By Akin Olaniyan

If the movies we’re seeing on TikTok and different social media platforms are actual, then clubbers might need had the inglorious alternative to pattern a gospel music and transfer their our bodies on the dancing flooring the identical method Afrobeats and Amapiano hits would usually make them do. ‘No Turning Again II,’ a gospel anthem now offering the rhythm to twerking and vodka photographs in night time golf equipment isn’t just a case of the playful irreverence of random DJ’s however one other web page within the fats ebook of consideration economic system, the place algorithms, cultural hybridity, and the starvation for engagement converge.

Given the feelings round Pentecostalism, I must make full disclosure right here: One, I do attend a Pentecostal church and haven’t any intention of leaving. Two, till the final Sunday of Could, I had by no means heard of Akinade Ibuoye, generally known as Gaise Baba or his hit music, ‘No Turning Again II,’ which featured Lawrence Oyor. Because it turned out, the Teenagers Choir of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) the place my household worships ministered that music as a part of the particular programmes commemorating the 2025 Youngsters’s Day. I appreciated it and as I all the time do with a few of these songs; truly, took notice to obtain and add it to my iTunes playlist after church. On the finish of the service, I discovered from certainly one of our youngsters – who fairly not like him, got here to ask me whether or not I appreciated the ministration by the Teenagers Choir – that the music had been trending on TikTok, the place folks have been already posting movies of themselves vibing to it.

The style during which the music moved from the pew to social gathering raises pressing questions: How does a worship music turn into a membership banger? Who advantages from this crossover? And what does it say concerning the blurred traces between the sacred and the secular in Nigeria’s digital age? As I explored in my evaluation of Pentecostal livestreaming, the political economic system of digital worship is fraught with contradictions – the place religion, know-how, and commerce intersect, typically on the expense of religious intentionality. This case of this trending music – truly a remix of an older model – isn’t any completely different.

The remedy of Gaise Baba’s music confirms that sacred origins alone don’t disable the digital afterlife. Like many Nigerian gospel tracks, ‘No Turning Again II’ could have began life as a music created for Christian worship – an artiste’s declaration of dedication to his religion and supposed for ushering in folks into God’s presence at solemn providers. Given what now we have seen for the reason that remix was launched on YouTube, its energy seems to lie in its simplicity: a repetitive, emotive refrain anchored by a rhythm that’s each meditative and danceable. But, its transition to secular areas isn’t solely sudden. The livestreams of Pastor Jerry Eze’s New Season Prophetic Prayers (NSPPD), a platform for religious warfare made him the best paid YouTuber as a result of a Pentecostal church programme satisfies the ‘efficiency’ threshold for world audiences.

What units this music aside is its natural, algorithm-driven takeover. In contrast to deliberate gospel-pop crossovers (assume Moses Bliss and Frank Edwards hits), ‘No Turning Again II’ has taken a journey on the again of the best social media mannequin to unfold by way of unplanned remix tradition. TikTok edits paired its rhythms with dance routines, skits, and – intriguingly – nightclub quick movies. The music has raced to eight.1 million YouTube views in simply two and a half weeks, eclipsing the ‘failure’ of the unique music launched virtually a 12 months prior, which has up to now managed 1.3 million views. Right here, the parallels to Pentecostal livestreams are stark. Seize moments of emotional peaks – whether or not prophetic declarations or worship choruses – to hijack consideration spans. For emphasis, the algorithm, detached to context, rewards engagement, and this helps to clarify why the remix of a music that had struggled to catch consideration when it was first launched is being pushed into feeds far past its supposed viewers.

I’ve seen movies of individuals criticising the music as failing their check of spirituality as a result of it’s being sampled in golf equipment however I would go away that judgment for church of us to take care of. My focus right here is on serving to folks to make sense of the digital tradition that has taken a gospel music from the sacred confines of church buildings to the sacrilege of nightclubs. Two fast issues: first, I’ve been informed by clubbers that sensible DJs have lengthy recognized that they wanted so as to add fashionable songs into their playlist – most instances sampling them for 30 seconds. Second, the criticisms by some Christian leaders appear hole as a result of it sounds just like the church desires to be allowed to dictate what facets of the world is allowed into the sanctuary. From the second church buildings designed providers to resemble music exhibits; they opened the door to the free motion of younger of us between the altar and the nightclub.

I perceive the anger of the sanctimonious church of us and might relate to the heated debates concerning the secular adoption of this music. For some, it’s innocent enjoyable – a testomony to the music’s infectious power. Should you paid consideration, you could possibly hear feedback as, ‘even sinners want bops!’ Others, significantly church leaders, decry it as cultural sacrilege, arguing that stripping the music of its religious context reduces worship to background noise for hedonism. If we handle to disregard feelings, we will simply establish the clear sample of the unforced errors that the Pentecostal church in Nigeria is committing. When worship turns into content material, who dictates its boundaries? Nigerian Pentecostalism itself thrives on aesthetic spectacle – providers are incomplete with out fog machines and particular lighting results that mirror these at nightclubs; so, if church buildings can weaponise viral techniques to reap consideration and stay related, are they certified to fault nightclubs for doing the identical?

The music’s crossover attraction highlights the asymmetrical energy dynamics of digital platforms. Whereas the unique artist could acquire fleeting visibility, the true winners are platforms and DJs. YouTube and TikTok monetise the engagement; nightclubs revenue from the novelty. The artist, except they’ve negotiated sync licenses, possible sees little monetary return. Plus, the Pentecostal church loses a few of its deep-rooted members who query the aggressive software of recent advertising and marketing methods to draw and preserve younger of us. There may be nothing flawed in optimising church administration however whether it is too extractive; it could damage its very goal of serving to to evangelise the younger of us.

Discover the hazard by listening to the music. To go viral, it needed to conform: shorten the refrain for Reels, amp the bass for golf equipment, mute the sermon for memes. The outcome? A worship as content material, stripped of theology to suit the eye economic system’s urge for food – one thing that’s already maxed out with the commodification of church programming and livestreaming.

The nightclub sampling of ‘No Turning Again II’ reminds us of the convergence of the sacred and secular worlds into a 3rd, unstable house, one thing referred to as cultural hybridity.

The controversy echoes my earlier evaluation of Pentecostal livestreaming: Can gospel content material thrive on-line with out compromising its soul? Artists face a Faustian cut price – lean into virality and threat dilution, or resist and stay obscure. Think about the rise of ‘gospel rappers’ who secularise their sound to chart, or pastors who rebrand sermons as TED Talks for clout. I actually do really feel for Pentecostal church leaders who’ve to determine a technique to catch and keep the eye of the younger of us particularly Gen Z. That era consumes tradition irreverently – prayer movies as ASMR, worship songs as fitness center playlists. To them, the sacred or secular binary is outdated. However this raises a theological pink flag: If gospel music turns into unmoored from its objective, does it nonetheless function worship? I go away the query to everybody who has vibed to that music.

The viral lifetime of ‘No Turning Again II’ is a parable for Nigeria’s digital tradition: exhilarating, exploitative, and ethically fraught. The music’s swift motion from the altar to the membership underscores how platforms flatten that means into engagement metrics, rewarding those that play the sport. Look intently and you’ll be tempted to assume that the Pentecostal motion in Nigeria has mastered the artwork of harnessing cultural hybridity to its benefit; strategically embracing and selling gospel artists who grasp the digital playbook. Take Bidemi Olaoba: his efficiency on the 2024 version of The Expertise Lagos highlights the Pentecostal motion’s willingness to align sacred messaging to platform logic in its effort to evangelise Gen Z. His emergence, due to this fact, because the de facto poster boy for Gen Z evangelism, appears like Pentecostal pragmatism, the intention of which is to satisfy stressed youth the place they’re.

However there’s hope – and a lesson from Pentecostal livestreaming. The backlash itself is a type of digital literacy. True, the convergence of religion and digital capitalism is inevitable however the query is whether or not we’ll let it redefine Pentecostal worship – or reclaim it. If a gospel music can soundtrack each revival and revelry, perhaps the message isn’t misplaced – simply ready to be redeemed.

The nightclub sampling of ‘No Turning Again II’ reminds us of the convergence of the sacred and secular worlds into a 3rd, unstable house, one thing referred to as cultural hybridity. The one distinction, after all, is that that is much less a pure cultural evolution and extra a byproduct of platform imperialism. Algorithms flatten the music’s theological intent into pure have an effect on – a beat for golf equipment, a meme for Gen Z, the outcome isn’t natural cultural change, however extractive hybridity with platforms taking advantage of the aesthetic of Pentecostal spirituality whereas erasing its substance. For Pentecostal church leaders and content material creators, the selection is brutal – conform to those hybridised logics or threat irrelevance.

Dr. Olaniyan is the Convener, Centre for Social Media Analysis, Lagos.