The Soweto Gospel Choir of South Africa has won three Grammys, performed globally, and sang with Beyonce, Celine Dion, and U2. Their latest album, History of House, reimagines popular dance tracks of the last 50 years. Some of the lyrics are in Zulu, and traditional house beats are subbed for African rhythms. KCRW hears from some of the album’s creators: Simon Lewicki, an Australian music producer and DJ who’s known as Groove Terminator or GT, and multi-Grammy winner Dennis White, a well-established house musician with roots in the genre’s Detroit home base. He’s now based in LA, hence the stage name, Latroit.
Lewicki says he met the Soweto Gospel Choir at a show in Sydney in 2019, then started recording with them last year.
“The very first time I got the choir in the studio, I just knew we were tapping into something really special. … If you just say it's a bunch of house classics recorded in Zulu or whatever, it's one thing. But when you actually hear it and you're experiencing it, it becomes this whole thing that's larger than the sum of its parts.”
Lewicki sent the first demo vocals to his longtime collaborator White, who says he immediately got chills when hearing the samples.
How did they decide which songs to cover and include in the album?
“There's hundreds of these incredible songs, and so whittling them down really, really came down to what each individual song means to the culture and what they stand for, and especially the themes. … With the choir, it’s all about unity and freedom and … joy. … We just had to lean right into all that stuff. And I think that's why the songs work, because it's … what the choir already expressed themselves,” Lewicki explains.
“Good Life”
The group Inner City released this track in 1989. White says it’s among the first songs that went from underground clubs to mainstream radio, and it’s one of the most influential tracks in the canon of house music.
He continues, “One of our first thoughts was: I wonder if Kevin would give us his blessing to include ‘Good Life’ in the project. And Kevin was very supportive of it. … When that song was included … the project really kicked in for me emotionally.”
“Ride Like The Wind”
This is originally a soft-rock song by Christopher Cross.
Lewicki recorded this with the choir at the last possible minute. He recalls, “We were down to my last day or two with the choir before they jetted off to somewhere else on the globe. And it was like, ‘We got to get the vocals down. We got to come in and record this.’ And everybody had a pretty big night. I think [it] was the end of our season of shows, and we got in there. And I don't know … whatever was going on for Pamela [Hlabangwana] that day, who sings the lead on that song, she just delivers. That last 90 seconds of ‘Ride Like the Wind,’ I'll get goosebumps.”
White adds, “They delivered vocals in English and in Zulu. And with the greatest respect to the English language, the Zulu performances were absolutely the ones.”
“Free”
Ultra Naté released this track in the late 1990s. Lewicki says the production of the original version is proper, legitimate house music, and it’s a timeless anthem.
White notes that this was the last song he and Lewicki worked on. “I miscalculated the amount of time I had to finish the record. I thought it was six weeks, and then I learned it was three weeks. And then I panicked. And by day 20, I was done. I was just like, ‘Simon, I got nothing for this song, man, just tell me what to do.’ And he did. And so thank you Simon for getting that song.”
More: MBE Sept. 13: Latroit, Nomvula Maneli, LA’s DC6 Singers + more play ‘History of House’
September 21, 2024: KCRW Summer Nights with Century Park ft. History of House performed by Latroit & Friends