Akua Naru‘s 11-song LP, The Blackest Joy, is out now. Her fourth release, the record brings together a dizzying array of influences, including jazz, hip-hop, and world music in a fashion not dissimilar from the pioneering sounds of the Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron. Throughout, Naru touches on themes of femininity, empowerment and black pride. Moreover, she brings with her a message about the enduring power of the human spirit.
“Sweat” is a moving, power-packed collage of images of a life/lives filled with struggles that finds a way to lift the listener up. “Serena” celebrates tennis great Serena Williams while incorporating elements of classic hip-hop juxtaposed with haunting, memorable melodic passages. “The Offering”, which features the inimitable Mulatu Astatke, promises to be one of the most discussed moments of the collection. “Baldwin’s Crown” brings together a variety of rhythms from African and jazz to funk and soul, while the anthem of empowerment, “Made It” gets a boost from veteran artist Eric Benét.
More important than the guests here and certainly equal to the power of the statements are Naru‘s performances. She’s unwavering, fearless throughout, a voice that delivers a poignant and powerful portrait of life at this moment in history. To do so without flinching, without softening the realities, without apologizing is rare. To do so it as convincingly as Naru does here, even more so. This isn’t a statement about life in a consumerist culture on the verge of collapse, this is a dispatch from the planet Earth about a world that’s teetering on the edge of a massive evolution, one that brings with it a series of realities and anxieties, hopes and fears.
TOUR DATES
Wednesday 02 May 2018
The Fleece, Bristol, UK
Thursday 03 May 2018
The Garage, London, UK
Saturday 05 May 2018
Bevrijdingsfestival Nijmegen 2018 – Nijmegen, Netherlands
Friday 18 May 2018 – Saturday 19 May 2018
Open Air am Berg Festival 2018 – Open Air Am Berg, Eichstätt, Germany
Friday 18 May 2018 – Monday 21 May 2018
Open Ohr Festival 2018 – Zitadelle Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Sunday 20 May 2018
Kleines Haus, Bremen, Germany
Monday 21 May 2018
Privatclub, Berlin, Germany
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Schanzenzelt, Hamburg, Germany
Thursday 24 May 2018
Paard, The Hague, Netherlands
Friday 25 May 2018
TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
Thursday 21 June 2018
Katharinenruine, Nuremberg, Germany
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Vienna Sunsplash 2018
Arena Wien Open Air, Vienna, Austria
Thursday 19 July 2018 – Sunday 22 July 2018
Larmer Tree Festival 2018 – Larmer Tree Gardens, Salisbury, UK
Monday 22 October 2018
clubCANN, Stuttgart, Germany
Tuesday 23 October 2018
Brotfabrik, Frankfurt, Germany
Wednesday 24 October 2018
Jazzhaus, Freiburg, Germany
Friday 26 October 2018
Bahnhof Langendreer, Bochum, Germany
Saturday 27 October 2018
Skaters Palace, Münster, Germany
Tuesday 30 October 2018
PPC, Graz, Austria
Monday 05 November 2018
Ampere / Muffatwerk, Munich, Germany
Tuesday 06 November 2018
SO36, Berlin, Germany
Thursday 08 November 2018
Knust, Hamburg, Germany