Asa, in her own opinion, is not a commercial product and not a sex kitten. But she is dazzlingly talented and gifted with a will of iron. She began to feel the wind of success blowing in her direction. A wind strong enough to sweep her away, but that would be forgetting that Asa does, after all, mean little falcon, a nickname acquired following a running away incident in childhood. She was offered contracts, concerts and money, but Asa was determined to make her music just the way she wanted. In 2004 she met her manager, Janet, who introduced her to Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo, who in turn became her musical partner. And enabled Asa, the free spirit, to find her bearings: songs in English and Yoruba, music falling somewhere between pop and soul, inspired by her musical heritage — with particular care paid to the melodies — and reflecting the feeling she puts into it. Her texts talk about her country, the things in life, the things in her life, all delivered with feigned naivety and real irony.

“I like writing or thinking about my texts on the bus, or the molué, as we call it. 49 seats, 99 passengers standing up, as Fela described it. Everyone’s squashed up together and mini-dramas break out all the time. And, at the end of the day, we still manage to laugh, that’s where our strength lies …”

It was at this stage of her life that Asa finally returned to Paris. This was her chance to test out her talent on the French musical scene, playing with artists such as the Nubians, Manu Dibango, Doctor L and Tony Allen. In the meantime, back in Nigeria, her first single, Eye Adaba, then Jailer, were beginning to get airtime. MTV chose her as the ambassador for South Africa, her popularity was growing and, when she went back, she opened for Akon, John Legend, Beyoncé and Snoop Dogg amongst others.

Review of Asa performing at (Le) Poisson Rouge

The genre-splitting vocals and lyrically-potent songwriting of rising artist Sparlha Swa offers us an alternative music that is truly honest and evocatively so; sparse, powerful and to the point.

Sparlha’s songs are simple yet profound, soulful and resonant on the level of spirit. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, the artist pulls her inspiration from around the globe with mentors like Sade, Astrud Gilberto, Miriam Makeba and Ravi Shankar.

An independent artist, music has carried this songstress far and wide, with solo tours to Hawaii, Canada, the UK, Paris, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all across the US. In NYC, she has headlined with a full band at the Blue Note Jazz Cafe, Joe's Pub, and BAM Cafe all to audiences of standing room only.

Notable musical landmarks include being signed to Japanese label Village Again for her debut album In The Distance, 2 songs licensed (Love Addiction, Too Late) to the TV show Girlfriends, and having her music video aired on BETJ globally for 6 months. She has written score music for several independent films, including the award winning short "Pariah" which went to Sundance in January 08, and which will be developed into a feature film in the summer of ’09. In the summer of 2008 Sparlha starred in the Bill T. Jones production of Fela! Off Broadway, as Sandra Isidore alongside a phenomenal cast of dancers. The show won 5 Audelco awards and will continue in the spring of ’09.

Her discography includes a debut studio album entitled “In the Distance” released in ’04, a live record released in March of ’08 called “LIVE from NYC” and an ’03 recorded demo of home-recordings entitled “Uprising”. She is currently at work on her second studio album titled "Moongazing".