Growing Up
Asa grew up in Lagos, a city teeming with people and buzzing with energy but also home to a deep-rooted spirituality...
Islam thrives shoulder to shoulder with Christianity in an atmosphere of tolerance, the young imitate America, and the turbulent city moves endlessly in an infernal and yet harmonious ballet of love and hate, laughter and violence, poverty and wealth.
“Lagos is the New York of Nigeria. If you want to get anywhere in music, that’s where you’ll find the best opportunities, as well as the worst pitfalls.”
Asa was the only girl in the family and had to share her parents, not often present, with three brothers. At a tender age she began to look after the house during her father and mother’s frequent absences. That is when Asa started to sing. The desire to sing came to her and didn’t go away, carving out a permanent place in her soul. So Asa sang her heart out. 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.
The little girl grew up to the sounds of artists including Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey and Lagbaja and went on to draw inspiration from them. Asa was a lonely child. The family, her brothers, Africa….and yet : she didn’t fit into the usual clichés and was often sad, feeling out of place in childhood, even more so in the world of adolescence. She was different, and music became an escape route as well as a daydream. Asa would sometimes go to the park with her bothers to sing and dance, but more often took refuge in an imaginary universe that was her’s alone. Decked out in a wig borrowed from the maternal treasure chest, a tube of cream serving as her mike, revelling in the freedom of no one watching her, she sang Michael Jackson and Bob Marley hits and greeted an imaginary crowd…
“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 !”
Asa fought back. Against rejection, against the ups and downs of a life where, to achieve what people call happiness, she had to sacrifice everything. She was twelve when her mother sent her to one of the best schools in the country. But educational excellence had a bitter taste : five years of studies and hardship. When she came home, she discovered Erika Badu, D’Angelo, Rafaël 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.
Asa fuses pop, r&b, world, funk, soul and reggae in a debut eponymous album where she sings in both English and Yoruba. Featuring impeccable percussion, a funky Hammond organ and reggae-infused bass, the album has two stand-out tracks: Jailer, a song about “the irony of oppression, the one that operates in everyday life” and Fire In The Mountain. Asa’s album met recognition worldwide and the artist engaged in an extended tour including Europe, North America, Africa and Japan. Asa gained global recognition as a charismatic songstress with a trademark husky voice, unafraid to tackle serious issues with intelligence and confidence. “This Nigerian singer-songwriter might actually be a twenty-first century Bob Marley” — BBC Music
Fire on the mountain - Asa
With her dreams fully in motion and with an array of experiences under her belt, Asa was in a purely positive frame of mind when crafting her new album, Beautiful Imperfection. The album’s lead single “Be My Man“, an up-tempo rock-tinged track with hints of 1960s soul, sees Asa in romantic mode, as she sweetly croons to her love interest. Guitar-driven “Why Can’t We“, laced with strong horns and beautiful harmonies is undoubtedly a toe-tapper. “The first album reflected my state of mind then. I had a lot to talk about — social and political issues. Beautiful Imperfection is different, it has more brightness. This time, I wanted to create something that would make people feel uplifted”.
Why Can't We - Asa
ASA – “BEAUTIFUL IMPERFECTION” out from 25 OCT, 2010 in Europe (naïve) and set to release 04 April 2011 in the UK (Dramatico)
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