It all began as a bold gamble—one that easily could have ended in disappointment.
But instead, it turned into a massive success story for both a young investor named Patrick and gospel singer Esther Smith.
During a recent appearance on The Delay Show, Esther opened up about how her breakthrough album (the one that featured popular tracks like “Gye No Di,” “Adzekoro,” and “Agyedifo Ataban”) came to life around the turn of the millennium.Back then,
Esther was in her early 20s, working at a printing press and quietly nurturing a deep spiritual calling. Her songs didn’t come from a traditional songwriting process. Many of them, she explained, were “received” during times of intense prayer and fasting.One of her biggest hits, “Gye No Di,” was inspired by a powerful sermon at a New Year’s Eve watchnight service. The message, drawn from Jeremiah 33:3 (“Call to me and I will answer you”), hit home especially hard because her father had just lost his job.
“A voice sang the sermon to me,” she recalled. She kept humming and singing it even after returning home. Other songs on the album followed a similar divine inspiration.With help from producer
Morris Babyface (who lived in the same estate), she recorded demo versions of her songs. Things moved slowly at first—established producers in Kumasi had long waiting lists.
Then a Dutch national named Roberto set up a modern studio in Asokwa, which improved the production quality.The real turning point came unexpectedly. A man named Patrick—brother of someone known as Ankobeahene—heard her demos at the studio and showed up at her workplace, offering to fund the entire project.Esther admitted she didn’t take him seriously at first. “I was expecting big executive producers,” she said. To politely discourage him, she quoted double the amount she actually needed—jumping from six million old cedis to twelve million.To everyone’s surprise, Patrick came back shortly after with the full sum in hand.
He later confessed that the money had actually been given to him by Ankobeahene for a building project.
But he decided to take a leap of faith and invest it in Esther’s music instead. His bold words? “If I don’t get rich from this song, then I will never get rich.”It was a huge risk—but it paid off spectacularly.Within a week of the album’s release, the songs were getting heavy airplay on major radio stations across Ghana. The project sold extremely well, launching Esther into the spotlight as one of the country’s leading gospel voices. Both she and Patrick reportedly became wealthy from its success.Esther used her earnings to grow her printing press business, balancing her music ministry with entrepreneurship.