Nuwamba Has Plenty of Love To Share After 16 Years From His Debut Album

It has been 16 years since Nuwamba’s first studio album, Above the Water, drew instant international attention.

It has been 16 years since Nuwamba’s first studio album, Above the Water, drew instant international attention. In 2005, the neo-soul and R&B artist landed on the Billboard Top 100 chart and made it into MTV. He even remembers seeing his photo in Upscale magazine next to Rihanna's, back when her career was just starting to take off.

In November 2021, after seven years working on a new project, Nuwamba released his sophomore album Love Ase, which translates from the African language of Kwa to “Love so be it.” In the 16-year gap between his two albums, Nuwamba has been on a spiritual journey of self-discovery. During that time he was introduced to the ancient African religion of the Yoruba people, and he wanted to incorporate the culture that is now a part of his everyday life into the album title.

Love Ase features production from mainstream talent in the form of Chad C-Note Roper and Madukwu Chinwah. C-Note has worked with superstars such as Rihanna, Gucci Mane and Usher, and Madukwu is a Dallas native and multi-talented music maker who won a Grammy Award for his production on Erykah Badu’s Baduzim.

Many critics weren't sure if Nuwamba still had it in him to create more timeless music and even take that next step as the music industry evolved, he says. Nuwamba says he felt stuck in the industry transition, having lost thousands of followers on Myspace when the site became irrelevant and streaming platforms such as Spotify and iTunes rose to having control of how most music is now distributed.

While neo-soul and R&B are still thriving in other countries, it doesn’t receive the same attention in the U.S. like it once did. But the international recognition that Love Ase has received isn't small. Nuwamba and the album have been praised in numerous articles; some are in English and some are not. Songs from the album have received rotation on South American and African radio stations, and Love Ase made it through the first round of reviews for the 2021 Grammy Awards, though it did not make the final cut for a nomination.

There are plenty of accolades under Nuwamba's belt. He's reached professional heights that only a handful of North Texas artists across all genres have — without a record deal and during the pre-streaming, social media era. Nuwamba says he turned down a two-album record deal from Warner Bros in 2005 after Above the Water was released because he disagreed with the change of direction he saw in major labels and the type of soul and R&B they wanted from artists.

“I want people to understand the trouble that independent artists have,” Nuwamba says. “All this glamorous bullshit, I want people to see this ain’t no walk in the park.”

Nuwamba has faced many challenges head-on, even before Above the Water was released. Although Nuwamba was able to avoid being fully-immersed in street life growing up, he was shot while attending high school and arrested by Fort Worth police during the recording of the album.

The time lapse between the two albums came with its own hurdles, so many that Nuwamba considered not making any more music.

“I was going through a lot of emotional issues like depression, and I needed to just really settle down and find myself again,” he says. “When I was able to do that, things started happening again. A lot of traction and the people that loved the first album were able to say he’s back. Now my job is to maintain those relationships now, and I want to apologize to them for waiting such a long time.”

But Madukwu says he was not at all surprised to hear Nuwamba was back in the studio working on his second release. Madukwu began working with the singer in the '90s, and he later performed instrumental work for Above the Water.

“Seasoned artists seem to always be working on something new,” Madukwu says. “It’s like a high you get from being in the studio and staying in the studio. Sitting still is to let a song die on a hard drive somewhere. He keeps his old ideas like I do, and we update them and then we represent them. I was not at all surprised.”

This year, Nuwamba performed at SXSW and has a string of shows lined up this summer. He'll be performing on July 17 at the Neo Soul Festival in Washington, July 30 at Club Dada in Dallas and Aug. 6 at the African American Heritage Festival in Washington.

July 11, 2022 - Dallas Observer