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Akua Naru

  • YouTube - Black Circle

USA/GER

“This lady is the keeper of the cool flow.” 

TONY ALLEN


Regarded as “a carrier of the torch for Global Black Culture” Akua Naru grew inspiration from her hip hop childhood where she began spittin’ lyrics about social issues at a young age. Gaining attention through a metaphor and rhyme scheme a young Naru, drew influence from a range of truth tellers from the emotional piano ballads that framed the powerful messages of Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield to the soulful and raw beats and rhymes that carried the (messages) of Lauryn Hill and the poetry of Ursula Rucker.


From the local and familiar atmosphere that nurtured a young emcee in New Haven (USA) came the global traveler, AKUA NARU, who has used her experiences living in America, Asia, Europe, and traveling Africa, and the Middle East, to document a unique and lyrical story of the human condition that raises the bar of excellence for mainstream hip hop.


Akua Naru’s latest release ‘The Miner’s Canary’ (Feb 2015), has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. The album, recorded live over a two year period, boasts an amazing cast of talented and accomplished features which assist in freeing its musical landscape from the single genre of hip hop to settle between soul, blues, and jazz. The music, produced almost entirely by Akua Naru, provides an emotional frame for Naru’s consistently political, multi-layered, haunting, and insightful lyricism.
  

 

Press:

“When I saw Akua’s live performance of “The Journey Aflame,” my soul said “wow.” With the perfect verses over the perfect beats, she reminds you of what you already know about enduring racism, misogyny, and greed: this shit is killing us. As real as it gets, Akua’s music is also full of hope, bliss and love – especially self-love. My favorite lyrics from “The Mo(u)rning” is “self-love is the very first romance.” Kathryn Buford in Live  Unchained

“Clearly, her music and performances are a testament to the legacy of soul music and the powerful trailblazing female artist tradition on which it builds.”

Rinarini in Last.FM

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