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Claudius Afolabi Siffre
(born 25 June 1945)
is a British singer, songwriter and
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
. Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. His best known compositions include "
It Must Be Love" which reached number 14 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in 1971 (a song later covered by the ska band
Madness),
"
Crying Laughing Loving Lying
''Crying Laughing Loving Lying'' is a 1972 release by Labi Siffre.
All songs were written, performed and produced by Labi Siffre. The album was recorded at Chappell Studios in London.
The record contains two of Labi's best known songs: " It Must ...
", and "
(Something Inside) So Strong
"(Something Inside) So Strong" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre. Released as a single in 1987, it was one of the biggest successes of his career, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.
The song was ...
"—an
anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK charts. The latter song won Siffre the
Ivor Novello Award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
for
Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...
, and it has been used in
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
campaigns.
His music has been sampled extensively by US rappers such as
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
,
and
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
. Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play ''Deathwrite'' and three volumes of poetry: ''Nigger'', ''Blood on the Page'', and ''Monument''.
In 2022, his life and work was explored in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
series ''
Imagine
Imagine may refer to:
* Imagination
Music Albums
* ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008
* ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002
* ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012
* ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971
** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
'', under the title, ''Labi Siffre: This Is My Song''.
Early life and education
Claudius Afolabi Siffre
was born as the fourth of five children at
Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital
Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital is one of the oldest maternity hospitals in Europe, founded in 1739 in London. Until October 2000, it occupied a site at 339–351 Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith, but is now located between East Acton and White ...
in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
...
, London to a British mother of mixed
Barbadian and
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
descent and a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
father. Siffre was brought up in
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
and
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
and educated at a Catholic independent day school,
St Benedict's School, in
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Ealing was histor ...
,
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...
. Despite his
Catholic education Catholic education may refer to:
* Catholic school, primary and secondary education organised by the Catholic Church or organisations affiliated with it
* Catholic university, private university run by the Catholic Church or organisations affilia ...
, Siffre has stated that he has always been an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
.
He studied music at the Eric Gilder School of Music in
Wardour Street
Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, London, Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the ...
, Soho. Gilder is remembered with gratitude in his poem "education education education". After leaving school, Siffre worked as a taxi driver and a deliveryman before deciding to concentrate on music.
He moved to
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
, France, where he played guitar with various soul musicians and bands, but returned to the UK in the late 1960s.
Musical career
Siffre played jazz guitar at
Annie Ross
Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 193021 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
Early life
Ross was born in Surr ...
's jazz club in
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, London in the 1960s as part of a
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
, guitar, drums house band.
He released six albums between 1970 and 1975. In the early 1970s, three of his singles became hits: "
It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971, and performed the song on the BBC’s ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'') (later
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by and a No. 4 hit for
Madness,
for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "
Crying Laughing Loving Lying
''Crying Laughing Loving Lying'' is a 1972 release by Labi Siffre.
All songs were written, performed and produced by Labi Siffre. The album was recorded at Chappell Studios in London.
The record contains two of Labi's best known songs: " It Must ...
" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972).
In 1978, Siffre took part in the heats to represent the UK in the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
. He performed his own composition "Solid Love", which placed fifth of the twelve songs up for consideration at the
A Song for Europe
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
contest. Additionally, he co-wrote the song "We Got It Bad" performed by Bob James, which came tenth.
Siffre came out of self-imposed retirement from music in 1985, when he saw a television film from
Apartheid South Africa
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
showing a white soldier shooting at black children. He wrote "
(Something Inside) So Strong
"(Something Inside) So Strong" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Labi Siffre. Released as a single in 1987, it was one of the biggest successes of his career, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.
The song was ...
" (No. 4, 1987)
which he also performed on ''Top of the Pops'', and released four more albums between 1988 and 1998.
Multiple parts of Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." were sampled in popular
hip hop songs in the 1990s, most notably in the 1999 Eminem single "
My Name Is
"My Name Is" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his second album ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999). It is also the opening song and lead single of the album. The song samples British singer Labi Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." as a bass and g ...
".
As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2006.
The song was featured again in the 8th episode of the 5th season of ''
Better Call Saul
''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...
'', titled "
Bagman
The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries.
One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808.
In Australian usage, ...
".
Siffre's 1972 track "My Song", the tenth track on his junior album ''Crying Laughing Loving Lying'', was sampled by
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
on the song "I Wonder" off his third album ''
Graduation
Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...
''.
In February 2022, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast ''Labi Siffre: This Is My Song'', as part of the ''