Yasmine Dubois, known professionally as Lafawndah, is a singer, songwriter, producer and director.

Early life

Lafawndah was raised in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, and is of

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

descent. She has lived across the world in various cities, including

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Career

During her time in Mexico City, Lafawndah co-founded the girl group NIDADA. After a term at the

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

, she recorded and co-produced her self-titled EP ''Lafawndah'' with Garagem Banda, which was self-released in 2014. In 2016 Lafawndah's ''Tan'' EP was released on

Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...

. The project was created with contributions from L-Vis 1990 and Nick Weiss of

Teengirl Fantasy Teengirl Fantasy is an American electronic music duo. It consists of Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss. It is best known for the track called "Cheaters". Career Teengirl Fantasy was formed by Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss while they were studying at ...

. In 2018 Dubois partnered with

Midori Takada Midori Takada ( ja, 高田みどり) (born December 21, 1951) is a Japanese composer and percussionist. She has been described as a pioneer of ambient music, ambient and minimalism (music), minimalist music. Early career and Mkwaju Ensemble Takad ...

to create the multimedia piece ''Le Renard Bleu,'' Takada's first release for almost twenty years. Centred around ''Le Renard Bleu'', Takada and Lafawndah produced their stage work ''Ceremonial Blue'', which was performed at the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

in London during the spring of 2019. In 2019 Lafawndah's debut album ''Ancestor Boy'' was released on her own label Concordia, and distributed by

!K7 !K7 Music is a music company based in Berlin, Germany that focuses mostly on electronic music. The name is an abbreviation of the company's original Berlin address, Kaiserdamm 7 (it has since relocated, first to Heidestrasse 52, and currently he ...

. ''Ancestor Boy'' was a highly collaborative project, with features from

Kelsey Lu Kelsey Elizabeth McJunkins (born May 12, 1989), known professionally as Kelsey Lu, is an American singer and cellist based in Los Angeles, California. Early life Kelsey Lu was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and had a strict Jehovah's Witness ...

Julie Byrne Julie Byrne is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist from Buffalo, New York. To date, she has released two studio albums, ''Rooms With Walls and Windows'' (2014) and ''Not Even Happiness'' (2017). Biography Early life Born and raised i ...

, Gaika, ADR, L-Vis 1990,

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various w ...

Valentina Magaletti Valentina Magaletti is a multi-genre drummer, percussionist, improviser and composer based in London. Biography Magaletti was born in Bari, Italy. She lives in London, UK. Career She has collaborated and performed with London experimental e ...

Jamie Woon Jamie Woon (born 29 March 1983) is a British singer, songwriter, and record producer signed to PMR Records. He gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single "Night Air", which was co-produced by Burial, following his previous independent rel ...

, Joao Filipe, and Bonnie Banane, plus a cover of 'Vous et Nous'' by

Brigitte Fontaine Brigitte Fontaine, (born 24 June 1939) is a singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereolab, Mich ...

and

Areski Belkacem Areski Belkacem (born 23 January 1940), also known simply as Areski, is a French singer, multi-instrumentalist, comedian and composer. Biography Areski grew up in Versailles, where his parents, of kabyle (Berber) descent, were welcoming Alge ...

. The album received critical acclaim, and was on multiple 'album of the year' lists for 2019. ''The Fifth Season,'' Lafawndah's second album was released on 8 September 2020. Once again she worked with tuba player

Theon Cross Theon Cross is a British tuba player and composer. Background Born and raised in London to a Jamaican father and Saint Lucian mother, he began taking tenor horn lessons at the age of 8, then switched to tuba when he was in his mid-teens. He stu ...

, trombonist Nathaniel Cross,

on percussion, Nick Weiss on keyboard and production, plus a guest appearance from Lala &ce. Lyrics of the lead single "You, At The End" come from a poem by the artist

Kae Tempest Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest; born 22 December 1985) is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. At the age of 16, Tempest was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in ...

, and The Fifth Season also includes a cover of ''Don't Despair'' by

Beverly Glenn-Copeland Beverly Glenn-Copeland (born 1944) is an American singer and songwriter. He has spent most of his life and career in Canada. His albums include '' Keyboard Fantasies'' (1986). Glenn-Copeland began publicly identifying as a trans man in 2002. Ea ...

. Lafawndah has had an extensive touring career, taking her theatrical live shows around the world. She has also toured with

Kelela Kelela Mizanekristos ( am, ከለላ ሚዛነክርስቶስ; born June 3, 1983) is an American singer. She made her debut in the music industry with the release of her 2013 mixtape ''Cut 4 Me.'' In 2015, she released ''Hallucinogen'', an EP ...

in both 2015 and 2017, and supported the American band

Hundred Waters Hundred Waters is an American band formed in Gainesville, Florida in October 2011, composed of Nicole Miglis (vocals, piano, flute), Trayer Tryon (production, electronics, bass) and Zach Tetreault (drums, percussion, trumpet). The group came to p ...

. In 2018 Dubois adapted her ''Honey Colony'' mixtape in to an ongoing concert experience which made its debut at the Southbank Centre, including guests such as Tirzah (feat.

Mica Levi Mica Levi (; b. 28 February 1987), also known by their stage name Micachu, is an English singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Levi is classically trained and since 2008 has released experimental pop music with their band Good Sad Happy Bad ...

and

Coby Sey Coby Sey is a British musician, songwriter, artist, vocalist and NTS Radio host, based in Lewisham, London. He has worked with musicians Tirzah, Mica Levi, DELS, Kwes, Klein, Lafawndah and London Contemporary Orchestra, artists Hannah Perry ...

), Kelsey Lu and Elheist. She has released two bootleg-style ''Honey Colony'' mixtapes to date featuring reworkings of songs around vocal stems from artists such as Klein, Kelela, Kelsey Lu,

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

, and Bonnie Banane. In addition to her own music, Lafawndah has produced and composed for brands such as Kenzo, Chanel, i-D, Courreges, and has also directed her own music videos.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs and Remix albums

Singles

Remixes

References

{{improve categories, date=August 2020 Year of birth missing (living people) Living people French musicians French people of Egyptian descent French people of Iranian descent French people of English descent