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GOAPELE
"What I really appreciate about the music that I grew up to is that I feel like I can play those albums now and still hear something new. It's still relevant. That's how I want my music to be perceived. It's what I strive for." - Goapele
Goapele (pronounced "gwa-pa-lay") is a multi-faceted artist whose lyrical themes range from political activism to romantic sensuality to deep spiritual truths, while her music combines elements of soul, hip-hop, jazz and rhythm and blues into a smooth and seductive blend uniquely her own.
Her debut album, Even Closer, began as a ten-song EP (entitled "Closer") that Goapele and her family distributed as an independent release in 2001, eventually selling 3,000 copies based on ecstatic word-of-mouth endorsements and her growing reputation as an incandescent live performer.
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In 2002, Goapele reworked her now highly collectible debut EP, adding five new songs, and, along with her brother, Namane, and Theo Rodrigues, formed the indie label Skyblaze for the purpose of distributing Even Closer.
The indie version of Even Closer was an immediate regional hit, at one point outselling 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin in the Bay Area. The album's indie incarnation has, to date, SoundScanned more than 60,000 units and climbed into the Top 100, reaching #63 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A three-star review of Even Closer in Rolling Stone, who singled out Goapele as one of its "Ten Artists To Watch," praised her distinct vocal sensibility calling Goapele "a balance of steamrolling Chaka Khan power and yoga-girl suppleness that's full of promise." Billboard invoked Nina Simone and Sade as influences while stressing that, "This classic chanteuse-in-the-making is definitely her own woman of substance."
While Even Closer brought Goapele to her initial nationwide attention, audiences continued to pack into clubs ranging from New York's famed S.O.B's to the Bay Area's fabled Fillmore Auditorium and Yoshi's, where her debut run sold out four shows in two nights.
In its review of her live performances, the San Francisco Chronicle noted that Goapele is a "petite songstress with a voice that can fill a stadium. She has been gaining popularity here as an elegant romantic who weaves poetic narratives. The introspective and airy vocals combined with sassy grooves make Goapele a bit of an urban music anomaly.” The rising star ran though a repertoire that borrowed as much from African stars such as Miriam Makeba as it did Stevie Wonder, Sade and Nina Simone. The evening's highlight came with a bilingual rendition of "Soweto Blues," a hybrid of jazz and African styles that featured three South African vocalists and a conga player tearing up the stage while Goapele urged the audience to sing along in a celebration of self-determination.
Perhaps it is the local Bay Area publication, Urban View, which best summed up Goapele's artistry, "Her vocals shatter souls, leaving audiences begging for more. She can vocally capture the heart of anyone."
She possesses one of the most alluring and powerful voices within the new soul genre, injecting her poignant words with both soul and substance. As an artist, a performer and an individual, Goapele is an outspoken non-conformist. Perhaps her bloodline/lineage itself helped forge her non-conformity. She is the daughter of a New York-born Jewish mother and South African father who met in Nairobi, Kenya. "What those two cultures faced historically forced my brother and I to be sensitive toward various cultural and social issues," she says. "These issues were important, and interwoven into our everyday lives. Even our musical tastes were diverse. We listened to Sweet Honey and the Rock and Nina Simone, as well as South African music such as Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba which was banned in South Africa at the time."
The guitar-laced groove, "Romantic," was also featured on Soulive's album, "Doin' Somethin'" (Blue Note Recordings). "All of my lyrics come out truthful experiences that I've had," she confesses, "a journal entry or maybe a melody in my head that stemmed into something. It's really important to me that I stay true to myself and write lyrics that I believe in."
Collaborating with a bevy of musical craftsmen that includes Amp Live from Zion I (Mystic, Linkin Park), Digital Underground's DJ Fuze, Pep Love of the Hieroglyphics, Eric Krasno of Soulive, Mike Tiger (The Coup, Martin Luther). Goapele has created the perfect paradigm of Urban Soul on Even Closer. She wrote the lyrics to every song and even co-produced several cuts. Goapele joined Michael Franti and his band, Spearhead, on the group's world tour in the summer of 2001, which included an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman." She has also shared the stage with India Arie, Alicia Keys, Donell Jones, Amel Larrieux, Martin Luther, Erykah Badu, Common, Mystic, Talib Kweli, Ledisi, Jaguar, Jazzy Jeff, The Roots, Jazzyfatnastees and The Hieroglyphics, as well as opened for the MTV2 Sisters of Soul concert.
In a "Best of The Bay" cover story, San Francisco Magazine acknowledged, "Goapele is so clearly bound for the big time that even saying she will soon be a star sounds like a cliché" while fellow artist Jazzy Jeff said, "If you're looking for someone who will touch your soul...look no further, she touched mine." In addition, she was featured on Hieroglyphic's song "Soweto," the single from the album One Big Trip. The video can be seen on MTV and MTV2. Goapele was recently nominated for the 2003 California Music Award for Outstanding R&B album.
Goapele--who was influenced by music from Stevie Wonder, Etta James, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and Prince as well as by community, political and social issues--would like to further develop as an artist, vocalist and musician. As a small child, she used her family and friends as her practice audience, singing and performing complimentary shows, steadily fine-tuning her musical chops. During her teenager years, she began singing acapella at community events and, at 14, joined the Oakland Youth Chorus. Toward the end of high school, the songstress decided to pursue music as a professional career, enrolling in the highly competitive and prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. From there, Goapele began recording, performing and collaborating with various musicians and artists circulating her talent and name.
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