“This is the way we do,” sings legendary South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. “This is the way we do.”

For the Grammy award-winning group, its way has been the way to stardom.

The uplifting tune is from the group’s latest album, “Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu,” which is dedicated to one of its deepest sources of inspiration. Shaka Zulu was the great African king and warrior chief who used his military and diplomatic cunning to unite the Zulu people into a mighty nation.

Nearly two centuries later, his vision of unity and national pride resonates through this latest offering by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, currently touring the United States to support the CD.

The rich melodies of “Kuyafundw’ Osizini (Ilembe),” which translates as “Learning From the Obstacles (The Greatest Warrior),” are about perseverance and overcoming opposition, while the uplifting “Iphel’ Emansini” (“A Cockroach in the Milk)” recounts an old Zulu proverb about the dangers of concentrating on the negative and losing sight of the beauty of life.

For Albert Mazibuko, one of the oldest members of the group, the album is an attempt to encourage understanding of Shaka Zulu and his legacy.

“Some people say the poor can’t do great things. Shaka learnt from suffering,” he said.

It is a lesson the group, who shot to fame in 1986 with its collaboration on Paul Simon’s Grammy-winning “Graceland” album, knows well.

Started in the early 1960s by Shabalala, the group has taken the traditional music of black mine workers from the rural hills of South Africa to the international stage.

South Africa is a better place now, he says, thanks to former president Nelson Mandela’s vision — like Shaka’s — of unity.

“Mandela said there must be peace, that people must love each other and throw away their guns,” he said.

But he thinks there is still more to be done.

“We still have to know that there is no white or black, we are all the same. Now people must think differently.”

-- by Celean Jacobson