Neo-Soul Queen Asa Brings New Sound To The West

She grew up listening to her father’s record collection, soaking up the heady sounds of soul, reggae and folk-jazz via Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley and classics from the Gold Coast of Africa. The budding young talent was later inspired by the likes of Macy Gray, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill, but the artist young Asa has most frequently been compared to is the dreadlocked queen of Afro-folk, Tracy Chapman.

Like her American counterparts, Asa shares a certain taste for musical sophistication and ‘protest’ songwriting. Bukola Elemide - now better known by her stage name Asa ("falcon" in Yoruba) - made her debut signing to a French record label. Asa, currently using Paris as a springboard for a budding international career, was actually born in the French capital in September 1982 and spent just over two years there, her father working at the Nigerian embassy in Paris. "I kept all the photos and the memories my parents gave me and I vowed I’d go back to Paris one day!" she says.

Twenty years on, Asa fulfilled that dream in style. "At the beginning of 2004, I sent off a cassette to the ‘Visa’ programme run by the AFAA, the cultural section of the French foreign ministry. It was like throwing a bottle into the sea. But I was lucky because somehow I got my message heard." In fact, Asa did more than that. She ended up doing a music course in France which helped her turn professional and allowed her to stay in the country three months, during which precious time she met the likes of Manu Dibango, Richard Bona, Daby Touré, Tony Allen and sisterly double act Les Nubians.

Profiting from her newly-acquired experience, Asa returned to Lagos and concentrated on developing her own musical style there. At the beginning of 2007, the young singer went into the studio and spent six weeks recording with Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo, a blind multi-instrumentalist she has worked with for three years now. Her debut 11-track album is simply called Asa, "because all the songs on it are pieces of the puzzle that make up my personality." Featuring impeccable percussion, a funky Hammond organ, reggae-infused bass and contributions from celebrity flautist Magic Malik, Asa’s debut album contains two stand-out tracks: Jailer, a song about "the irony of oppression, not just political or racial oppression, but the kind that operates in everyday life" and Fire In The Mountain - a melody which has every bit as much chart-topping potential as the legends from which she draws artistic inspiration.

Asa, in her own opinion, is not a commercial product and not a sex kitten. But she is dazzlingly talented and gifted with a will of iron.

“I want my music to touch people. As an African, I want to give hope back to my people, but also to speak in their name. I want to show the world that something beautiful and positive can come out of the black continent and inspire young people all over the world.”

Asa’s self titled album is available online and in stores now.

Asa Single - Fire On The Mountain