Emmanuel Archy, aka DaRhema, is a pastor, singer and writer. The Computer Science degree holder from the University of Calabar shares with Showbiz and More his love for gospel music and more.
HIS BACKGROUND
My name is Emmanuel Archy. I am from Ohafia LGA of Abia State; married with a lovely daughter. I hold a degree in Computer Science from the University of Calabar, and I’m pursuing a second degree now in Information Technology. A pastor and worship leader in Shalom Christian Mission, Blossom of the Vine Centre, Pankshin, Plateau State.
ON THE NAME DARHEMA
The name, DaRhema is a merger of two words, Da and Rhema. Da is a hip hop jargon for The, while Rhema, in Greek, means Utterance. Matthew 4:4 (KJV) says “But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhemati) that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’’ Therefore, we can say that Rhema means the revealed word of God, an utterance from God to the heart of the reader via the Holy Spirit. That is my commission. To speak the revealed word of the Lord Jesus in music and allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
INVOLVEMENT WITH MUSIC
Music has always been in my family. My late parents were both musically gifted. Mum was a great tenor, while dad could write down the sol-fa notations of any song by merely listening to it. My first musical act was at the age of 10, when I had to sing lead for our family singing group in a church we attended back in the days. My dad wrote the song, Little David and I sang while the rest of the family served as my backup singers. By the way, two remixed versions of that song are on my album. I got into music as an undergraduate in University of Calabar where I was a member / leader of the then very impressive rap group, Rhymes Unabated plc. Then, I was sharing a room on campus with Mr. Edem Essang who at that time was also a radio presenter with the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, Calabar, and he was the person who introduced me to the other two initial members of the group.
CHOOSING GOSPEL BECAUSE IT’S EASY TO PERFORM
No, that is not the reason. In fact, I believe secular music is easier to do than true gospel music. This is because secular artistes only entertain, but the purpose of gospel music is firstly, to minister, to uplift someone’s spirit, correct and lead people to God, and to praise and worship God, and then maybe to entertain. Once this order is reversed, then there’s a problem. The message scope of secular music are girls, boasting about wealth, partying, politics, societal ills and every other mundane thing. Nothing in their song ministers to the spirit of man. Some others are just beats-oriented; no content at all. It’s a lot easier for someone to sing / rap about girls, politics, boast about wealth, and the likes, than it is to prayerfully wait on God to receive a message or to study the Holy Scriptures and bring out a message, and then start the process of crafting a song from it. True gospel music must definitely have Godly content. I’m in gospel music to minister, this is ministry to me.
HOW INSPIRATION COMES
The Holy Spirit is my source of inspiration. I receive the themes of my songs and at times the whole chorus and tune either while praying, studying the Bible or while in a worship session or after any of those spiritual activities. The efforts of other holy hip-hop artistes like Da T.R.U.T.H, LaCrae, The Ambassador, Ziklag, The Cross Movement, B.O.U.Q.U.I, RoofTop Mcs and so on also inspire me.
ABOUT PROJECT BAAL PERAZIM
The album, BAAL PERAZIM (The-Master-Who-Explodes) is a 16 track album about how God empowers his servant to destroy the enemy. The name, BAAL PERAZIM is taken from 1st Chronicles 14:11 and 2nd Samuel 5:20. 1st Chronicles 14:11 (CEV) says “David and his army marched to Baal-Perazim, where they attacked and defeated the Philistines’’. He said, “I defeated my enemies because God broke through them like a mighty flood.” So, he named the place The Lord Broke Through. It is a place of victory over Satan. There were plenty hurdles to cross in the making of this album. It contains many great praise, worship and edifying rap songs like Lifting Jesus Higher, No One, Here To worship, Untouchable, Living Sacrifice, Hosanna, Shine Your Eye and others.
GREATEST MOMENT AS A GOSPEL ARTIST
It should be in early 2011 when my song, Here To Worship you was selected as one of the top 10 songs out of over 200 entries from all over Africa, for the 1Africa.tv Ultimate Unsigned Artiste Music Competition. 1Africa.tv is an international Christian programme, and for someone that so many people never gave a chance, making the last ten gave me hope. Also, singing and leading the people in worship in the presence of God in churches is always a great moment. Words can’t describe the fulfillment it brings to my heart.