Songstress Somi hosted an intimate performance celebrating the release of her new album “The Lagos Music Salon” at The Cutting Room.
The album’s genre is where Africa meets Jazz. Somi’s voice has a smooth soulful and jazz texture which quickly captivated the crowd. Before every song, she gave a brief description of what influenced the lyrics and the message she wanted to transcend to her fans. Though her songs usually have powerful political messages about ongoing struggles the environment, poverty and etc., she wanted to show there was versatility also.
She sang a called “419” which uses Nigerian slang to describe a certain kind of guy that is just no good. This song had the crowd in laughter as several members of the audience were familiar with the term. Somi has an incredibly talented band so with each break between songs each member got to showcase their talent with their instruments. Dancing and grooving to the instruments of her band It wasn’t hard to see Somi was thoroughly proud of the work they have created.
The crowd was called upon by Somi to help her sing and she would effortlessly harmonize along with them. Aside from her fans the crowd had a very special guest; her mother. She took a moment to thank her mom for everything and then continued with her set. One of her major influences is soul singer Nina Simone whom she said taught her that she has to be holistic in her music and lyrics. Power house vocalist and politically aware singer Somi gave a performance to let us know she intends to be around for a while!
P.S. Common and Angelique Kidjo are featured on her album.
-Toyibat Oridami
