Asa’s “Beautiful Imperfection” Occupies NO.3 Spot on Billboards World Album Chart

Asa’s second album Beautiful Imperfection is now on the number three spot on Billboards World Album Chart.

Beautiful Imperfection was released in America on September 6 via her record label, Naive Records. She is still promoting her ‘beautiful imperfection’ album.

Read Asa's Profile Below

BACKGROUND

Born to Nigerian parents as Bukola Elemide in Paris, France, Asa was two years old when her family returned to live in Nigeria. Asa grew up in Lagos , in the 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.” Asa 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.

In Nigeria, she learnt about renowned musicians like 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.

Asa 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 Asa 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, Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Ade and Lagbaja and went on to draw inspiration from them.

Asa says “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 mic”.

CAREER
In 2004 Asa met her manager, Janet, who introduced her to Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo, who in turn became her musical partner. This enabled Asa, 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. Fela described it as,

49 seats, 99 passengers standing up. 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 Asa 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. Asa soon signed to the ‘Naïve label’.

Partnered by Cobhams, and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy, she produced a magnificent debut album,  ASA. 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.