Akua Naru
the Black magnificent.
Akua Naru teams up with Brooklyn-based duo The Ruff Pack (Matthias Loescher,
Stephan Kondert) on “the Black magnificent”. A titanic collaboration which places at
the fore akua naru’s…
the Black magnificent.
Akua Naru teams up with Brooklyn-based duo The Ruff Pack (Matthias Loescher,
Stephan Kondert) on “the Black magnificent”. A titanic collaboration which places at
the fore akua naru’s classic political and poetic lyricism framed by The Ruff Pack’s
signature sonic bravado. A 7-track head nod call-to-action which dances along the
spectrum from live hip hop to soul to trap to jazz to the not yet discovered. “the Black
magnificent” speaks to akua’s focus on the power and resilience, the magnificence of
Blackness in the midst of peril. An insistence on joy and persistence despite a world
committed to the opposite. These tracks offer the audience an audio journal, a
chronicling from recent motherhood and new life to mourning the senseless loss of
those unfairly gunned down, from a demand for reparations to a need for radical acts
of tenderness, joy, and interpersonal justice in a not yet post-pandemic world. “the
Black magnificent” is more than an album or a listening moment, it’s an experience.
With the release of her 2011 debut album, “The Journey Aflame”, akua naru entered
the scene, a titanic force of Liberation politics on beats, a true wordsmith whose
music, deeply nuanced, poetic and wise, centers the experiences of Black women
through rhyme, along a sonic spectrum from Jazz to Soul. Called the “Toni Morrison
of Hip Hop” by acclaimed scholar Dr. Cornel West. akua naru’s journey, like her
debut album, has been set aflame. To date, she has released four albums: “…the
journey aflame (2011)”, “Live & Aflame Sessions (2012)”, “The Miner’s Canary
(2015)”, and “The Blackest Joy (2018).” Her current project, entitled “The Black
Magnificent”, a collaborative EP with Brooklyn-based duo The Ruff Pack, is set for
Spring 2022 release. Naru has worked with Tony Allen, Eric Benét, Angelique Kidjo,
Tuneyards, Questlove, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Christian Scott, Rah Digga, Mulatu
Astatke, Bernard Purdie, Cody ChesnuTT, and more. Known for electrifying
performances spanning across continents, She has rocked shows in more than fifty
countries across five continents with her 6-piece+ band. Her artistry is a testament to
the legacy of soul music and the powerful, trailblazing Black woman artist tradition
upon which it builds.