akua naru – What’s The Word?

Perhaps best described as a global poet, naru entered the music scene with ‘The Journey Aflame’, her 2011 debut album that revealed a titanic force of Liberation politics with beats, a true wordsmith whose deeply nuanced, poetic and wise music centred the experience of Black women through rhyme via a sonic spectrum from Jazz to Soul. Dubbed the ‘Toni Morrison of Hip-Hop’ by American philosopher Cornel West, who recognised a kinship with the acclaimed novelist, naru’s subsequent journey has indeed been set aflame and she has to date issued two more acclaimed studio albums: ‘The Miner’s Canary’ (2015) and ‘The Blackest Joy’ (2018).

naru has also collaborated with fellow musical luminaries that include Tony Allen, Eric Benét, Angelique Kidjo, Tuneyards, Questlove, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Christian Scott, Rah Digga, Mulatu Astatke, Bernard Purdie and Cody ChesnuTT. Known for her electrifying live shows, she has performed in 50+ countries across five continents with her band. Her lyrical and musical artistry is a testament to the legacy of the powerful and trailblazing Black female artist tradition upon which it builds.