Aṣa

{{BLP sources|date=March 2013}} {{Short description|French-Nigerian singer (born 1982)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Aṣa | image = Aṣa Aṣa.jpg | image_size = | caption = Aṣa by Lakin Ogunbanwo, 2019 | birth_name = Bukola Elemide | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|17 September 1982}} | birth_place = Paris, France | genre = {{flatlist| * Pop * indie pop * Afrobeat }} | instrument = {{flatlist| * Vocals * guitar * piano }} | label = {{flatlist| * Naïve * RUE 11 *BMG<ref>{{cite web |title=Asa |url=https://www.bmg.com/de/artist/asa |website=BMG |access-date=1 January 2023 |language=en |date=10 February 2016}}</ref> }} | website = {{URL|http://asaofficial.com}} }} '''Bukola Elemide''' (born 17 September 1982),<ref name="Sahara2">[http://saharareporters.com/2018/10/07/theres-fire-mountain-where-asa "There's 'Fire On The Mountain'; Where Is Asa?"], ''Sahara Reporters'', 7 October 2018.</ref> known professionally as '''Aṣa''' ({{Audio|Asa_singer.wav|listen}}; {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|ʃ|ə}} {{respell|ASH|ə}}, {{IPA|yo|àʃá|lang}}, {{IPA|fr|aʃa|lang}}), is a French-Nigerian singer and songwriter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=VibeOnVibe.com.ng |date=2023-02-02 |title=Latest Asa Songs, Download Asa Music Videos |url=https://vibeonvibe.com.ng/artist/9224585009/Asa |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=VibeOnVibe.com.ng |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==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, Nigeria.<ref>{{cite web |title=Asa - Bukola Elemide |url=https://www.manpower.com.ng/people/16207/bukola-elemide |website=Man Power}}</ref> Aṣa grew up in Lagos city, in the south-western part of Nigeria, and 18 years later, returned to Paris, where her life as an artist took off.<ref name="Sahara2"/>

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. These records featuring American, Nigerian and African soul classics, included artists such as Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, King Sunny Adé, Diana Ross, Nina Simone, and Miriam Makeba. Aṣa drew inspiration from the collection of her father's playlist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=My S-xuality Is Been Questioned - Aṣa‌ |url=https://www.nigeriafilms.com/celebrity-gossips/102-sightings/55126-my-s-xuality-is-been-questioned-a-a |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=Nigeriafilms.com |language=en-gb}}</ref>

==Career== In 2004, Asa met her manager and friend, Janet Nwose,<ref>[https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Why-Asa-and-her-female-manager-are-still-best-of-friends-474422# "Why Asa and her female manager are still best of friends"] ''GhanaWeb'', 3 October 2016.</ref> who introduced her to Cobhams Asuquo, 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, 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 song "Eyé Adaba," was beginning to get airplay. Aṣa soon signed to Naïve Records. 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.<ref>Rhoads, Celeste, [https://www.allmusic.com/artist/asa-mn0001024291/biography "Artist Biography"], AllMusic.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Okiche |first=Wilfred |title=The reinvention of Aṣa, Nigeria's premier soul music diva |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/3/23/the-reinvention-of-a%e1%b9%a3a-nigerias-premier-soul-music-diva|date=23 March 2022 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

Her second album, ''Beautiful Imperfection'', 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rapisa.freeddns.org/O-l2Asa-Discography.html |title=Asa Discography |access-date=1 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921215938/http://rapisa.freeddns.org/O-l2Asa-Discography.html |archive-date=21 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Asa's third studio album, ''Bed of Stone'', 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".<ref>[https://punchng.com/video-asa-releases-new-single-after-five-year-break/ "VIDEO: Asa releases new single after five-year break"], ''Punch'' (Nigeria), 14 May 2019.</ref><ref>[https://rhythmicals.com/asa-the-beginning/ "Asa – The Beginning"], ''Rhythmicals'', 14 May 2019.</ref> On 11 September 2019, she announced on her Twitter page that her album, ''Lucid'', will be released on 11 October 2019. She released her fifth studio album, ''V'', on February 25, 2022. It comprises ten tracks and features guest appearances from Wizkid, highlife duo The Cavemen, and Ghanaian artist Amaarae.

==Discography==

===Studio albums=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|Year ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Album ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="6"|Chart positions<ref>{{cite web|url=http://acharts.us/performer/asa |title=Asa – Music Charts |publisher=Acharts.us |access-date=21 August 2014}}</ref> |- !width="60"|FRA <ref name="lescharts">{{cite web|url=http://lescharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Asa+%5BFR%5D|title=lescharts.com - Discographie Asa [FR]|first=Steffen|last=Hung|website=lescharts.com}}</ref> !width="60"|BEL <ref name="ultratop">{{cite web|url=http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Asa+%5BFR%5D|title=Discographie Asa [FR]|website=ultratop.be}}</ref> !width="60"|ESP <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spanishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Asa+%5BFR%5D&titel=Baby+Gone&cat=s|title=spanishcharts.com - Asa [FR] - Baby Gone|first=Steffen|last=Hung|website=spanishcharts.com}}</ref> !width="60"|SUI <ref>{{cite web|first=Steffen|last=Hung |url=http://www.hitparade.ch/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Asa+%5BFR%5D |title=Discographie Asa (FR) |publisher=hitparade.ch |access-date=2018-07-21}}</ref> !width="60"|US Heat <ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/280043/asa/chart|title=Asa - Chart history - Billboard|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> !width="60"|World <ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/280043/asa/chart?f=339|title=Asa - Chart history - Billboard|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> |- | style="text-align:left; "|2007 | style="text-align:left; "|''Aṣa'' | style="text-align:center; "|15 | style="text-align:center; "|81 | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|65 | style="text-align:center; "|32 | style="text-align:center; "|3 |- | style="text-align:left; "|2010 | style="text-align:left; "|''Beautiful Imperfection'' | style="text-align:center; "|14 | style="text-align:center; "|35 | style="text-align:center; "|61 | style="text-align:center; "|54 | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|3 |- | style="text-align:left; "|2014 | style="text-align:left; "|''Bed of Stone'' | style="text-align:center; "|38 | style="text-align:center; "|80 | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|64 | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— |- | style="text-align:left; "|2019 | style="text-align:left; "|''Lucid'' | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— |- | style="text-align:left; "|2022 | style="text-align:left; "|''V'' | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— | style="text-align:center; "|— |}

===Live albums=== * ''Live in Paris'' (2009) * ''Live in Lagos'' (2017)

===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; width:40px;"|Year ! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:160px;"|Title ! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|FRA <ref name="lescharts"/> ! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|BEL <ref name="ultratop"/> ! style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"|Album |- |rowspan="2"|2007 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Fire on the Mountain" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|''Aṣa (Asha)'' |- | style="text-align:left; "| "Jailer" | style="text-align:center; "| — | style="text-align:center; "| — |- |2010 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Be My Man" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| 89 | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| 76 | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"|''Beautiful Imperfection'' |- |2011 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Why Can't We" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| 94 |- |rowspan="2"|2012 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "The Way I Feel" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — |- | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Ba Mi Dele" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center;"|''Beautiful Imperfection'' (re-release) |- |2014 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Dead Again" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| 109 | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|''Bed of Stone'' |- |2015 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Eyo" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — |- |rowspan="3"|2019 | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "The Beginning" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"|''Lucid'' |- | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "Good Thing" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — |- | style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| "My Dear" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — |- |rowspan="2"|2022 |"Mayana" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center;"rowspan="2"|''V'' |- |"Ocean" | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — | style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;"| — |- |}

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

==See also== *List of Nigerian musicians

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [http://www.asaofficial.com/ Official website.]

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

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