soul-singers

"McComb’s forte is R&B, soul and jazz."

"BB King is one of the most influential guitarists in history and can be credited with inventing guitar soling using string bends and vibrato."

"Every guitarist who bends or vibratoes a string to make it sing owes a debt to B.B. King. With influences as diverse as T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt, the late guitarist turned the blues world upside down in 1952 with “3 O’Clock Blues.” Almost overnight, the harmonica was supplanted as the primary solo instrument in blues, as guitarists scrambled to imitate B.B.’s soloing style, especially in Chicago."

"Efya is like a big sister to me. If I have to get her on a song, it means I'd have to do a vocal training for six months. I have to give it my all because she is amazing. I look up to her so much. I won't just get up to do a song with Efya, it has to be well-prepared."

"When I decided to go solo, it made sense at the time to reinvent myself in every way, I wanted a name that was African and unique but at the same time relevant to me in some way. My manager, Jimmi, helped me come up with the name Efya."

"It is human behaviour. Sometimes you just have to understand. When you are in a competition, you should expect winners. And you should expect losers. So I understand. It's normal for a human being to behave like that."

"I don't think I have any competition. What I think it is there is a big sky, God made a lot of stars and every night they all shine and that's what I believe."

"My glam team don't sleep, they are always on point and always trying to make me look good because my image is really important...every space am in, they want me to stand out."

"There is something called psychology in music, psychology is just studying peoples behaviour and my background as a psychology student has influenced the kind of things I say in my songs and people say my music is therapeutic."

"My music career began in school but got firm and strong after I had completed and put in much effort in to building it."

"So the thing about me is, I’ve always considered myself to be a very versatile artist. From the very first EP, all five to six songs on are completely different and I’ve never wanted to box myself."

"What ever sound that comes to me in the studio, that’s what comes out be it highlife, Afro beat, or Afro-pop."

"I for do what I can till I’m gone You touch me, you touch fire Let no man ever touch my crown."

"It's hard to penetrate the Ghanaian music market, your music probably won't sell, people wouldn't like you, some people who have grown in the industry will tell you that your music won't sell. Sometimes these comments can break you and you tend to ask yourself would this music that I'm doing yield results at all...Even people would sometimes sabotage you."

"Sometimes, some labels just preach a lot before they sign you, but you get in there and you don't see anything. I remember when I actually was with Universal when I recorded Ojorley, they didn't want the song. And that's my biggest song too. That's how funny it was. I actually got signed to the Universal Music record label, and I'm independent again, I have been independent for a longer time."

"Cina is a nice person and I like her vibe and I'll spend the whole day with her and even more. She is talented, I like her vibe and performance on stage and I'm a big fan."

"It was for a moment. I released an EP called Ga Mashi during that moment, so it makes sense to be that persona for that moment. If I've gone past that project and released an EP called For Times We Lost that is very Afrobeats/HipHop, whu do I keep doing that? All this is intentional, I like to be different persona with every project I put out. I love to stay different all the time."

"I think she (Cina Soul) is actually extremely good. Soul’s voice is like something that can represent us (Ghana) on an international scale. I know she’s gonna get there. I don’t know which song [will take her there]. When I saw King Promise I knew. But I didn’t know how. But I knew he was gonna be huge. And Cina Soul has that approach."

"Going for a reality show developed me as an artist. Vodafone Icons helped develop me as an artist, I am Cina Soul because of my time on Vodafone Icons, I may not have won but being on the show gave me an identity. I know a lot of people out there have faith and believe in me so I have to make everyone proud by giving it my all."

"I love Cina Soul. I put her on my shows because I want to give her the kind of exposure that I didn't get when I was starting my music career with the kind of music that I was doing. And she has a beautiful talent that I think is gonna grow to become amazing and I'm here to support her as much as I can..."

"I think finding your sound or what makes you unique is always the hardest part because there are a million artists around the world. Even in Ghana, there are thousands, so what will make you stand out? It’s like at every point, you find a different type or different side of you."

"When I started music people used to look down on me because I was smallish. There were some instances where I went to events and the organisers asked how old I was and I added five years to my age."

"You know what you want more clearly…you’re less likely to settle or compromise your standards just because somebody looks good or says all the right things."

"You have to stay patient and stick with whatever is best for you…If it doesn’t work out, don’t beat yourself up about it – just keep going until you find the right one."

"The best thing about getting older [is] learning how powerful human connections can be…It’s great when two people can share something deeper than just lust and passion between them – something real and lasting."

"And I always want my product to be what's in my heart, so I'm writing and in the sessions. It sounds like me because I'm there."

"Back in the day, the music industry was my God"

"There's greater honor in been humble."

"When you have a deeper understanding of your life you know whatever happens is pre-destined."

"The bible is words of people of time past under the influence of the Holy Spirit, so if the Holy Spirit wants to talk through me, I can say them based on my words without quoting the bible."

"Been Born again is an event been broken is a process."

"Stories can change. Stories change. Let nothing rob you of hope, stories change!"

"My kind, you have to work on yourself extra in following the laws of GOD in building the right core values, having SENSE, emotional intelligence, appropriate body language towards situations, use of words, generally growing in the Spirit’s things! Wisdom. Knowledge. Understanding. Be extra."

"We were all influenced by some people; even when we might not remember their faces, the godly values they lived by stay with us for life."

"Performing. That gratification you get when people are enjoying themselves or you see an arm go around a shoulder or somebody grab a hand. It's nice to know that you're part of that particular moment of their lives."

"Wars, segregation, everything that the entire world is going through, emotionally, mentally and physically, it’s in a sad state right now…There’s segregation going on in the States, and segregation going on in the UK. There’s segregation going on everywhere, it’s still the same."

"I’m not a marcher, I’m a doer…I believe I was the first [African American woman] to win a Grammy in the pop arena, which was basically almost designated for white people..So it was kind of unheard of. I was probably the first person in a lot of areas."

"From what I was taught at home, I already knew what I was doing and how to act and how to dress and how to speak. I came from a safe, solid home."

"I want to have a beneficial effect on your physiology, but it’s not my business what happens after that…It’s my gift to you."

"Alchemy and magic are about how mundane, benign, and abundant materials can have an effect that is greater than the sum of their parts. To me, creativity is alchemy."

"There’s two sides of the coin: One where people don't expect you to do anything and won't let you do anything because they think you don't know how, and then the other side is when you're fucking up but they won't tell you because you're a girl. Then you don’t learn."

"…There's no secret, no shortcut. Once you accept that being a writer or a creator is just really hard and takes a lot of hours of slogging through crappy first drafts, you just keep producing, and then you turn around and it's done. That's the magic."

"Now, when you pass my way I guess I'll smile and say To think that boy was mine Once upon a time"

"...when, oh, when I see your face, yeah And, oh, when I'm in your warm embrace I know for sure our love is something special"

"...If I had to pick one artist who, song after song, always touched something deep inside me, it would be Dusty. I loved her work from the moment I heard I Only Want to Be with You in 1963, her first major hit. The sound was different from anything I had heard before - it made a visceral connection."

"I was ready to work; what I couldn't was the right producer. I had considered various people like the people who do Randy Newman and talked to Ted Templeman who was doing Carly Simon at that time. Again, availability. I wasn't at the right place and right time. They were busy. And the thought of Roy was very strange, I mean, it was a bizarre combination. But I didn't know; I think a lot of people don't know what a very broad musical background he does have; He started out at Decca in the classical department and sort of regressed through Frank Chacksfield and Mantovani, passed through that into pop music and really got into heavy stuff; into rock. But I didn't know he had that background and it was nice. He has incredibly good judgments."

"It was that I felt that I'd done as much as I could do there [in England]. I didn't know what direction I could go, apart from across the sea."

"Things have changed, sound systems now work - on occasion. Various things are made easier in some ways for the artists. All the things I used to want to do and get right, and became known as being difficult cause I wanted them... they are now part of a parcel of a tour, and it will be a delight to work under that system."

"Dusty sings around her material, creating music that's evocative rather than overwhelming ... Dusty is not searching – she just shows up, and she, and we, are better for it."

"I'm glad to see that royality isn't confined to the box."