Lawyer and musician Ace Ankomah says many gospel songs share the same chord progressions as secular highlife music, making the distinction between the two less clear than often portrayed.

Speaking on Joy FM with Kwame Dadzie, he said, “A lot of some songs that were deemed secular have found their way into the church. If I pick a basic Yaw Amponsah progression, it will play several gospel songs. And several secular songs. I have a list of them that I sit down and I just laugh.”

He noted that while the church often criticizes secular music, it unknowingly adopts the same musical foundation for praise and worship songs.

“We have a progression of what we use for praise. But it didn't start in the church. We learnt it from the highlife groups. So have we, by changing the lyrics, spiritualised it?” he asked.

Ankomah also highlighted the pressure gospel artistes face when collaborating with secular musicians.

“If I am a musician who also goes to church, and the next day I am seen on TV performing with what are called secular artistes, I'll be in a lot of trouble,” he said.