Asa's 'Dreamer Girl' Shows Her Imperfections



When Nigerian-Parisienne Asa (pronounced Asha) burst on the scene in '08, it was with the socially conscious one-two punch of "Jailer" and "Fire on the Mountain." Her music transcended language -- with some of her Yoruba-language tracks becoming the most popular from Lagos to London. As a result, two continents, years into a crippling Lauryn Hill withdrawal, heralded the young, bespectacled dread-head as Hill's heir-apparent.
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Sure, she got some flack when she returned with sophomore effort Beautiful Imperfection, due for release in the United States on September 6th. From the frothy retro pop-soul single "Be My Man" to the album art, shot by famed French fashion photographer Jean Baptiste Mondino, many wondered if she had gone pop-mainstream. (Although, let's be real -- she's in no danger of looking like a cookie-cutter pop star either.) But it was probably with a powerful cautionary tale like Lauryn in mind, that Asa plotted this next phase of her career. By taking a slightly less weighty direction with her new music, she nipped the burgeoning savior expectations in the bud, allowing herself to try, fail, and try again without holding the integrity of millions of the vicariously soulful in her hands.

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Her new single "Dreamer Girl" is one such failure. To be sure, it's not without its charm. But it pales woefully next to much of the first album or even gems like "The Way I Feel" on the far inferior Imperfection. It's a cute, hopeful song with an appealingly propulsive horn-and-drum section. But it, as my musical mirror-image often says, could have been recorded by Ginuwine.

Somehow, I don't think Asa would take that as a compliment.

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Asa: "Dreamer Girl"

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