Video After The Jump
In this episode of "People's Party With Talib Kweli," Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with soul and R&B singer-songwriter:
GOAPELE
Here's what we got into:
• The South African origin of her name as well the correct pronunciation.
• Her parent's history of being activists against Apartheid.
• Collaborating with South African artists Cassper Nyovest and Hip Hop Pantsula.
• How the cultural gumbo of her upbringing in the Bay gave her a unique perspective.
• Meeting a freshly signed Kanye West at the Fillmore Concert Hall.
• Not realizing the power of her song 'Closer' at the time they recorded it.
• Her deep connection to the Hieroglyphic crew and their impact on hip hop.
• Talib's story of getting locked up with Tajai for smoking a blunt.
• Dissecting the songs 'Red, White & Blues', 'Romantic' and 'Things Don't Exist'.
• Dave Chappelle's spot-on impression of Nelson Mandella.
• The impact of Zion I Rapper Baba Zumbi on the Bay Area rap scene.
• Her experiences in the studio with E-40 and how cool a person he is.
• Having the huge privilege of being able to perform with Prince.
• Dissecting the songs 'Play', 'Tears On My Pillow' and her album 'Break Of Dawn'.
• Goapele's song 'Hush' about navigating the struggles of motherhood.
• Her 2014 album 'Strong As Glass' and Estele writing the title song.
• Working with Snoop Dogg on 'Hey Boy'.
• Goapele's song 'Perfect' about easing the pain of those in her community.
• Her reluctance to holding a snake in the music video for ' Dreamseeker'.
• The influence of Aaliyah on Goapele as an artist.
• Performing 'For Love' in Ava DuVernay's 2013 short film 'The Door'.
• Goapele's work as an ambassador for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
• Her sixth album that she's currently working on and it's pairing with scented candles.
TIME STAMPS:
2:40 -- Goapele speaks about the South African origin of her name as well the correct pronunciation. They go on to discuss Goapele and Talib's parents sharing Apartheid activist roots, her father needing to keep his activism under wraps during everyday life and eventually leaving his country illegally with a youth movement. They also discuss the brilliance of the play and film 'Sarafina!'.
8:18 -- Talib gives a shout out to Goapele's brother DJ Namane Mohlabane. They discuss the traveling man that Namane is, how Goapele met and started collabing with Cassper Nyovest, her work with South African rapper Hip Hop Pantsula on her 2010 song 'Victory', Pantsula's charisma in the studio and the small but tight-knit South African hip hop scene. Talib also gets into his own experience working with Pantsula and outlines why he reminds him of Kanye West.
13:20 -- Goapele talks about how the cultural gumbo of her upbringing in the Bay Area gave her a unique perspective as well as how the presence of so many immigrant families in the area brought her comfort. Goapele and Talib go on to discuss a gig they shared at the legendary Fillmore Concert Hall and Talib introducing Kanye West to her fresh off being signed to Roc-A-Fella. Goapele also gets into when and where she first witnessed the true power of music as well as when she realized show business was her calling.
20:16 -- Talib brings up Goapele's hit single 'Closer'. They discuss the song being the last one recorded for her album, her not realizing what it would mean for her career, the flow of her writing process and having reservations about the completeness of that first album. They also talk about Zion I producer AMP Live producing the instrumental, going to his home studio and knowing what they had when the vibe took over as well as how rare it was at the time for a song released independently to reach so many ears so quickly.
28:52 -- Goapele goes into her deep connection to the Hieroglyphic crew. They discuss the Heiro movement being a blueprint for the independent artist, the lineage of Bay Area independent artists that made their mark and how The Hieroglyphics impacted Talib as a Brooklyn emcee with the competitive energy that they brought to the table. Talib goes on to tell a story of him smoking a blunt with Tajai of Souls Of Mischief in New York, them being arrested for it and how they convinced the cops to let them out of jail.
34:21 -- Goapele speaks on the guitar work of 'Red, White & Blues', getting in the studio with DJ Fuze of Digital Underground and collabing with Soulive on 'Romantic'. They also discuss Dave Chappelle's spot-on impression of Nelson Mandella on Reflection Eternal's 'Train Of Thought', the Blue Note jazz vibe of 'Things Don't Exist', originally writing the song for a school assignment and all the people that had a hand in making that song come together.
39:16 -- Goapele gets into the impact of Zion I Rapper Baba Zumbi on the Bay Area rap scene, witnessing his captivating energy on stage and knowing he was an artist that she had to work with. She also talks about her experiences working with E-40, how cool of a person he is as well as how organic those recording sessions were. They go on to discuss E-40's wine franchise, his influence on Nipsey Hussle, how consistent 40 has been throughout his career and him telling Goapele that he likes to put out something every nine months like a baby.
44:55 -- Talib brings up his and Goapele both having the privilege of being able to perform with Prince. They talk about how much Prince influenced Goapele's music, Prince's favorite songs of Goapele's and meeting him being a true highlight of her life. Goapele's song 'Play' having James Brown influence is discussed along with 'Tears On My Pillow' letting her embrace her sensuality, 2011's 'Break Of Dawn' being her coming into adulthood album and how helpful it is to have an engineer that fully understands you as an artist.
50:39 -- Goapele's song 'Hush' is brought up and it's themes of navigating parenthood. Goapelle speaks of her realizing that motherhood would be a continued learning process, the deep struggles of finding how to balance being a mother with a demanding career, feeling pressure not to miss a single moment of the early years and evolving to the point of less self-imposed guilt trips about enjoying time by herself. They also discuss the level of pressure brought on by society that mothers face, but fathers rarely have to experience.
55:38 -- Goapele is asked what it was like working on the 2012 film 'Sparkle' which also featured Whitney Houston. Goapele talks about Whitney being her idol since early childhood and how her involvement in the film was a full circle moment. They go on to discuss Goapele's 2014 album 'Strong As Glass', Estelle writing the title song, it's mix of passion and vulnerability as well as themes of women being taken advantage of. They also get into her song 'Hey Boy' featuring Snoop Dogg and how much fun she had getting the chance to work with the West Coast legend.
1:00:00 -- Goapele's song 'Perfect' is discussed and it's lyrics about easing the pain of those that have lost loved ones to violence. They also talk about 'Dreamseeker', her reluctance to hold a snake in the music video and the influence of Aaliyah on Goapele as an artist. Goapele goes on to talk about performing 'For Love' in Ava DuVernay's 2013 short film 'The Door', the power of Ava's work, how she brings humanity to every project and how much her presence in the industry is needed.
1:06:32 -- Talib Goapele and Jasmin discuss the Red Rocks Amphitheater and Goapele's work as an ambassador for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation with one of her original goals being to connect people and promote positive change through her music. Goapele goes on to tell about her sixth album that she's currently working on featuring a pair of scented candles with a scan-code that will connect with select songs.
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