Asa has succeeded in making fans stay concerned about her music while nothing very little about her person, or rephrase as her personal life never making the news (well, that’s besides the rumours of she having a lesbian affair with her manager, which she has slammed and in the same interview – she described her dream man). Here are 10 things about Asa and we can bet, 1 if not 10 of them are things you don’t know.
1. Asa means “Hawk” but her birth name is Bukola Elemide
2. Asa was born in France before relocating to Nigeria with her parents at the age of 2
3. As a kid, Asa listened to Juju, Apala, Blues, Afro beat, and Raggae; trying them out and gradually forming her own musical sense from these influences.
4. She attended and finished her secondary education at Federal Government College, Jos.
5. She is the only female of four children. “It is normal for an African girl to take up the mother role; you are trained to be responsible. But I am a free soul, and I spent a long time fighting for freedom.”
6. “Asa has just grown; I missed out when I was a teen because I was so into my own world,” she says.
7. She relocated to coastal Badagry, on the outskirts of Lagos State, to study music. This time, she says, was six months well spent mastering the guitar.
8. She won the 2008 Prix Constantin for French new talent.
9. Asa sees her Nigerian upbringing as the inspiration for her musical success. “I learnt morals and a compassion that I would not have had growing up in Europe. In Nigeria, you learn to improvise, to become a survivor. My family went through phases of tough times, Nigeria toughens you that way. You learn to think.”
10. She has been nominated for Best Female Act at Victoires de la Musique (French Music Awards);
