While visiting my Mom the other day, having one of our many discussions about music as we often do, I noticed a very soulful but yet youthful voice bellowing from the speakers. I asked my mother who is this we’re listening to, she exclaimed “Her name is spelled Asa pronounced as Asha”. I was immediately taken by the amazing sound of this young lady’s voice and the control she has over it, I found myself suddenly grabbing my iPad and went to work trying to find out more about this fresh new voice. Asa is a Nigerian French singer, songwriter and accomplished artist.
Her name means Hawk in Yoruba. Born in Paris, then at the tender age of two her family moved back Nigeria where she grew up in Alagbola, a border town in Ogun a state border town near Lagos. Twenty years later she returned to Paris where her passion for becoming an artist blossomed. While Asa was in the pursuit of educational excellence, she discovered a few wonderful talents like Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Lauryn Hill, Femi Kuti, and Angelique Kidjo. These greats eventually helped to shape this amazing artist. As I listened to Asa’s first listed track titled “Jailer”, I was completely blown away by the lyrics in this amazing song. Her raspy voice is shown off alongside well placed live instrumentation. This is by far one of my favorite songs off the Album titled “Asa”. In October 2010, she released her sophomore album titled “Beautiful Imperfection”, which spawned a track entitled “Be My Man” yet another awesome track. And now, she’s back with a new project, released in late 2014, titled “Bed of Stones”. The first single is entitled “Dead Again”. I’m asking you guys to please check out the video for this wonderful song, the visuals really add to the strength of the song. It’s like watching poetry in motion and the rest of the album takes you on an amazing journey through this young talent’s gifted mind. So, for all my true lovers of great story telling through song, I advice you to research this amazingly fresh new artist, hailing from Paris, France. You’ll definitely become hooked.
Leslie A. Thomas is a Music Blogger and a lover of all things music follow me on Twitter @LBoogie252005
