IN 1992, six Christian men formed an all-male gospel group and called it Reality 7. Now, you might have picked up that Reality 7 is an odd name for a sextet.
“We are six and would like to believe that Jesus is the seventh member of our group,” said Sabelo Masinga, one of the band’s founding members.
As bizarre as that may sound, the Son of God is a part of the band and has been since its inception. He even has a role in the outfit.
“He doesn’t sing a particular part, but He is the one who balances our voices, making our melody a very unique one,” said Masinga.
When they started out, Reality 7 was just a sideline project that kept a few young men busy and they did not think it would take them very far.
“We were very young back then and had no idea what we were doing. However, a lot of people who listened to our music kept asking us when we would release our first album,” explained Masinga.
They might have been local heroes, but it would take almost two decades before Reality 7 would release their debut album.
“We were just happy with singing in churches and entertaining people in our communities so we did not prioritise releasing an album,” said Masinga.
After much thought and heeding the call of their fans, the group agreed to go into the studio and churn out the music they had spent almost 20 years perfecting.
“We called the album Amen and people really loved it. It took us time to produce, but we were happy with what came out of it,” said Masinga.
The album earned nominations at the 2010 Crown Gospel Awards in the Best Newcomer and Best A Capella Group categories.
This served as the confidence boost the group needed. They have produced two more albums and a DVD is in the works.
“Our latest CD, Ngeke S’guqe, has been great, so much so that we are now working on its DVD version. We are basically telling people about how real Jesus is and that He’s our strength. We are also reminding our listeners of his return to us and that we should be all ready for it,” said Masinga.
• Ngeke S’guqe is in music stores.