Kingdmusic's new album 'Joy', a journey through faith and collaboration
South African artist Kingdmusic discusses his new album 'Joy' and international collaborations.
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South African multi-award-winning artist Kingdmusic has released his highly anticipated fifth studio album, “Joy”.
Kingdmusic (Denga Takalani) expressed joy over seeing people actually engaging with the album, inspired by Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
“Out of all the albums that I've ever released, I feel like this one has been getting a lot of attention with people DMing me. Talking about the whole message for the album and just how the songs kind of like, just tell the story from the first song to the last one.”
Creating the album took two years, and Kingdmusic worked with executive producer Lufuno Muthala. Kingdmusic describes the process as having been amazing and easy.
Having a clear understanding of the creative direction made the process easy. “We were trying to go for a specific sound that sonically sounds like the 70s, 80s, and early 2000s. South African pop music, 80s bubblegum.”
“Old school R&B vibe, but still Christian, still, talking about Jesus and all this stuff. It was quite easy because I worked with people who really understood what we're trying to do.”
The first song Kingdmusic wrote for the album was “Hallelujah”, inspired by the birth of his daughter. Being at his parents’ home, being taught how to parent and take care of the newborn. “I just got inspiration. I wrote the song.”
“That's the idea that I had, and seeing it coming to life after two years has really been a blessing and a joy.”
On the album, Kingdmusic collaborated with One House, Isaiah Roberts, Luma Elpidio, and Mégan Rose.
Isaiah is the son of pastors Sarah Jakes Roberts and Toure Roberts, and One House Music is their band, and Isaiah is one of the singers. Kingdmusic flew to Los Angeles to shoot the music video for “Fire” (Remix).
This was the first international feature done for the album. “He recorded while he was in LA, sent me the vocals down here, and then we did the production and everything, and mixed and mastered this all here in South Africa.”
Luma Elpidio is a prominent Brazilian Christian singer, songwriter, and worship leader. She connected with Kingdmusic on Instagram after he collaborated with Brazilian contemporary Christian singer Gabriela Gomes.
The first version of Kingdmusic’s song “Jesus” gained traction in Brazil, sparking an idea to do another version of the song in English and Portuguese to honour the audience that has been supporting the song.
“I think on TikTok now, if you check the content generated using the song, it's over 140,000.”
Luma Elpidio did the translation from English to Portuguese with Kingdmusic. Helping it sound authentic, and not to lose the message.
Mégan Rose is an upcoming contemporary Christian artist from Cape Town. Kingdmusic met her at a songwriting camp hosted by South African-born and American Christian musician and worship leader Brenton Brown.
When Kingdmusic decided he wanted to do Christian music at 24, he was looking for music that felt spoke to who he was as a young person and a creator.
“I wanted to make music that anyone from different walks of life can listen to. Whether they are Muslims or believe in Jesus, or they don't believe in God, they can still enjoy the music.
“But when they listen to the lyrics and actually pay attention to the lyrics, then the lyrics are ministering to them, ministering to their situation and what they're going through.”
The album title “Joy” is a reminder that no matter the situation or season, one can choose joy.
“When you are believing God for a miracle, you're trusting God for a miracle, you feel like it's taking so much time. But, you know, it's just a reminder to say, hey, even though it's taking time, know that God is going to come through for you.
“And when he does, you're still reminded to give him all the glory to give him all the praise as well. It's really just an album for everybody, for someone who's in between a mountaintop, or they're in the valley.
Kingdmusic is now looking forward to his live album recording on March 7 in Johannesburg.
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