Bukola Elemide (born 17 September 1982"There's 'Fire On The Mountain'; Where Is Asa?"
''Sahara Reporters'', 7 October 2018.), professionally known as Aṣa ( , ), is a

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n- French singer, songwriter, and recording artist.

Early life

Aṣa was born in Paris to Nigerian parents who were working and studying cinematography in France. Her family returned to live in Nigeria when she was two years old. Her parents hail from Itoku,

Abeokuta South Abọ foto Abeokuta South is a Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria. The headquarters of the LGA are at Ake Abeokuta. It has an area of 71 km and a population of 250,278 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 110. It ...

local government area,

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to th ...

, Nigeria. Aṣa grew up in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

city, in the south-western part of Nigeria, and 18 years later, returned to Paris, where her life as an artist took off. She has three older brothers. Asa's music influences grew over the years from the collection of great music her father had built up for his work as a cinematographer. These records featuring American, Nigerian and African

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

classics, included artists such as Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti,

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

, Aretha Franklin,

King Sunny Adé Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (born 22 September 1946), known professionally as King Sunny Adé, is a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international s ...

, Diana Ross,

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

, and

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

. Aṣa drew inspiration from the collection of her father's playlist.

Career

In 2004, Asa met her manager and friend, Janet Nwose, who introduced her to

Cobhams Asuquo Cobhams Asuquo ( Efik pronunciation: ) (born January 6, 1981) is a Nigerian musician, producer, and songwriter. In 2005, Asuquo was signed on with Sony ATV London as a songwriter. After working as Head of Audio Productions at a local label, Que ...

, who in turn became the producer of her first studio album ''Asa (Asha)''. Aṣa returned to France at the age of 20 to study at the IMFP school of

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a maj ...

, where she was told by teachers that she should go ahead and become a recording artist because she was ready and needed no schooling. Back in Nigeria, her first single, "Eyé Adaba," was beginning to get airplay. Aṣa soon signed to

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

. Partnered with Asuquo, and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy and Benjamin Constant, she produced her first platinum-selling self-titled album, ''Aṣa''. The release of the album saw Aṣa charting radios across Europe, Asia, and Africa and went on to win the prestigious French Constantin Award in 2008 when she was voted the best fresh talent of 10 singers or groups by a jury of 19 music-industry specialists in Paris. Her second album, ''Beautiful Imperfection'', in collaboration with French composer Nicolas Mollard, was released on 25 October 2010, went platinum in 2011. The lead single from ''Beautiful Imperfection'', titled "Be My Man", was released in late September 2010. It was reported that by 2014 Aṣa sold 400,000 albums worldwide. Asa's third studio album, '' Bed of Stone'', was released in August 2014. The singles are "Dead Again", "Eyo", "Satan Be Gone", "The One That Never Comes" and "Moving On". She went on a world tour from 2015 to 2017. On 14 May 2019, she released a new single titled "The Beginning" and on 25 June 2019, she released the single "Good Thing". On 11 September 2019, she announced on her Twitter page that her new album, '' Lucid'', will be released on 11 October 2019, which it was. She released yet another album on the 25th of February 2022 titled "V" featuring the likes of

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afri ...

, Nigerian highlife duo The Cavemen and Ghanaian artist

Amaarae } Ama Serwah Genfi, known professionally as Amaarae, is a Ghanaian singer known for her work around representation of gender and race in music. After collaborating with local artists and putting out a few non-album singles, she released her debut ...

. She is one of Nigeria's most exposed musicians with an estimated net worth of $28 million.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

* ''Live in Paris'' (2009) * ''Live in Lagos'' (2017)

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

*2007: "Kokoya" - on the soundtrack to the film ''The First Cry'' *2009: "The Place To Be" - soundtrack for GTBank *2011: "Zarafa" - soundtrack for the animation movie ''Zarafa''

Awards and nominations

*2008: Prix Constantin *2011: French Music Awards

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

nomination for "Female Artist of the Year".

References

External links

Official website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asa 1982 births Living people 21st-century French singers English-language singers from France Nigerian women singer-songwriters 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 women musicians 21st-century French women singers 21st-century Nigerian singers Naïve Records artists