”11 years ago, I had to wait 10 hours for audition in Paris”- Singer, Asa
By Patricia Uyeh
Over the weekend, Nigerian singer, Asa along with her band and a 30-piece orchestra had her second ever concert in Nigeria, which took place at the Eko Convention Centre.
The concert had several music enthusiasts and celebrities in attendance.
It was during her perrformances that Asa took time to explain how she landed her first international recording deal.
She said:
”11 years ago I was in Paris, I was a student and I have my guitar with me, I was looking for any opportunity to play.
”So one day, someone told me about a successful group, the Grammy Awards winners, “You may go audition, they might like you.
”So I went, it was outside Paris. It was cold, I just got into France, I didn’t know the language, I didn’t understand the food.
”I got there early, they told me to wait and then, I was told, they were rehearsing for their show, and I waited 10 hours. I was hungry, I was mad, I was asking; “What are you doing here? Why don’t you just (get) up and go?
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”They finished and they were packing up, when someone remembered, ‘oh, her, come over, come come’. Then I put all that emotions, sadness, pain and anger into the song.
”And the next Thursday, the day of the show, they gave me two minutes to perform and then I got signed and my first album was released.”
Asa also revealed that other record labels approached her for music contracts after watching her performance on that fateful night.
Currently, she has three albums to her credit including Live in Paris (2009), Beautiful Imperfection (2010), and Bed of Stone which was released in 2014.
Photo credit: Instagram @ asaofficial