Even when talking about the early days of her career, when people were trying to turn her into a Britney-ish pop-tart, Ayo can’t help but erupt into a contagious cascade of giggles. Typical. The 27-year-old boho beauty’s name means “joyful” in Yoruba. And over the phone, a continent away, her playful spirit is unmistakable.
“It’s so beautiful watching your family playing on the playground and having nothing in your schedule,” says the guitar-cradling soul singer, calling in from a park bench in Germany. She just wrapped up a month long European tour that took her to France, Belgium, and Switzerland, and she’s milking every second of her time at home. She interrupts the conversation for a moment to smooch her 2-year-old son, Nile — “like the river” — who runs over from the swings “just to get a little cuddle.”
A self-proclaimed nomad who’s lived everywhere from Paris to New York City, Ayo is the product of a Nigerian dad, a onetime DJ, and a Romaniain gypsy mom. Her music has the soulful-yet-folksy flavor of Corinne Bailey Rae, but with a dash more sadness. On her first single, “Down On My Knees,” her voice flutters delicately over Tracy Chapman-esque strumming and dips playfully in and out of African acoustic renderings. “I never wrote these songs to put them on a record,” she claims. “I had to write them in order to grow. I started playing music for selfish reasons — it’s what makes life pleasant for me.”
Her debut, Joyful (Universal), a gorgeous collection of billowy ballads, was initially released overseas and has already gone double platinum in France and platinum in Poland. It caught the ear of Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine, who, while traveling in Paris, asked Ayo to a restaurant where he was dining. She performed for him amid tables and chairs.
Ayo’s never not at ease. “I feel more like a citizen of the world. I could feel at home anywhere,” she says, as she watches her son soaring in a swing. “At first I was escaping — now it’s more like freedom.”
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Comments
1.
tipsy-1 says:
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You Made Me Proud Olutosin Olasoji From Nigeria.
August 14, 2008 at 5:04 pm