The Real Thing, the sophomore album from singer Hassanah, was released in August by Upstairs Music. It is the New York-based artist’s first full-scale reggae project.
Journeys, her debut album, came out last year.
On The Real Thing, Hassanah worked with producer Danny Breakenridge, a music industry veteran who has produced albums and songs by Bob Andy, Ken Boothe, and B B Seaton.
Hassanah and Breakenridge collaborated several years ago on a cover of Mariah Carey’s We Belong Together.
This time around, she called on her cosmopolitan upbringing to write the new album’s title track and Brighter Day, which both feature multi-instrumentalist Paul Gauntlet and keyboardist Mallory Williams.
Breakenridge also contributed songs including Bills, Bills, Bills and The World is A Stage.
There are covers of the Marvin Gaye/Gladys Knight and The Pips classic, I Heard it Through The Grapevine and By Your Side, originally done by Sade.
Born in Washington DC, Hassanah lived in Nigeria, New Zealand, and Hawaii, which allowed her to grasp different cultures including reggae.
“My writing and singing style is influenced by my exposure to many different musical cultures including African, Polynesian and of course classic R&B and reggae, especially roots. I’ve been listening to reggae since I was a young child. My parents always had it playing in the background as I was growing up and in Nigeria, it was very popular and was on the radio all the time,” she said.
You must log in to post a comment.