Asa (singer)

Infobox Musical artist


Img_size = 150
Name = Asa
Birth_name = Bukola Elemide
Born = Paris, France
Origin = Nigeria
Instrument = Singing, Guitar
Genre = Soul, Jazz
Label = Naive
URL = [http://www.asa-official.com/?lang=en asa-official]

Aşa (pronounced "Asha"), was born in Paris in 1982 and raised in Nigeria. She is a singer-songwriter and recording artiste. Her stage name "Aşa" means "Hawk" in Yoruba.

Early life

Born Bukola Elemide, Aşa was born in Paris, France to Nigerian parents. She was no more than two years old when her family returned to live in Nigeria.Aşa grew up in the city of Lagos,(south-western part of Nigeria). She states that the city is "buzzing with energy but also home to a deep-rooted spirituality. Islam thrives shoulder to shoulder with Christianity in an atmosphere of tolerance, and the turbulent city moves endlessly in an infernal and yet harmonious ballet of love and hate, laughter and violence, poverty and wealth." However twenty years later Aşa returned to Paris, which is where her life as an artist took wing. Aşa was twelve when her mother sent her to one of the best schools in Nigeria. But educational excellence had a bitter taste : five years of studies and hardship. When she came home, she discovered Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq , Lauryn Hill, Femi Kuti and Angélique Kidjo, in whose footprints she dreamt of following. At 18, Asa was very familiar with frustration. The university was on strike, the choirs were snubbing her. Nevertheless, she managed to get her voice heard on a few radio talent shows and her first applause brought her boundless pleasure. She then signed up, in secret, for the Peter King’s School of Music and learnt to play the guitar in 6 months.

Background

Aşa was the only girl in the family and had to share her parents, with her three brothers. At a tender age she began to look after the house during her father and mother’s frequent absences. That is when Aşa started to sing. The desire to sing came to her and didn’t go away, carving out a permanent place in her soul. She preferred singing to talking, improvising endlessly until her mother made her stop. Over the years her father had built up a fine collection of records featuring soul classics and Nigerian music.Which included Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey and Lagbaja and went on to draw inspiration from them. Aşa "I was a tomboy and when I was a teenager I became very shy because people made fun of me…in my own way, I was already attracting attention ! I got in the habit of never doing anything like everyone else. People didn’t understand my low-pitched deep voice, the choirs didn’t want anything to do with me. I had to get to church first if I was to have any chance of getting near the mike"

In 2004 Aşa met her manager, Janet, who introduced her to Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo, who in turn became her musical partner. And enabled Aşa, the free spirit, to find her bearings : songs in English and Yoruba, music falling somewhere between pop and soul, inspired by her musical heritage — with particular care paid to the melodies — and reflecting the feeling she puts into it. Her texts talk about her country, the things in life, the things in her life, all delivered with feigned naivety and real irony.She states "I like writing or thinking about my texts on the bus, or the molué, as we call it. 49 seats, 99 passengers standing up, as Fela described it. Everyone’s squashed up together and mini-dramas break out all the time. And, at the end of the day, we still manage to laugh, that’s where our strength lies..."It was at this stage of her life that Aşa finally returned to Paris. This was her chance to test out her talent on the French musical scene, playing with artists such as the Nubians, Manu Dibango, Doctor L and Tony Allen. In the meantime, back in Nigeria, her first single, Eyé Adaba, then Jailer, were beginning to get airtime. MTV chose her as the ambassador for South Africa. Her popularity became big, that when she came back to Nigeria she opened for Akon, John Legend, Beyoncé and Snoop Dogg amongst others.

Aşa soon signed to the 'Naïve label'. Partnered by Cobhams, and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy, she produced a magnificent debut album, ASA.The flautist Magic Malik is also featured, shedding his light on the eleven tracks. R&b rubs up against pop, with reggae also making an appearance on 'Fire On The Mountain', the first track released from the album, an impertinent and barely-disguised metaphor for an ignorant and indifferent world."Jailer", another highlight of the album, reinterprets the old adage “you reap what you sow”. This emblematic song with its irresistible refrain opens the album by denouncing modern slavery in all its forms.

Discography

Albums

*Aşa (2007) #15 FRA [ [http://acharts.us/album/28885 Asa - Asha - Music Charts ] ]

Track listing
# "Jailer"
# "360"
# "Bibanke"
# "Subway"
# "Fire on the Mountain"
# "Eye Adaba"
# "No One Knows"
# "Awe"
# "Peace"
# "So Beautiful"
# "Iba"

ingles

*2007 "Fire on the Mountain"
*2008 "Jailer"

References

External links

* [http://www.asa-official.com/?lang=en/ Official website]
* [http://www.naijapals.com/?L=music.index&Asa_Jailer_Asa&id=1275 ASA jailer]
* [http://music.guardian.co.uk/newbands/story/0,,2224014,00.html New band of the day, UK Guardian Newspaper]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/02/18/bmasa118.xml UK Telegraph Newspaper Profile]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/shows/series31/episode04/asa/ Asa on BBC2's Later with Jools Holland]
* [http://bhfmagazine.com/contents/bhf_asa.html BHF Magazine interview]
* [http://asamusic.jp/album/ Official Japanese Website]
* [http://www.naive.fr/sites/asa/spip.php?page=album&lang=en]
* [http://max.space.free.fr/tabs/asa-jailer.html Guitar tab of Jailer song]