''Closer'' is the debut studio album of R&B singer-songwriter Goapele Mohlabane. It was self-released in a strictly limited run, only available at select brick-and-mortar outlets and Web sites throughout the

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. After 5,000 copies sold independently, she released a longer album through

Hieroglyphics Imperium Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings is an Oakland, California-based, independent hip hop record label founded and owned by underground hip hop collective, the Hieroglyphics. The label was created by the collective in 1995 to publish and market the ...

that got noticed by

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, which picked up that album for worldwide distribution, added several tracks, and signed her to a contract through Skyblaze Recordings, her family-owned imprint. The catalog number is an in-joke reference to her

birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many re ...

and initials of her name. Several songs on this album were rerecorded for their inclusion on the follow-up album, and it is the only album on which the song "You" (a different composition from the song of the same name on ''Change it All'') is available. It is now considered to be a valuable collectors’ item.

Track listing

#Closer (4:40) #Childhood Drama (3:23) #Too Much the Same (4:21) #Romantic (Uncensored Version) (5:58) #You (0:57) #Catch 22 (Original Version) (5:29) #Butterflykisses (3:23) #Things Don’t Exist (4:32) #Salvation (3:44) #It Takes More (3:56)

Covers

* Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's 2007 mixtape ''Comeback Season'' featured a song titled "Closer," which used the chorus (sung by

Andreena Mill X-Quisite was an R&B Canadian girl group. The trio made up of Nicole Holness, Melanie Fiona Hallim, Andreena Mill and later in 2003 new member, Nirvana Savoury was signed to Linus Entertainment (Then distributed by Warner Music Canada) soon af ...

) and backing instrumental from Goapele's original. * Compton Rapper YG also made a cover of this song with singer Tanea titled ''I Made It'' on his ''Just Re'd Up'' mixtape.

References

Goapele albums 2001 debut albums Self-released albums {{2000s-R&B-album-stub