"What I really appreciate about the music that I grew up listening to is that I can put it on now and still hear something new. It's still relevant. That's how I want my music to be perceived. It's what I strive for." -Goapele

She possesses a most alluring and powerful voice that defies categorization, injecting poignant words with both soul and substance. She doesn't need to rely on technical wizardry because her voice is its own instrument all within itself. It's quietly Seductive, Sexy, Galvanizing and Sweet.

In an industry that advocates monotony, Goapele, perhaps because of her cultural heritage, is a non-conformist. Her New York-born Jewish mother and exiled South African political activist father met and married while in Nairobi, Kenya. "What those two cultures faced historically forced me and my brother to be sensitive toward various cultures and social issues. These issues were not only important, but the focus of our everyday lives. Our musical tastes were diverse. We listened to Sweet Honey in the Rock and Nina Simone, as well as South African music such as Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba whose music was banned in South Africa during that time of Apartheid."

For a woman whose name means 'to go forward' in Setswana, the South African language of her grandmother, Goapele lives her name. The Bay Area native's debut album, Closer, a 9-song promotional disc was distributed to various industry executives and music outlets, yielding an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response. Adding 5 new original songs to the debut, resulted in her highly anticipated sophomore effort, Even Closer, a 14-track album on SkyBlaze Recordings, the label she co-owns ("I enjoy being a part of the whole process every step of the way"). The poised artist delivers testimony-driven, emotionally aching yet uplifting and candidly charged classic cuts to soul music junkies who fiend for organic gutbucket vocals and raw bass lines. King Magazine says that "Goapele is a sista with a throat full of molasses and a timbre touched with the greatness of Ella, Phyllis and Sade." While Mugshot Magazine recognizes that "Urban soul is being redefined by a gorgeous, intelligent and down to earth new voice....Goapele's range is extensive...She innovates a vocal vessel, drawing on the breathlessness of Sade and the soul of Nina Simone to tell the story of a new breed of diva."

Goapele brilliantly executes compositions with heart wrenching harmonies and a smooth as pearl delivery. "Closer," the first single is a multi-layered inspiring track which effortlessly spirals her superb lyrics and velvety voice around carefree bass laden beats instantly garnering her respect for skillfully uniting hip-hop, jazz, R and B and melodic soul. "Closer was the last song I recorded for that album as a way to let the album go, knowing I could only control what I put into my music, not how it would be received. When I hear it or sing it, I still feel all the emotions I felt when I wrote it." The charismatic rising star shines luminously on the old school Rhythm and Blues, Hammond B3 organ laced groove, "Romantic," which is an ode to her passionate boyfriend for all the exceptional things he does and has done. This song was also featured on Soulive's album, Doin' Somethin' (Blue Note Recordings). "All of my lyrics are based on truthful experiences. Many of the songs began as journal entries. Sometimes what gets lost in the pop world is that the music doesn't reflect the artist's real life. It's very important to me that I stay true to myself and I'm writing lyrics that I believe in." The track, "Things Don't Exist," dramatically reveals Goapele's depth and range atop light piano chords with jazz flavored acoustics, while she expressively wails on "Salvation," walking the avant-garde line between her spiritual and cultural roots. One of the most striking and thought-provoking tracks on Even Closer is the anti-war song, aptly titled "Red, White and Blues". In the days following 9/11, Goapele needed to comment on the shortsightedness of the media's repeated message that in order to be patriotic, we must seek revenge through war, while simultaneously expressing her feelings for those who had lost their lives and families that day, as well as on so many other days, and in so many other ways. With this challenge, she and producer Mike Tiger went into the studio and created a song that is equally disturbing, reflective, and uplifting.

Collaborating with a bevy of musical craftsmen that includes Amp Live from Zion I (Mystic, Linkin Park), Digital Underground's DJ Fuze, Pep Love of the Hieroglyphics, Soulive and Eric Krasno, Mike Tiger (The Coup, Martin Luther), Jeff Bhasker (Lettuce, Kudu), Johnson (KNT, E40) and Sunmoon (Moonraker).... Goapele has created the perfect blend of Urban Soul. She either wrote or co-wrote every song and even co-produced several cuts. "Although people want to categorize my music, I feel there is such a wide range of music represented on the CD that ultimately I resist confining myself to any of the traditional categories."

Sheer artistic talent, discipline and a busy schedule have led to Goapele's success and a string of engagements that include being invited by Michael Franti to sing with his band, Spearhead on their world tour in the spring and summer of 2001, which included an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. She has also performed on stage with Mystic, India.Arie, Alicia Keys, Donnell Jones, Amel Larrieux, Martin Luther, Ledisi, Jaguar, The Roots, Jazzyfatnastees and The Hieroglyphics, as well as for the MTV2 Sisters of Soul concert. The East Bay Express says that "There's definitely something different about this 24-year-old Oakland-born-and-based singer-songwriter" while The San Francisco Bay Guardian, hails her as an "emerging rising star in the Bay Area's urban music community." In addition, she is featured on the new Hieroglyphic's song "Soweto," the single from the DVD/CD compilation; One Big Trip which features other artists such as Dialated Peoples, Del the Funky Homosapian, The Alkaholics, Royce the 5'9, Jurassic 5 and more.

At this particular juncture, the dread-headed beauty who was influenced as equally by music from Stevie Wonder, Etta James, Nina Simone, Billy Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Prince and Portishead as she was by community, political and social issues, would like to further develop as an artist, vocalist and musician. As a small child, Goapele used her family and friends as her practice audience, singing and performing complimentary shows, steadily fine tuning her musical chops. During her teenage years, she began singing accapella at various community events and women's retreats and at 14, joined the Oakland Youth Chorus. Towards the end of high school, the songstress decided to pursue music as a professional career, enrolling in the highly competitive and prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. From there, Goapele began performing and recording with various musicians from the East Coast. Upon returning home, she has collaborated with various musicians and producers from the Oakland area. "In the Bay Area the atmosphere is less competitive, and people are down to work with each other and audiences are open to hearing more than just love songs. "I'm thankful for the community here; we try and find alternative ways to raise awareness surrounding issues and incorporating our culture and art into it."

Activism has been a cornerstone of the household in which Goapele was raised. At the age of 10, Goapele helped form the first preteen peer-led support group of the Bay Area Black Women's Health Project. "I think being active in that organization really helped me to have a foundation as a young woman, I believe in the empowerment of young women and girls. I would like to have a positive influence and impact in my community locally as well internationally." At 15, she served alongside her mother on the national board of directors of Be Present, Inc. She also took part in peer education around issues of racism, sexism, and classism in the community group E.Y.E.S. (Empowered Youth Educating Society). In addition to contributing to a strong sense of self, Goapele's organizational involvement provided her with nurturing forums for maturing as a human and an artist.

Written and recorded on both the East and West coasts, Even Closer is the fruit of Goapele's labor and inspiration. She brings a well-needed enigmatic presence to a mundane industry that is devoid of innovative magic and fascination, but thick with semblance. Her signature of throaty moans and nostalgic lyrical poetry evoke all things old yet somehow manages to be refreshingly new. "Her vocals shatter souls, leaving audiences begging for more. She can vocally capture the heart of anyone," says Urban View Newspaper. When she opens her mouth to sing, she doesn't just sing, she rips it. She can't hold back. But then again, moving forward is what Goapele is all about.