Ngxanga, Drum Pope record one for ancestors
Prayer Warriors take African spirituality to new realm with their music
Music duo Ntsika Ngxanga and Drum Pope have proved to be in the league of their own with their latest collaboration project, Prayer Warriors.
Prayer Warriors demonstrates that the pair have a deep understanding of music and an impressive musicality.
Since Ngxanga was introduced to the local music scene through the a cappella group The Soil, he has been exploring his other talents such as writing music for theatre productions and other artists.
His solo career, which he launched in 2019 with the album I Write What I Dream, has been nothing but a successful adventure for him.
Drum Pope, whose real name is France Lebepe, is one of the most talented young producers in the country currently. He established his name by producing albums for the likes of Zonke, Uhuru, Bongo Maffin, Takkie Ndou, Lady Zamar, DJ Zinhle and DJ Sbu among others. After five years working behind the scenes, the Pretoria-born artist is stepping out of the shadows.
He believes Prayer Warriors is the right project for him to introduce himself to the industry as an artist.
With Prayer Warriors the two explore a new sound utilising dance and music as a bridge between the material and invisible worlds.
They define their sound as Afro-house that fuses techno sounds enhanced with drums. Through the EP the duo introduces Mzansi and the world to modern day praying.
Their EP with seven songs hit the digital streets on October 7. It was released through Platoon, an Apple distribution company based in London.
Ngxanga said: “We took a decision that all the songs on the album should resemble a prayer session. The prayer should take people to their shrine to speak to their ancestors or different religions. We wanted to show the world that black people always knew God and they did not wait to be colonised to know about God. They spoke to God directly, our forefathers used to ascend mountains to pray for rain. With this project we literally [recall] that.”
Drum Pope explains: “Since Afro-tech is the way to go these days, we fuse it with Afrohouse. I used a lot of drumming since drums are a signature of my sound. But I have since learned to understand that there is spiritual power in my music and I am just a vessel to carry these sounds.”
When listening to their music one cannot go without mentioning Ngxanga’s beautiful vocals over great arrangements. The composing of the songs and use of his voice is remarkable. The EP opens with Masithandazeni, a great track in which the two call on people to pray. Other jams in the EP are Yehla Moya, Camagu, Baba Credo Mutwa and Nguwe.
Ngxanga, who is also lead vocalist for The Soil, explains that they released seven songs because seven is a holy number. He strongly believes the project was blessed by their ancestors. He says they did not call themselves Prayer Warriors because they had run out of ideas but because there was a significant message behind the name.
“There are seven days in the week, seven chakras and everything was created in six days and on the seventh day God rested. This was special for us. We call ourselves Prayer Warriors because we could see that the music was healing.”
They both believe it was not a coincidence that their paths crossed through Oskido, legendary producer and record label executive of Kalawa fame. They work on the house legend ’ s latest album titled Keep Hope Alive that was released last year. Ngxanga was roped in to write for the music legend and ended up penning four songs. One of the gems he wrote was the one featuring his favourite artist, Thandiwa Mazwai, titled Ayazizela.
“I realised when I met him (Drum Pope) that we approached music the same way and we give it the same respect. We decided to do music together and the conversation started in December. By the first week of January we had those seven songs. With this one, we wanted to show the world how Africans relate to God and how they acknowledge their ancestors.” Ngxanga continues: “He would just send me beats and I would sleep and wake up with a song. This is how I write my songs. They come through a dream. We have already tested the reaction of people when we performed at Propaganda in Pretoria. People went crazy. It is a beautiful project even If I say so myself.”
According to Drum Pope, initially they wanted to do just one song and test the waters.
“Since we are both spiritual human beings we really clicked with Ntsika. We come from similar backgrounds and we are spiritual people. I told him that I have been toying with the idea of being more in front than being a producer. We were like, let’s bring that to our music.”
“We did not plan it. God was just communicating with us. We never even intended to form a group, something was calling us to do it. It would have been wrong for us not to answer this call.”
Drum Pope, from Mamelodi in Pretoria, has been producing music since he was 15. He broke into the professional music scene in 2016.
Ngxanga assures fans of The Soil and his solo career that his new project does not interfere with the running of the two projects.
“We have our performance calendar. So if Buhle [The Soil bandmate] has a performance she writes on the calendar and I do the same. If there is a The Soil booking we work around time to accommodate both events. We don’t have a problem at all.”
‘‘ We didn’t plan it. God was communicating with us