The South Africa-based, 3x GRAMMY-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, and Australia’s first “Superstar DJ,” the electronic artist Groove Terminator, will release their joint album, History of House, this Friday, August 2nd, via Music is Fun (a division of Seeker Music), House of Latroit, and Gallo Records. Produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Dennis White, aka Latroit, the album is a truly global reimagination of the most iconic dance tracks of the last 50 years.
Dreamt up back in 2019, the project began as a live show series featuring the Choir and Groove Terminator performing dance music covers that showcased the evolution and “History of House” from the 70s through th 2000’s. When the pandemic put live shows on pause, the concept took on a recorded element and ultimately grew into a multi-pronged collaboration intended to honor the Black history of the genre, and bring opportunity to artists and creators across Africa.
When Groove Terminator (Simon Lewicki) first conceptualized History of House, his appreciation for the roots of dance music within Africa pointed him in the direction of Soweto Gospel Choir, which was founded in 2002 to celebrate African Gospel music, and has since collaborated with everyone from U2 to Beyonce. As the 16-member Choir put their own spin on the House staples, the decision was made to record, primarily in Zulu, and to incorporate more elements of South African culture in both the musical and visual aspects of the project. And to ensure the recordings kept that classic House vibe, Latroit was brought onto the project.
Some of the tracks on the album include Zulu versions of “Good Life” (originally written and recorded by Kevin Saunderson’s seminal Detroit Techno group Inner City in 1988, when Latroit was the group's music director), “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good),” a cover of Zimbabwean artist Rozalla’s 1991 dance anthem, “World Hold On” by Parisian DJ Bob Sinclar & a stunning rework of “Ride Like The Wind” by Christopher Cross
Listen to “Good Life” HERE, and check out remixes of the song commissioned by a cultural exchange program created by Latroit, Mbongasani Dube (leader of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce Youth Commission), and Ivan Turanjanin (the visionary behind the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival) called Orna Create HERE.
Started specifically to create opportunities, discover, and promote emerging artists from within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, Orna Create ran contests for regional musicians and producers to work on several songs on the album. The resulting collaborations with some of Southern Africa's most promising emerging artists, came together to even more effortlessly fuse the global beats, Afro house, Amapiano, and house music styles on History of House.
The new album is composed of predominantly live musical performances - a rarity for the genre. Check out the full track listing below, and catch Soweto Gospel Choir and Groove Terminator bringing History of House to life at the Sydney Fringe Festival this September if you’ll be in Australia.
History of House tracklist:
Soweto Gospel Choir, Groove Terminator, and Latroit on History of House:
Shimmy Jiyane from the Soweto Gospel Choir said, “We met Groove Terminator when he came to watch our show at the Sydney Opera House and he was blown away by the choir. That is when we started putting everything together and discussing how we are going to work on the History of House project together. In South Africa, we have twelve official languages with Zulu being the most popular language all around the world and it’s easy to catch the words, so we decided to use language…Soweto Gospel Choir has been translating songs into language for many years now.”
Groove Terminator explains how the History of House album came together: “Traveling to South Africa in early 2020 to workshop the live show in Soweto Theatre became a transformative experience. Driving into Soweto each day, rehearsing amidst the community's vibrancy, and witnessing Soweto Gospel Choir's full-throated renditions of Zulu lyrics fused seamlessly with House beats was awe-inspiring. Their ability to imbue songs first with phonetic, then English lyrics, while maintaining emotional resonance, underscored the universal language of music for me. This collaborative journey with Soweto Gospel Choir has not only illuminated the transcendent power of music but also affirmed its capacity to bridge cultures and histories. I remain profoundly grateful for the opportunity to fuse my passion for House music with the choir's rich heritage, creating something that speaks to the soul and embodies the enduring spirit of unity and joy.”
GRAMMY-winning producer Latroit adds, “Simon called me a couple years ago to talk to me about the live show History of House, with the aim of adding an album to the concept. He had one song recorded, ‘You Got The Love’. He sent the vocals, I put a demo together, and it was instant chills for us, and anyone that I played it for. We knew we were onto something special. Our mission from the start of the project was to use its energy and international access to create opportunities for South African artists. With leadership from the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce Youth Commission, we decided to create a cultural exchange program called ‘Orna Crea+’ with the launch of a remix context for the first History of House single ‘Good Life'. From this initiative, we were introduced to an incredible wealth of talent from the Southern African region, with two of the remixes (Chantty Natural & Stakev) featuring on the album.”
CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Andrew Kay & Toni Rudov
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