Aṣa
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
| Aṣa | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bukola Elemide |
| Born | 17 September 1982 Paris, France |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Labels |
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| Website | www.asa-official.com |
Aṣa (pronounced "Asha"; born 17 September 1982)[1] is a Nigerian French singer, songwriter, and recording artist. Her stage name "Aṣa" means "Hawk" in Yoruba.
Contents
Early life[edit]
Born Bukola Elemide, Aṣa was born in Paris, France to her Nigerian parents. Her family returned to live in Nigeria when she was two. Aṣa grew up in Alagbole, a border town in Ogun state near Lagos, in the south-western part of Nigeria. Twenty years later, Aṣa returned to Paris where her life as an artist took off.
Whenever Asa came home from school in Nigeria, she discovered musical acts like Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Lauryn Hill, Femi Kuti and Angélique Kidjo. This was while she was in pursuit of educational excellence, and these musical acts are whose footprints she dreamed of following.
Background[edit]
Aṣa was the only female child in the family and had three brothers. At a young age she began to look after the house during her parents' frequent absences. This is when Aṣa started to sing. Over the years her father had built up a fine collection of records featuring soul classics and Nigerian music, including Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, King Sunny Adé, Ebenezer Obey and Lagbaja and Asa went on to draw inspiration from them.
In 2004 Aṣa met her manager and friend, Janet, who introduced her to Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo, who in turn became her musical partner and producer.
At this stage of her life,[when?] Aṣa returned to Paris. Back in Nigeria, her first single, "Eyé Adaba," then "Jailer," were beginning to get airtime. Aṣa soon signed to Naïve Records. Partnered with Cobhams, and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy, she produced her first album, Aṣa. The release of the album saw Aṣa win the prestigious French Constantin Award in 2008, where she was voted best fresh talent of 10 singers or groups by a jury of 19 music-industry specialists in Paris.
Her second album, Beautiful Imperfection, was released on 25 October 2010. The lead single from Beautiful Imperfection is titled "Be My Man" and was released in late September. A video for the song was released in mid-October. She also performed with Féfé at the Sydney Festival in 2011[2]
Discography[edit]
Albums[edit]
| Year | Album | Chart positions[3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL | ESP | SUI | ||
| 2007 | Aṣa (Asha) | 15 | 81 | - | 65 |
| 2009 | Live in Paris | 112 | - | - | - |
| 2010 | Beautiful Imperfection | 14 | 35 | 61 | 54 |
| 2014 | Bed of Stone | 38 | 80 | - | 64 |
In 2014, it was reported that before the release of Bed of Stone, Asa sold 400,000 albums world wide
Singles[edit]
| Year | Title | FRA | BEL | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Fire on the Mountain" | - | - | Aṣa (Asha) |
| "Jailer" | - | - | ||
| 2010 | "Be My Man" | 89 | 26 | Beautiful Imperfection |
| 2011 | "Why Can't We" | - | 44 | |
| 2012 | "The Way I Feel" | - | - | |
| "Ba Mi Dele" | - | - | Beautiful Imperfection (re-release) | |
| 2014 | "Dead Again" | 109 | - | Bed of Stone |
| 2015 | "Eyo" | - | - |
Soundtrack appearances[edit]
- 2007: "Kokoya" - on the soundtrack to the film The First Cry
Awards[edit]
- 2008: Prix Constantin
- 2011: French Music Awards Victoires de la Musique nomination for 'Female Artist of the Year'
References[edit]
- ^ "Asa: Biographie". TV5Monde. Paris, France: TV5Monde. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
- ^ Victoria Hannaford (29 December 2011). "French hip-hop artist Fefe teams up with Nigerian-French singer Asa for Sydney Festival". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ "Asa – Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
External links[edit]
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This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but the sources of this section remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2013) |
- Official Facebook Page
- CNN African Voices: Meet Asa, African pop legend in the making - 30 November 2011
- 'Beautitful Imperfection' BBC review 31 March 2011
- The Guardian album review by Caroline Sullivan 31 March 2011
- Acoustic Session on Morning Becomes Eclectic JAN 23, 2009
- NPR interview by Rita Houston - 5 March 2009
- Asa interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' March 2008
- http://www.gbedunation.com/profile/ASA
- ASA on CNN
- New band of the day, UK Guardian Newspaper
- UK Telegraph Newspaper Profile
- Asa on BBC2's Later with Jools Holland
- BHF Magazine interview
- Official Japanese Website
- [1]
- Review of self titled album on The Album Project
- SoulRnB.com fanpage
- [2]
- Asa Performs “Dead Again” For Comité Des Reprises
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- 1982 births
- Living people
- 21st-century singers
- English-language singers of France
- Female musicians
- French people of Nigerian descent
- French people of Yoruba descent
- French singer-songwriters
- Musicians from Paris
- Nigerian singer-songwriters
- Nigerian soul musicians
- The Headies winners
- Yoruba-language singers
- Yoruba musicians
- 21st-century musicians