The Queen of
Funk Chaka Khan made a phenomenal return with her latest single ‘Like Sugar’.
Initially launched as a limited edition release for Record Store Day, it earned
airplay from Annie Mac, Nick Grimshaw, Pete Tong, Benji B, Danny Howard and
Gilles Peterson before receiving a full release in the summer.
It
immediately captured the imagination of fans with countless entries from all
over the globe for her #LikeSugarChallenge and numerous bootleg remixes. The
accompanying Kim Gehrig-directed video extended that love with two wins at the
UK Music Video Awards, while live sets at Bestival and the Pitchfork Music
Festival were widely heralded as highlights of the summer. The track has become
one of the year’s biggest club anthems with support from Mark Ronson, The
Magician, Horse Meat Disco, The Black Madonna and many more.
Now the
10-time Grammy Award winner continues the reemergence of the year with the news
that her new album ‘Hello Happiness’ will be released on February 8th 2019 via
Diary Records / Island Records, the new label formed by Major Lazer founder and
Grammy-nominated producer Switch with artist/songwriter Sara Ruba Taylor.
‘Hello
Happiness’ is an album which sets Chaka Khan’s timeless vocal to an empowering
collection of songs with cutting-edge production. With an eye on the future and
a respect for the past, Chaka Khan has delivered an album with the contemporary
edge to entice newcomers to her world class talent and the quality to excite
long-term fans.
That’s
exactly what the title track and new single ‘Hello Happiness’ achieves. A
tribute to the life-affirming power of music, it combines the sass of ‘I’m
Every Woman’ with the invention of ‘I Feel For You’ while also feeling
precisely in tune with the current zeitgeist.
It’s a trait
that echoes throughout the album. The soaring ‘Like A Lady’ feels like Switch
has been teleported back to the great late ‘70s New York disco scene, while
Chaka rolls back the years with one of the most powerful performances of her
career. That’s something she also demonstrates with the swaggering strut of the
sultry R&B anthem ‘Too Hot’. ‘Isn’t That Enough’ and particularly ‘Don’t
Cha Know’ find her embracing bold new elements to her sound, while the
laidback, minimalist groove of ‘Ladylike’ gives her the space to prove that her
vocal has clearly grown in stature over the years.
Chaka Khan
first collaborated with Switch and Ruba Taylor as a potential featured artist
on a different project. Inspired by the power of both her voice and
personality, the duo suggested working on an original Chaka Khan album –
something which she didn’t have in mind. But she was soon convinced when she
heard some of Switch and Ruba Taylor’s songs, which coincidentally were
influenced by Chaka Khan but written for their own project.
Chaka chose
her favourites and stamped her identity all over them, with her inimitable
vocal gift and dynamic energy taking each track to new heights. Switch and Ruba
Taylor also provided the groundwork so that Chaka Khan could concentrate on
making her first set since 2007’s ‘Funk This’.
Chaka Khan
is one of the world’s most gifted and celebrated musicians. A songwriter,
actor, author, philanthropist, entrepreneur and activist, Chaka has influenced
generations of recording artists. She has the rare ability to sing in multiple
genres, including R&B, pop, rock, gospel, country, world music, jazz and
classical. Throughout her legendary career, Chaka has released 22 albums and
racked up 10 US #1 singles; seven RIAA certified gold singles; and ten RIAA
certified gold and platinum albums. Her list of high profile fans and
collaborators, past and present, includes Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Stevie
Wonder, Prince, Quincy Jones and Mary J. Blige.
After forty
years in music, ‘Hello Happiness’ celebrates a lifetime in music and proves
that Chaka Khan is as inspiring as ever.
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