ASA:brilliant,inspirimg and,unsexy!

“There is fire on the mountain and nobody seems to be on the run”, this line from fire on the mountain, a single from her debut album summarizes her musical philosophy. Asa is a mix of shade Adu, Tracy Chapman and Erika Badu, combining a sultry voice and philosophical penning skills with an unconventional attractiveness. She defies all odds by diving into the Nigerian music mainstream without selling out! In a society where most ladies depend on baring it all to excel, Asa maintains decorum and still shines. She sings romance without obscenity and revolution without violence. Her lyrics are so conscious you can almost see them moving.

Asa was born in Paris, as Bukola Elemide 27 years ago. Her musical career has progressed in leaps and jumps since her flop at the 2002 edition of star quest, where the judges thought her not impressive enough. She defied the seeming failure and moved on with her career. The name Asa means “hawk”. In 2004 she hooked up with Janet, who became her friend and manager. Shortly after, the connection brought in prolific producer, Cobhams Asuquo and together with other talented artistes, she nestled with Questionmark Entertainment.

As Asa began to soar as an artiste, her music career became her utmost priority, “my guitar is my boy friend”, she told a popular magazine. She worked very hard on her debut album that was supposed to be released on the Questionmark imprint. But things turned sour between her and Kevin Luciano, the Q- mark boss. There were accusations and counter accusations; a split was the only way out apparently. Asa took off to Paris, where she hooked up with Naïve records, on whose platform she released her debut album “Asa” an eponym of herself in December, 2007. The album won critical acclaim both in Europe and Nigeria. In the words of James Silas of HWM, “it is sonorously rendered with a captivating aura that extends the thin line between a good and fairly delivered album”. She credits the production of the album to sound genius, Cobhams Asuquo, along side Benjamin Constant, Sebastian Viguier and Christophe Duporuy (not Duggary you football freaks!) who all gave their best to the ground breaking joint.

The album speaks directly to our consciousnesses. The jazzy instrumentals and the soulful singing are inspiration and lifting. We don’t have to go the 360 degrees to know that there is fire on the mountain, but no one knows tomorrow! Her love ballads, bring us from far away to see things fall down the drain, so let’s be careful when someone comes to say “I love you” or we could end up like “Bibanke”. At the end we are more in tune with what music is all about.

POST SCRIPT.

I watched her perform live at TINAPA on Easter Sunday and was left with locked jaws like tetanus. She had a full orchestra to back her up, very professional! I have never seen any Nigerian act with such a band before. Despite the distance from Calabar main town the hall was packed. I doff my hat for her.