* Akua Naru in Zurich *

gimme a beat with babymonster

Several years ago, I remember watching Akua Naru's video: The World Is Listening. And writing her name down to check her out. But years passed and even with the note, regretfully, I forgot to do that.Then one day last year, on my way home from work, totally drained and exhausted, I was passing by the stand with the posters and one of them caught my eye and something about it demanded my immediate attention.I recognised the name and this time I didn't forget.As soon as I got home I start googling Akua Naru and absorbing all the info I could find and of course, listening to her music.I feel in love instantly with her (previous) album Live & Aflame Session. The videos available on the website impressed me even more. Since the poster that I saw in the town was for her upcoming gig, seeing her was now marked in my calendar. And more I read about Akua, more curious I was not only to see and hear her, but to get an opportunity for an interview as well. To add to all the excitement, only one day before the concert, her album: The Miner's Canary came out.From the first look, even before listening to it, the album mesmerized me with its cover (created by Tamara Natalie Madden) and impressed me with various collaborations: Georgia Anne Muldrow, Cody ChesnuTT, Dr Tricia Rose and few others as well as with the one song with the title assuming Toni Morrison dedication. And after listening it for the first time, with focus on Akua Naru rhymes, it made me wonder if the name of the album is anything to do with The Miner's Canary, interesting book that I came across few years ago.Fortunately for me, and listeners of the Gimme a Beat, I had a chance to get an answer to most of the questions when I sat down for an interview with this talented, powerful woman, herself shortly before she took over the stage at Moods.During the interview I was captivated by the female power that comes out of every pore of Akua's being. It felt like this talented poet carries the energy of her female ancestors and all the women that raised and inspired her during her upbringing. I believe that this created the self confident base for her life and gave her strength to follow her dreams, to explore the world and herself, and to become an artist and the woman that she is today. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For the whole story and interview, music from The Miner's Canary and Live & Aflame Session, impressions of the gig at Moods, tune in tonight (16.03.2015) for ...Akua Naru in Zurich with playlist and click-to-play playlistFrom 22:00 - 00:00:web radio on radio LoRaFeaturing:akua naru on the youtubeKisses,Babymonster---------------------------------------------for more info please go to: previous entries