Asa

Whether Asa takes the stage with an acoustic guitar or a full backing band she will do noting but amaze. She is able to keep a room of thousands of people still and silent with her minimal acoustic sets and is just as likely to get them out on the dance floor shaking their tail feathers to upbeat numbers like "Be My Man" .
She sings the majority of her songs in the English language but sometimes switches over to the Nigerian language. Just whatever suits the style of the song. She has a deep understanding of world music, but also posses the charisma of a pop musician. Through her employment of old cultural ideas in a pop construct she is able to introduce a wide range of people to interesting and previously underplayed geographical flavors.
Asa sometimes comes off as sounding like one of her major influences, Lauryn Hill. She by no means rips off her style, rather her performances comes across as a respectful homage. Such songs as "Jailer" features upstroke guitar patterns found in the reggae genre and her unsyncopated vocals over the chucks of the acoustic guitar gives off a sort of hip-hop vibe. Her music manages to have a compelling rhythm even without the use of drums and it is able to continuously move the listener further into the groove of her sound. Her voice is full and weathered radiating the soulful tendencies of Aretha Franklin or Bob Marley.
The quality of her vocals are so strong and resonant that it seems as though it could fit within any musical context. This is perhaps why it is such a treat to see her live. Her voice reaches to the souls of thousands just with the aid of a guitar or it functions as a complementary and sometimes competing force amongst bluesy bass lines and the lounge jazz contributions of the drums and piano. Whatever musical style, choice of instruments, or language she chooses to perform in she will have the audience in awe.