Ndlovu Youth Choir and Netflix partner for festive song 'Square Root of Possible'

Ndlovu Youth Choir

The Ndlovu Youth Choir partnered with Netflix on a Christmas cover song from the film “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Adventure”. Picture: Netflix

Published Nov 26, 2020

Share

Netflix and the award-winning Ndlovu Youth Choir teamed up to perform a cover of the song called, “Square Root of Possible”, from the Netflix holiday film, “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Adventure”.

The music video was shot in Johannesburg and is a beautiful display of Mzansi's diverse talent.

The song is sung in six official South African languages including English, seTswana, seSotho, isiZulu, isiNdebele and sePedi and was transformed from an American style theatrical piece, to a song that is intrinsically African.

Nonhlanhla Somo, lead singer of the Ndlovu Youth Choir said the biggest challenge while recording was to stay true to the song.

“The challenge of recording a cover of this catchy tune was staying true to the song, especially when translating it to our 6 official languages.

“Because it is such a beautiful song, we really wanted to do it justice and so we practiced for hours on end to ensure that we brought it life in a way that stayed true to the song while also encapsulating our African flare,’’ said Somo whose favourite line in the song is ’’Kuzo Yenzeka’’ which in English translates to ’’everything can happen’’.

’’It’s beautiful and people will love it,’’ said Somo.

Ralf Shmidt, choir director said at first everything with Netflix was very secretive but as things started to unravel and when he heard the song for the first time he knew it was a wonderful opportunity for the choir.

“It’s a beautiful song but so rooted in the musical theatre genre, that it was always going to be a very big challenge to try and Africanise it and bring in a nice authentic South African feel to it,’’ said Shmidt.

’’If there is one child lying in their bed, listening to the music and thinking ’’wow’, I can do something with my life’’ - our music helps people be the best version of themselves.

“It gives them hope, and that’s what’s it about. And this message of the song couldn’t be more perfect,’’ Shmidt said.

He said we needed something to remind us what the human spirit is about and the beauty of the human spirit.

’’I’m pretty sure when everyone watches that film (“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Adventure”) and I highly recommend they do, regardless of their age, that they going to leave there very very inspired and filled with renewed hope and energy,” he said.

Watch the video here:

Related Topics:

Netflix