Israel Houghton

In my life as a Christian music journalist, I receive CDs almost daily. Even with the best of intentions, I rarely get a chance to listen to many of them. But one day as I was heading out to a gospel music event, I heard the Lord say, “Andrea, you need to put this one in”.

The CD was Israel & New Breed’s debut project, New Season. Ten minutes later on I-95, I almost had to pull over so moved was I - in my spirit. That was the beginning of my love affair with the music ministry of Israel Houghton.

His project, New Season, a live praise and worship CD, was critically acclaimed and spawned the hits, There’s A Lifting of the Hands and Trading My Sorrows. Recently his latest project, his second with Integrity Gospel, entitled Real, set the gospel world on fire again with such hits as the title tune, Taste and See and Get Up. Although it may seem that this anointed psalmist and gifted artist came out of the blue, he has indeed paid his dues. His entrance into gospel music started when he was young. That calling led him right in the path of one of gospel’s finest, Fred Hammond. It was his arrival into the group Radical for Christ that helped set him on a God-ordained path to his current phenomenal praise and worship ministry.

Take a listen to this candid and provocative look at one of the industry’s brightest stars.

Andrea R. Williams: I know you used to sing with Fred Hammond & Radical for Christ. Is that where your start in music ministry began?

Israel Houghton: Not really. I really started in my dad’s church back in the day – in my father’s full-time ministry. I started at my local church in Arizona and out of that came various recordings; from those recordings, sprang relationships. It was through those relationships that I met Fred. I actually met Fred through Angelo & Veronica in 1995. And then through Marvin Sapp – Marvin recorded a song by me – and then Fred said, “Why don’t you do some stuff with me?” Originally Fred wanted me to do the New Season record for his label. Things changed and I didn’t end up recording for his label, but my start into gospel music came by way of my relationship through Fred.

ARW: Did you know before working with Fred that you were called to music ministry?

IH: Oh, definitely, yeah. I have pretty much known that through the better portion of my life.

ARW: Your first project New Season, which you spoke of earlier, was critically acclaimed and a phenomenal project. Now you have Real, which is just as awesome…could you speak a little bit about Real?

IH: Sure. From the very beginning, we set out to make a classic record. And I felt like the ingredients for that would include doing it big. Doing it authentic. Doing it real. Using horns and strings. We even went so far as to get Andrae Crouch’s singers to sing on it. We had a blast making the record. You’ve heard the record so all of the songs kinda flow into each other. We wanted to make a record like Andrae used to make back in the day. With Andrae’s records, you know it was going to have all kinds of hits on it and you were going to listen to it for a long time. I don’t know about the “hits” part [in reference to Real] but listening to it in a timeless fashion was our goal. I really felt like we met that goal.

ARW: Well, I loved the project. It definitely had a “retro” feel.

IH: Right.

ARW: Obviously, you’re called to the ministry of praise and worship. What do you think God’s mandate is for you in reference to praise and worship?

IH: You know, a year ago I probably couldn’t answer that question – at least not soundly. But now I can. Six months ago, we, New Breed, sat down and began to put together our vision. Everyone spoke about what they felt New Breed was about. One of the people helping us, sort of a professional person in that area, at the end of our whole mission statement wrote “WHY?” It kinda messed me up for a while because I had never thought of that. He said, “Here’s our vision and here’s our mission, but why?” It threw me for a good bit. I just wasn’t thinking in those terms.

Then I heard the Lord say, “I made a promise that my glory would cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea. And your job is to be one of those whose job it is to bring the sound of that glory until the whole earth is covered.” In other words, [I knew He was saying], “You’re going to be doing this for the rest of your life and you’re going to pass it on to your children and their children. And all you’re going to do is paint the Earth with the sound of what I’m doing.”

For me, after that, it took out all of the guesswork. There are no do-overs; there are no places that are irrelevant to go. Everywhere we go is a part of bringing the sound of God’s love, the sound of the Kingdom into whatever environment He takes us.

ARW: Praise & worship has gained a lot of popularity recently, especially in the CCM genre. Why do you think that is?

IH: Well, you know, I don’t know. Industry-wise anything that’s going to make money, they [record labels] will gravitate to in the industry. What they saw was an authentic expression of worship; a lot of which came over to here from England. With Delirious and Matt Redman and Worship Together, the CCM genre took their cues from that and said, “Oh, well, this is going to make money.” And it’s kinda sad. But there is an upside to that.

God’s name is being lifted up. It’s a vertical form of worship and people are singing His praises. So I’m excited, but what I’m concerned about is that it has turned into another faction of the industry. As opposed to [being something] very pure. Then I look at the gospel side; I look at what Fred has done. He’s sort of been the architect of the urban side – to bring worship into it. What I appreciate about Fred doing that is he did it at a time when it wasn’t popular and that truly makes him a pioneer. So we have followed in those footsteps, keeping a pure heart about it. The positive side of it is that it’s the heart of God. People are sensing God’s desire for worship more and more. I’m glad to see the industry leaning in that direction.

ARW: Do you think people are hungering more for worship?

IH: If that is the case, that would be great. I’m certainly not trying to throw rocks at it. But I feel, to a degree, we like to worship the worship now and [worship] the praise, instead of honoring and prioritizing God as the focus. In other words, we’ve learned the formula of what moves people and maybe not what it takes to move the heart of God. Again, it’s just caution for me. So I have to check myself constantly that I’m not getting caught up in the hype of worship or the formula of worship, but that it is always a pure expression coming out of my heart. I could always answer it this way – I’m hungry, I’m thirsty and I’m desperate for God.

ARW: To me, your songs are simply love songs to God. Lyrically, where does your inspiration come from?

IH: It comes from so many different areas. Whether I’m reading something in scripture or whether I hear something spoken. Or I may hear a melody and something may come out of the reservoir of my heart from what God has already put there. My children inspire me; my wife inspires me. It comes from all kinds of angles. But at the end of the day, I have this professional side where I am uncompromising. I’m not going to write just any kind of lyric. I’m going to labor over the lyric a little bit. I need it to either paint a picture, provoke thought or cause people to return to a place of intimacy with the Lord. Whatever it is, the template for it is that it’s got to speak to me first. It’s gotta move me first. And if it does, there’s a pretty good chance it will move others. So far, that deduction has worked.

ARW: For people interested in becoming praise and worship leaders, what advice would you give?

IH: Keep it real (laughs). Keep it pure. Again, kind of going back to what I said before -- don’t fall into the trap of finding a formula of worship or learning how to work people over. For me, when I started leading worship, I didn’t know what in the world I was doing! So I found myself trying to work out my time on other people’s time.

I had this lady come up to me and say, “You know, you really need to do that at home. You need to worship as a part of your everyday life. Then when you come into a corporate setting with a congregation, you’ll have something to draw from rather than working it out on our time.” It bugged me when she said it. I was 19 years old and I kinda thought I knew everything.

Yet, when I got home and began to really pour my heart out to God, without anybody there, without having to worry about how to move the hearts of people, I learned how to move the hands and heart of God. I found that was all the approval I needed. That was all the applause and acclaim I needed. If God was happy, then that’s all I needed. It didn’t matter what happened in the congregational setting, I felt the approval and the signature of the Lord.

So I would say to aspiring praise and worship artists, privately find your melody and your tempo and your voice before you try to bring others into it.

ARW: What’s next on the agenda for you?

IH: I’m producing a couple of different projects. I’m working on some alternative rock projects for some up-and-coming artists; modern worship stuff. I’m a closet rocker (laughs). I love the expression you get to draw from there. I’m producing the Lakewood Live – the second record – for Integrity. The project was recorded May 16th and will drop at the end of this year. Then at the end of this year, we’re going to South Africa. We’re working on a live New Breed project, along the lines of New Season. We’re doing it live in Cape Town, South Africa. I think we’ll have some studio cuts on that record as well.

ARW: Well, thanks so much, Israel, for your time. And God Bless You!

IH: You too, Andrea!

To find out more about Israel Houghton, go to www.newbreedmusic.com