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

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,

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

, Nigeria. Aṣa grew up in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

city, in the south-western part of Nigeria, and 18 years later, returned to Paris, where her life as an artist took off. 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 The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

. These records featuring American, Nigerian and African

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

classics, included artists such as

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

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 internationa ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

, 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 African popular music, Afropop, ja ...

. 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 language, Efik pronunciation: ) (born January 6, 1981) is a Nigerian musician, producer, and songwriter. After working as Head of Audio Productions at a local label, Questionmark Entertainment, he set up his own recording f ...

, 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...

, 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 ''Beautiful Imperfection'' is the second studio album by French-Nigerian singer Aṣa. It was released as a digital download on October 15, 2010, via the independent record label Naïve Records. Recorded in English and Yoruba, ''Beautiful Impe ...

'', 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 ''Bed of Stone'' is the third studio album by French-Nigerian singer Aṣa. It was released on 25 August 2014 through Naive Records. Recorded in the East-Sussex area in the UK, the album was co-written and produced by Blair MacKichan, a British ...

'', 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"."Asa – The Beginning"
''Rhythmicals'', 14 May 2019. 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 25 February 2022 titled "V" featuring the likes of

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), better known as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobea ...

, Nigerian highlife duo The Cavemen and Ghanaian artist

Amaarae Ama Serwah Genfi (born July 4, 1994), formerly known as Petrah and currently known professionally as Amaarae, is an Ghanaian-American singer and songwriter. She is known for her fusion of pop, R&B, afrobeats, and alté, as well as her fluid rep ...

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 The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the Mercury Music Prize, as an attempt ...

*2012: French Music Awards Victoires de la Musique nomination for "Female Artist of the Year".

References

External links

Official website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asa 1982 births Living people 21st-century French singer-songwriters Black French musicians English-language singers from France Nigerian women singer-songwriters French people of Nigerian descent French people of Yoruba descent French women singer-songwriters Singers from Paris 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters Nigerian soul musicians Nigerian guitarists Nigerian women guitarists Nigerian pianists Women pianists The Headies winners Yoruba-language singers of Nigeria Yoruba women musicians 21st-century French women singers Naïve Records artists The Headies Award for Next Rated