Gospel Digest - March 19, 2014

Published Mar 19, 2014

Share

Pastor Ncanda (pictured) had humble beginnings herding cattle in the grasslands of rural KwaZulu-Natal.

Nobody knew that he would become a household name in the gospel music industry.

The pastor began singing at a very early stage, like all the boys of his age. He needed to do more to become known, and so he pushed his own boundaries and became a pastor and a musician. Now, five albums later, Ncanda looks back into his past as an accomplished man. “I worked very hard on my latest project uJesu Uyisihlangu Sami and I am confident to say that it was a job well done,” he said.

When he was knocking on the doors of the music industry, Ncanda met gospel powerhouse Hlengiwe Mhlaba who introduced him to the legendary singer and producer Sipho Makhabane.

Makhabane loved Ncanda’s sound and they have been working together for years.

“He is a true inspiration and he did a (good job) on this project,” said Ncanda.

The album had creative assistance from other artists apart from Makhabane, just to make it is as varied as possible.

“I had people like Dumi Mkokstad, Kholeka, Tina Zungu and Sifiso Ncwane also contribute to the project and so I can literally say that this is the best CD that I have produced to date,” he said confidently.

You always wonder what pushes gospel artists to continue making albums.

You think of what might have given the artist the content or motivation to produce an album.

“Most of my albums are about preaching and that ties in well with me because I am a pastor.

“I take the lessons we get from the Bible and simplify them to our lifestyles.

“Take track four, for instance, it is called uJesu Ungena Nathi and that is taken from the biblical story of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego,” said Ncanda.

He and his wife, Ncamy head a church called Kingdom Community Prayer Centre.

While he sings when he gets a chance, he has to juggle that with his clergy duties.

“I head two congregations and so, on any given Sunday, I go early to one, which has about 500 people and we do our service for the better part of the morning, and then I go to the other one, which has about a 1 000 people and I spend the day there,” he said.

A national tour for uJesu Uyisihlangu Sami is still in the works and Ncanda says that it is most likely that it will happen after Easter.

“We are yet to set the dates, but it is coming. We also have plans to have a live DVD recording where all my songs will be included. I have never had a DVD recording before and so now that I have the material, I think it is time,” he said.

• uJesu Uyisihlangu Sami is available in music stores nationwide.

Related Topics: