Ritaqueen: A Gospel music icon full of determination

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With time the Ghanaian gospel music fraternity is producing great performers who don’t only enter the recording booth to record, but to make sure their songs have a great impact on the society and the country as a whole.

The Ghanaian gospel music market over the years has been very dull as compared to other countries but the hope has increased for betterment since the invasion of Ritaqueen.

Ritaqueen appears to be such a wonderful and anointed gospel Minister with a powerful voice which will let you stick to her music and yearn to hear more of her.

Her appearance in the Industry she has indicated on several platforms was purely out of talent unlike other ones we have experienced over the period.

Giving account on her music life, she said, ”Growing up, I discovered I have flair for music, and if I hear any sound of music, I immediately begin to shake my head, dancing towards the tune. I remember my high school days, I was a school favorite during entertainment, I used to sing, rap and dance, and each time I go on stage everyone would be shouting, I used to write songs when I was in high school just for entertainment purposes. I never knew it was a gift until I became born again.

”In 2007 to be precise, we were asked in church to pray for a special gift from God, I prayed asking God what my gift was, right after church service when I got home, I had a revelation and all I heard then was a voice telling me ‘Just sing’ and I kept replying to the voice that ‘yes I will sing.’ Actually that was how I got the message clearly. Gospel music is good news, and good news heals and also inspires faith, so am just spreading the good news of God through music”.

Even though she is a new entrant, she has garnered all attention at the phase of the gospel fraternity with her new release, “He Reigns”.

Ritaqueen seems to have bossed up with almost every technique of sounding better in the recording studio. Whoever chanced to listen to “He Reigns” by Ritaqueen would know she is very ready for the market and to raise a standard at the gospel music fraternity.

Keenly listening to her latest record in regards to her performance skills, it will be adjudged that Ritaqueen had been ready to execute perfection even before her vocal recording and that gave her the power and control over her performances. It is noted that Ritaqueen had establish the right key and smoothed out any range difficulties even before hitting the studios. Her vocal technique was so much on point which spared her the frequent auto-tuning. That also means she mastered her lyrics and melodies of the song which had given her authority on every word she spate on the record.

Ritaqueen had a wonderful microphone technique if one should have a good listen to her. Her volume control, Popping and Sibilance, Breath Control among others were so much on point to perfection and professionalism. The pronunciation of words containing P’s and B’s that produces extra bursts of air is known as popping. Ritaqueen championed the technique on how to control the microphone so as not to create extra burst while pronouncing the P and B words.
Sibilance is excessive hissing when producing S’s and F’s sounds. This is very obvious in recordings. Adjusting your angle and distance from the microphone can help reduce traces of popping and sibilance. Being a professional, Ritaqueen had all correct. A professional singer should be one who has acquired the technique of shaping his or her vowels when singing.

Shaping your vowels allows you to give more emotion when you are singing. It also allows you to use your voice to flow within the instrument track. Vowels are the sound of your voice, let the consonants take a secondary role. Ritaqueen has proven to know how to shape her vowel sounds and use them to end her words with more character. Refer to “He Reigns” record.

Music is an act and every musician should also be a good communicator. It’s not always about singing but how to communicate to your listeners with your lyrics/content on a record. As you sing your song, the lyrics must become your own communication. Mean what you say phrase by phrase – use emotion.
Your phrasing should relate to your emotion and should be believable within the style of the music. Making your lyrics and emotions pop through a recording is important to come up with your own unique style that is felt by listeners and that is the greatest device possessed by Ritaqueen which makes her look so unique from the others.

Her delivery has always been exceptional. Her voice and emotions have always been reaching the heart of her listeners. The most difficult thing many musicians find doing whiles recording at the recording studio is to bring out the same energy and believability as they would in live performances to create an emotional effect. Ritaqueen performing “He Reigns” made such looks so easy and that is how her delivery prowess is measured.

Above all, one will have to compliment Ritaqueen for her taste for quality things. Every sound engineer would have to admit the sound quality she had adopted in her latest release which comes along with a high resolute video. The future seems so bright for Ritaqueen with the kind of style she is introducing at the gospel music scene.

Notwithstanding the archaic trend of gospel music production in the system, Ritaqueen just introduced a new blend of performing contemporary gospel music, combining both local and foreign languages in a single record.

About Ritaqueen

Born Rita Nkansah hails from Akim -Oda in the Eastern Region of Ghana but live in the United States, irvington new Jersey to be precise.

She attended Hecta Preparatory school at Akim oda, and completed at Akim Swedru Secondary school. After Secondary school, she went to Oda community nursing training school and moved to the States in 2010.

She nurtured her talent by performing at various churches before joining the music industry years ago and she says her goal is “to preach the salvation of Christ”.

Source: Daily Mail GH