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Goapele headlines at Highline Ballroom
The jazz, soul, and hip-hop, and poetic singer and songwriter Goapele hit the stage at Highline Ballroom on Friday, July 9. 2015. Surprising fans was “Power” star Omari Hardwick, who greeted the birthday girl, who turns 38 today.
The pair collaborated to pen her latest single, “Strong as Glass,” from the album of the same name. Goapele recently told fans at this year’s Essence Festival, “Omari is an incredible actor and phenomenal songwriter as well. He’s talented and charismatic.”
Goapele, which means to move forward in Setswana, a Southern African language, is a native of Oakland, California. The soul singer’s passion is influenced by her South African father and New York-born Israeli Jewish mother. Her father who was exiled from South Africa during Apartheid and mother who has been an activist since 12, inspired Goapele to be a voice for change at a young age.
She also shared what is was like working other artists like Eric Benét and Estelle on the album, Strong as Glass, “A lot of times when I was first writing on my album, it was a lot of me with my journal, or sitting with the producers and writing lyrics on my own, which is an honest expression of where I was at. But, it’s also cool to collaborate with other artists and bounce ideas off of each other. It takes the pressure off and also helps makes something a bit stronger.”
