Two years at the Berklee College of Music, where she sang in a Jamesīrown ensemble that also featured keyboardist Jeff Bhasker, who would Time she had a sound unlike most other vocalists, influenced both byĬlassic soul and by the Miriam Makeba records that she listened to as aĪ few interesting twists of fortune led to Goapele’s rise. She sang herįirst local hit, “Childhood Drama,” over the Super Cat song “Dolly Myīaby” (a dancehall track based on a Headhunters sample). Where she would croon over other people’s instrumentals. Singing in Oakland Youth Chorus and making cameos at Local 1200 shows, Group EYES (Empowered Youth Educating Society), which led social As teens, they did community activism with the youth Shopper.” Her older brother Namane was a DJ associated with the popularĬrew Local 1200. Village, which, Goapele says, was where she became “a passionate Her mother co-owned aīoutique and cultural center on 40th and Telegraph called the Urban Oakland to a Jewish mother and South African father, she spent herĬhildhood moving throughout Oakland and Berkeley. Granted, the singer didn’t always have a pool of money and resources Goapele will perform August 7 at the East Bay Express Best of the East Bay party at the Oakland Museum of California.But when the label failed to promote her, she canceled her contract in 2006. When Goapele signed with Sony in 2004, she had already sold 70,000 rcords.Brother Namane Mohlabane (foreground) and Theo Rodrigues have crafted a well-oiled marketing machine that has allowed the singer to prosper outside the major-label apparatus.Industry, Skyblaze seems inured to the effects of a bad economy and the At a time of mass bloodletting in the record New live music venue on San Pablo Avenue, in the building that once Is partnering with San Francisco club owner Michael O’Connor to open a Release the singer’s third album in October. Skyblaze Recordings, has remained thoroughly intact and is poised to But much of it can be credited to a homegrownīusiness model that benefitted her more than her major-label deal with Partly to an unusual vocal style that blends African influences withĪmerican R&B. Goapele’s success owes partly to her mysterious, Delphic persona and Well-put-together cottage industry backing her up. Still a couple of years awayįrom inking a deal with Sony, the young singer had an extremely Goapele had even broken the glass ceilingĪt 106 KMEL, appearing on the Chuy Gomez morning show and garneringįrequent radio play at a time when Bay Area artists were all but Several thousand units of her debut album, Closer, and become an She also stood right on the cusp of fame, having sold Unconventional way: long and narrow, with wiry braids and pristineįacial symmetry. Seven years ago, Goapele Mohlabane would flit in and out of hip-hop
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