Goapele

today while at the grocery store i realized how easy it is for anyone to realize a true song.

some what you would say thug ass negroes were playin "CLOSER" by goapele. as they got out the car i realized that everybody i know practically loves this song & dont know anything about goapele & What she stands for as if they care. Goapele has been ia strong musical influence in my life since about 2002, I Just felt the soul in her voice & soaked it up, as well as another musical influence of mine amel laurriex, shes a topic for another day.

Goapele Mohlabane pernounced gwah-puh-LAY is an american soul singer and r&b singer-songwriter.Her name means to go forward in twansa, a south-african language.Goapele was born in Berkeley, California, to an Israeli Jewish mother and a Black South African father who was a political exile. They married in Nairobi, Kenya. She grew up listening to Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Zulu Spears, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday. Goapele attended the Berkeley Arts Magnet School in Berkeley, California. During these years, she joined several groups that fought racism and sexism. She also sang in the Oakland Youth Chorus and joined a group called Vocal Motion. After graduating high school, Goapele attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied music theory.

In 2001, after self-releasing her debut album, Closer, her family founded Skyblaze Recordings to oversee her musical career. In 2002, she released her first nationally distributed album, Even Closer, featuring the single "Closer," through Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings. "Closer" was also featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 movie Honey. In 2004, Columbia/SME Records picked up Skyblaze Recordings for worldwide distribution and rereleased the album with additional tracks. She co-wrote and co-produced the entire album, which is a mixture of neo-soul, trip-hop, lieder, and jazz. She also toured North America with the band Spearhead. sold more than 150,000 units and climbed into the Top 100, reaching #63 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.}}

Her second album Change it All, featuring the single "First Love," was released December 2005 and sold more than 13,000 copies in the first week. To date, it has sold more than 85,000 units. Goapele appeared on Soul Train to promote the album in May 2006; as it stands, she is the last artist to appear on the program, as immediately after the episode aired, Soul Train went into reruns. She has also appeared on The Orlando Jones Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and FOX Good Day Atlanta. Her first three releases have garnered praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Nylon, Interview, Marie Claire, Billboard, Essence and Vibe. She has appeared on the covers of local Bay Area publications San Francisco Magazine, SF Bay Guardian, Mugshot and City Flight, was named #5 artist to watch in Rolling Stone Magazine, made the countdown on MTV’s “Top 10 Artists To Watch” and collaborated with ALDO Shoes’ advertisement campaign in their fight against HIV/AIDS featuring artists Avril Lavigne, Ludacris, Dave Navarro, Charlize Therron, Pink, Eve, Rosario Dawson, Eva Mendes, Bow Wow, Ziggy Marley and Kelly Rowland.

In Winter 2008 Goapele will release a Live DVD, filmed at the Great American Music Hall which was the original historical French restaurant, a legendary jazz club after World War II and a contemporary nightspot for Bay Area elite which has showcased luminaries such as Duke Ellington, the Grateful Dead and Robin Williams. The DVD will spotlight Goapele alongside her live instrumentalists who comprise the band “The Heat” in a 10-song performance including original tracks and her rendition of classics.
She is currently in the studio recording songs for her third album (yet untitled). She is working with producers including Krucial Keys and Bedrock.

(via wikipedia)