Mia Moretti: 10 Essential Gospel House Records

After being a DJ for almost 20 years, when I decided to venture into the bold waters of music production, I did what any veteran DJ would do — I dug in my crates. There are records that I always returned to, year after year, all for different reasons — these are the records I sampled for the first tracks I produced: Letta Mbulu, Chicco, Toto La Momposina, Petrona Martinez, Crystal Waters. 

However, the first voice I ever sampled was Vonita White. It was a gospel house track that truly called out to me, "God Helps Those (Who Helps Themselves" by Jasper Street Co. I'm a lyric queen, a sucker for a sing-a-long vocal, a dance floor anthem, a good story that you are still thinking about long after the song is over, and this was that type of vocal. The job was done; now I just had to find Vonita in Baltimore, who was still there singing for her church, and see if she wanted to come to New York and re-sign it. I reached out to Vonita on Instagram, and the rest is history; she sang it just how she had 30 years ago and nailed it on the first take, too. The result... my latest single, "Best I Can" — out now via my Spaghetti Moretti Records imprint.

In celebration of my recent collaboration with Vonita, I've gone ahead and compiled a playlist for Beatport with ten legendary gospel house tracks that I love, cherish, and always find myself coming back to. Enjoy!