“They’d start playing some stuff and I’d sing on top of it or I’d bring in a song and they’d figure out the chords around it,” Lira tells Apple Music. “Once we felt we’d got some structure we would record using a tape–that was completely how we did the whole demo.” The Afrosoul singer, born Lerato Molapo, shares these recollections of composing her 2006 album Feel Good, alongside bassist Tshepo Sekele and keyboardist Victor Mngomezulu. “Our sound was fresh and new at the time because we were not tainted by anything else,” Lira explains. “We were all young and just grateful we were making our dreams come true. That gave us freedom in the creative process.” That freedom resulted in a multi-platinum album that housed hits like title track “Feel Good” and “Ngiyazifela”, and ushered in a new era for soulful African sounds. As she marks the album’s 15th anniversary in 2021, Lira talks us through Feel Good, track by track. Feel Good “This was really a song about a very fervent desire to feel better. I’d gone through such a rough patch and I was so sick and tired of feeling blue. I’d read a book that said the mantra for creation is ‘ah’—that’s why it gets used in meditation, and a lot of the words for God in a lot of languages have ‘ah’ in them. It has a certain vibration, and I thought it would be interesting if I could use a sound frequency and dress it up in a happy melody. I was very big on affirmation at that time and I was really just experimenting, but it started with me just being over my stuff. It remains one of the most successful songs I’ve put out. I was so validated, and since then I’m very deliberate about the kind of messages I put in my songs.” Ixesha “The first time I sang “Ixesha” was with the whole band in the garage of a pastor’s house. He had allowed us to use his house as a space to rehearse and it was a nice little jam session. The guys just started playing the song and the words just came out of me. I was stuck in a contract I couldn’t get out of at the time and was like, ‘This stuff is just wasting my time’.” Typical “I always felt that I’m not typical. Growing up, there was a certain standard of beauty. I didn’t want to be a standard of beauty that the world defined; I just wanted to be me… African me. I am what I am and I thought [that] for any girl who’s never been the norm, this would resonate. If your man digs you the way you are, then don’t worry about the ‘typical’. There are people who like different things and there’s someone for everyone at the end of the day. This was for those of us that have uncommon beauty, if you will, to say, ‘Don’t let anybody shake you off your throne’.” Dance of Life “I love bossa music and my jazz was influenced by a Latin American flavour. The ‘pa pa pa pa ya’ was influenced by Perry Como’s “Papa Loves Mambo” that my Dad used to listen to a lot. I was in love at the time as well, so it was like, ‘This is what a long-term partnership in the dance of life is’. The word ‘breakdancing’ was also a play, because sometimes we break each other's hearts.” Ngiyazifela “‘Ngiyazifela’ was the funniest thing ever! I lived in Daveyton in a four-roomed house; you could basically hear people having conversations on the street. One day I could hear a girl I grew up with saying, ‘You guys can’t tell me anything. That man is mine and I don’t care what you say!’ I don’t know who she was telling off, but I thought to myself, ‘Wow, you’d go on the street and declare your love for this brother. That’s something else!’ It was literally influenced by Dudu—that’s her name. I ended up telling her, of course.” Crush “There was a guy I had the biggest crush on, and I just never felt worthy. It was the younger girl in me who was never sure of herself. I think sometimes we do have those moments where we self-sabotage. I love how the band interpreted this, because it ended up being R&B/rock. That wouldn’t have come to me naturally; when you write songs with other people it allows for more expression and more scale.” Twisted “This song is the most poignant in terms of how I felt at the time—when you feel like your partner just doesn’t get you. In retrospect, I just felt like I wasn’t understood. It was highly frustrating for me and I thought, ‘Let’s write the truth’. Tshepo came up with the just started playing the bassline and it triggered these emotions; so sad and moody. Often when the guys brought up chords and notes, I’d pick up on how it made me feel and start writing from there. The music led me to tap into those feelings.” Ngiyabonga “Nothing was going right quite yet, but I was grateful for the fact that I was doing this... it had been a while since I had the opportunity to work on material. I was just reflecting on everyone that was rooting for, and believing in, me. I remember Lebo Mathosa’s mum would call us to church. These old ladies making time to lay their hands on us and just pray for us. I thought, ‘Sure life can be tough, but there’s a lot of love flowing in’, so I felt it necessary to give thanks.” Iris “RJ Benjamin wrote this song with a friend of his. I love it because it’s a completely different way of writing. I like to write simple so it was nice to include something different on the album. He’s referring to the iris of the eye, but also to ‘Iris’ as a place and how our lives are the result of whatever we choose to see.” Dumisa “‘Dumisa’ is really just giving praise. I was experimenting with my spirituality and I was in love with this idea of God I’d just discovered. This is one of the first songs I wrote when I learnt how to play the guitar, and it’s the only song where I actually play my guitar on the album. I wanted it to be that raw and that honest because I felt loved, supported and taken care of.” Feel It In Me “I was finding the answers to my questions in books, and ‘Feel It In Me’ came as a result of that— the beginning of feeling this guidance and intuition. Coming from a township and having to feel the energy of it consume you—I was so determined to find a way out. If I did find a way out, I wanted to tell everybody about it, because that means our past or present does not influence our future. I wanted to do it in such a way that I’m not preaching or pushing any religion, just sharing some of these ideas. There was something I had discovered in me that I was nurturing and growing. The fact that there was an exit route really excited me, and I’ve lived so many of my dreams; I felt validated trusting my instincts.” Khet’omthandayo “Everytime we played this song live we wouldn’t get a reaction! I feel like it never reached its full potential ‘cause it’s so soulful, and kudos to my producer-at-the-time Robin Kohl for that. We were putting all these ingredients into the cake and he baked into a body of work. So the Rhodes keys tied the whole album together.” Yeah Yeah Yeah “I was in love again and it was a lovely, different kind of relationship. My relationship was interracial, so I was fascinated by how the story would unfold as well. I was just enjoying being loved for who I am, with no strings attached. It was really just paying homage to that. It was influenced by my partner at the time, but I ended up dedicating the song to my mother. I know how hard it was to have a child pursuing music and it was scary for her... but she still supported me and was selfless and kind. It was just me showing some appreciation to my mother and saying ‘you just let me be’.” Change The World “I think in some ways this song is a lamentation. When we were doing our demo I’d hum, make bird sounds and create this African landscape by mouthing different sounds. I can’t deny that I’ve been influenced by R&B music and that it’s shaped me in a big way, but I wanted to retain something that would make it clear I’m African. Another thing is that I’m urban South African—I didn’t grow up in rural South Africa at all, so it was important for me to show who I am and where exactly I come from. It speaks to my desire for us to shape our future so that none of us have to be left behind.”