Ayo | "Joyful"

"What's different is Ayo's voice. It's high, thin and light; I'm telling you it's like no one else's." -- The New York Times

"...Next to [Corinne Bailey] Rae, the raw touch Ayo brings to 'Down On My Knees' and 'Help Is Coming' make Joyful a rougher, tougher, ultimately happier experience." -- Word Magazine

Video: "Life Is Real"


Ayo, whose name translates to "joy" in Yoruba, is the daughter of a Nigerian father and a gypsy Romanian mother. Raised in Germany, Ayo's rich cultural background inspired her to listen to her father's diverse collection of Donnie Hathaway, Jimmy Cliff, Fela Kuti and Pink Floyd. After teaching herself to play guitar, her career took off when she secured a spot to open for Omar and improvised alongside Cody Chesnutt at the stage of the Elysée-Montmartre. The result of her travels between Paris and New York is her debut album Joyful, a collection of bittersweet songs filled with all her various experiences and the people she's encountered along the way.

On Joyful, she strives to naturally and sincerely share her stories and touch others, boosted solely by her life experience and dreams. "Down On My Knees" rests upon a cool reggae rhythm, a simple folk melody and elegant production with a voice that is 100% soul singing, crying out its love, nothing more. "If people interpret something else, hidden between the lines, by all means, they're free to do so," Ayo insinuates. Laced with Hispanic undertones and a hint of Caribbean spice, "And It's Supposed To Be Love" is Ayo's only cover taken from the repertoire of jazz singer Abbey Lincoln. Straightaway, "Help Is Coming" has a rhythmic style with elements of rock and reggae, belying its emotional nature as a ballad. For fans of any type of music, it is an immense joy to hear Ayo, but it is an absolute delight for followers of Corinne Bailey Rae, India.Arie and Angie Stone.

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