the price to carry the presence of Christ and are ready with the anointing that we can take our place.
8The music scene has evolved since 1992 when you started. How have you adjusted your strategies to remain relevant while still keeping to the unadulterated truth?
Part of what I’ve done and am still doing is improving continually, remaining consistent, improving lyrically, and in every way that it is required to meet the standard of what I do, that anyone in the world would want to hear when it comes to reggae music. So I live a life that is Godly because light will always attract. Understanding and striving to do what God wants will always make us remain relevant.There is power in continuity and there is power in remaining consistent. The Bible says “Show me a man diligent at his work; he will stand before great men. It’s about understanding the fact that we have to continue to improve in every way necessary. I can tell you that because God is constant, and God is
new every day, and if we remain with God, we will always come new. When you come back new all the time, you remain relevant.
9How has your style of music been challenged?
Like I said before, the church was yet to understand the fact that reggae music was also God’s music. People will literally come to you and say: “Why don’t you change your style? Are you not interested in selling globally? Why don’t you do something that is more generally acceptable?” All of that came up from time to time. But when you know exactly what God has called you to do, and you choose to stay in the place of obedience, challenges will come, but they will always pass. I want to thank the Lord for how He has been helping me over time to overcome the challenges. Sometimes you are discouraged like every other person. Sometimes you lack funds like every other person. Sometimes you miss some programmes because some people don’t understand why it has to be reggae. But in all of that God has been very very faithful. Those who threw reggae away before are picking it up, right here in the sight of the world!
10 What plans are there for you in your future as it relates to your music?
First of all, because I do missionary reggae with the aim of reaching souls for the Lord, I intend to release more songs and albums, create more relationships globally with great artists who love God and want to glorify God all the days of their lives. I also plan to develop programmes that will reach more people, like radio, online and television programmes, because I know that we still have a lot of people out there whose salvation is actually tied to gospel reggae music
11 What verse of Scripture keeps you grounded and focused?
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This is one of my best Scriptures. p
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