You can find Israel Houghton (Israel & New Breed) involved in all sorts of projects these days. Besides releasing the best-selling A Deeper Level (Integrity), he's released a Christmas album, launched a new music series showcasing members of his group, produced albums for other churches, appeared at the most recent Passion conference alongside Chris Tomlin, and continues to lead worship at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, among other gigs—all in the past year! Next thing on his plate? An album in Spanish featuring some of his most popular worship songs. He's Christian music's quintessential renaissance artist, unafraid to cross racial or generational boundaries and be all things to all people. In this conversation, Houghton talks about his multiple commitments, his dedication to a multiethnic sound, and how he'll keep doing his thing, regardless of what some critics may say.

Your music has always been eclectic and multi-ethnic, but your latest album is even more so. Is that intentional?

Israel Houghton: It is and always has been. We started asking ourselves, "What does it mean to go deeper?" And for us it meant to connect more with the core values of what New Breed is all about, which is being intentionally cross-cultural, cross-denominational, and cross-generational. We want to reach everybody.

Some fans have said your sound has become "less gospel." How would you respond to that?

Houghton: I wouldn't agree with that at all. There's a tendency to categorize things and define [what is and is not] "it." I was never [purely] a gospel artist or "black gospel" artist. But I think in terms of praise and worship—which is what I'm a lot more comfortable being associated with—I pushed past the notion of "this is how we do worship and this is the only way to do worship." I've definitely climbed out of that box.

I guess some are suggesting that your sound is more contemporary, like the song "I Will Search," which is more pop than gospel.

Houghton: That's one of those songs I wrote probably four or five years ago with my wife, and there were a couple of times that we said to each other, "Let's record it." But it just never fit. This time around, we felt that it did because it's such an intimate song, but powerful at the same time—very vertical and very worship-oriented. Our approach to the production and arrangements for this album was much more straight-ahead, the purpose being to become more accessible, allowing churches to hear the songs and make them fit their congregation.

Along those lines, we've also heard from readers who say you're simplifying your style so that white churches can play it.

Houghton: We're living in an interesting time where [Christians] are still attempting to categorize things and put them into boxes that they're used to. What's amazing is that the world has worked around this. If you watch MTV right now, they've figured out how to do "mash-ups," colliding cultures and making everybody like what they hear. But the second the church says, "OK, let's also be wise and reach out to a generation," it's the church people who immediately have a problem with it. It's not the secular industry—they love [crossing boundaries]. It's the church that asks, "Why would you record with a white artist when you could work with a black artist?"

Our goal is not to make people uncomfortable, but I'm deliberately trying to show that the world is bigger than our [Christian] community. If the church is going to lead, we're going to [have to] make a difference and believe what's stated in Ephesians 1:18: that God moves and acts and breathes and touches through the church. We're going to have to understand pretty quickly that we have a job to do—to be leaders in the music industry and leaders of hope in the world. We're going to have to get over our cultural differences very quickly.

You released a Christmas album last year, produced two albums for the New Breed singers, and then your band's A Deeper Level came out last August. Where do you find the time for all of that?

Houghton: I'm a guy that really loves what I do. I never look at it as working out of obligation. You can do a great record in two or three weeks' time. Part of it is how I produce, how I arrange things, how I think ahead and plan. With all these projects coming out it looks like, "Man, this guy is never home or he never leaves the studio." I've been involved with some great records, but it's usually just three weeks out of my life, when it's all said and done.

I know where I am right now and I know who I am and what I'm supposed to be doing. I can do it with joy, rather than simply fulfill a contract. You know me: I love stirring it up. The Christmas record was very urban-feeling and very classic. Then we did something completely different by coming out with a live record. But if you ever hear that I've locked into only one category, you'd be able to say, "This guy is not being true to himself."

And what is being true to yourself?

Houghton: It's growing up a half-black kid in a white family in a Hispanic community. There were always these different streams of culture and influence that shaped me into who I am today. The next thing you'll see from me is a Spanish record. I really believe in putting my time and my money where my mouth is.

With you being so busy all the time, do you catch a lot of grief from your wife?

Houghton: She's actually sitting right here with me [while I'm on the phone]. [To wife: "He asked if I catch a lot of grief from my wife 'cause I'm so busy."] No, because she's truly my partner. The work we do, we do together. There aren't many places I go without her. If I'm going to be gone more than two or three days, I almost always arrange for her to go with me. Her input, her angles on things, her instincts in the way we run our ministry, all make a gigantic difference.

Another hot topic: The Associated Press ran a very strong review about A Deeper Level, criticizing your hard stance on homosexuality and other issues. What was that about?

Houghton: The song they targeted is "Surely Surely." In it, we said that the walls that we want to see come down are the walls that have divided the church—the walls that have kept people from feeling they can come back to church. The spirit of this age has said this is the way it's always going to be. And we're saying, prophetically, a very hefty "no" to that. Several times in the album I say, "What we're saying right now is for another generation." It's saying to my kids and their kids, "You have the ability—like Josiah, like Hezekiah—to change some things in history, and to address not the person but the spirit of this age." There were a couple of journalists who heard just that and immediately took it out of context.

How did that make you feel?

Houghton: The thing that hurt me most was that one writer said I was pandering to a right-wing, conservative audience. If anything, I'm trying to challenge the church to [broaden itself]. White, black … it doesn't matter. Conservative, Democrat, Republican, Independent … I'm not trying to make a political statement. The thing I've found is that if you call yourself a worshiper, if you're that close to the heart of God, then you realize God is offering a message of love and hope to the church and to the world. It's not to offend anybody out there or make others feel uncomfortable, but to make people feel welcome.

At some point I can't bother with [the criticism]. People need to understand that what we said on this record is part of a compilation of three nights of a [ministry] conference. We addressed things where people were really hurting and getting free. We were addressing that and capturing that moment. At some point I have to say to the critics, "Listen, I didn't mean to offend anybody. If I did, I have to hand you over to God and you have to deal with that with him." My heart was right when I said what I said.

You said earlier your Christmas album had a very classic sound. Did you always want to make a seasonal album like that?

Houghton: I love Christmas music. It's something I've always wanted to do. Inevitably, it always got put off to the last minute and it wouldn't have come out the way we would have liked it to be if we rushed it. At the end of 2005 I entered into a new contract with Integrity Music. And I said, "OK, this is the only way I'm going to do this deal." And we've been friends for a long time so it wasn't a hard thing. But I said, "I have to do this South Africa record this year. Until I get it out of my heart, I'm not going to be happy." So they agreed to that, so long as I did a Christmas album in 2006.

Then what?

Houghton: I got with Luther "Mano" Hanes—I heard what he did on the Andraé Crouch record—and told him, "I love what you do." [I wanted to do a record] that sounded like Andraé meets Stevie meets Earth Wind & Fire in 1974. I wanted my Christmas record to sound like that. Again, I love doing stuff that you would expect to sound a certain way, but it doesn't. We took classic songs and flipped them and added stuff to them. I think my favorite part of that record was all the collaborations I got to do: Matthew Ward, Marvin Winans, CeCe Winans, Gerald Albright, Marcus Miller, Lahlah Hathaway. I hope to do another record like that—very authentic, old-school, and classic. I love writing stuff like that.

The Houghtons for their 2006 Christmas card.

What are some of your most cherished Christmas memories?

Houghton: Because we travel a lot, we were always at my parents' house or my wife's parents' house for Christmas for the first ten years of our marriage. Once our kids started getting a little older we thought it'd be great if we started developing our own traditions here at home. So we're sort of new at that part. But I have great memories growing up. My mother always made us a phenomenal breakfast—everything homemade. She always made us brand-new pajamas, which she made with love and care. So every Christmas was always really special because it was always more than, "Here's some presents that we bought at Wal-Mart." It was more hands-on.

How about your kids now? Is it a big holiday for them?

Houghton: It's a huge holiday for the kids. This year, we're working as a family on how we can be more a part of the giving than the receiving. So we're doing some charitable things and coming together to help others. I think that's more rewarding than any present you can open for yourself.

Have your kids given you their lists?

Houghton: My daughter, who's 11, is pretty much the ringleader: "Daddy, I want this and this. And Sonny wants this. And Lillie wants this." She's the head of the committee. And my wife always tells her, "Tell daddy what mommy wants." But again, you've got to understand that I live for my family. So every week they've got some kind of Christmas going on. We're rethinking that whole feast—the gifts and the presents—focusing more on quality than quantity this time.

For more about Israel Houghton, click here to visit our artist page, where you'll also find a review of his band's latest project, A Deeper Level. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to song clips and purchase the music.

Copyright © Andree Farias subject to licensing agreement with Christian Music Today. Click for reprint information.

Click here for more interviews.

Click here to view our music review archives.

Visit the artist pages for related interviews and reviews.

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up now for the Christian Music Today weekly newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help