GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter Somi has announced her highly anticipated new album, What Does It Take to Bloom?, arriving August 7 via Salon Africana. Marking her first collection of original music in six years, the album explores the ongoing journey of remaining true to oneself amid life's uncertainties, losses, and transformations.
A two-time NAACP Image Award winner and Doris Duke Artist Award recipient, Somi wrote and recorded the project across Dakar, Lagos, Paris, and New York City. The album blends global influences with deeply personal storytelling, reflecting on whether growth is something we recognize in real time or only after we have already changed.
Alongside the announcement, Somi has released the album's first single, “We’re All Falling,” a moving meditation on mortality, resilience, and grace. Written during a period marked by significant personal loss, the song acknowledges life's fragility while encouraging listeners to embrace the present moment with gratitude and intention.
Reflecting on the album, Somi shared:
“I wrote this body of work while traversing many places and losing many people. This album is a mirror of searching for where and how to take root in spite of that. I pray these songs offer each listener a sense of Home or, at the very least, a witnessing of me coming Home to myself.”
Throughout her career, Somi has built a catalog that bridges Africa and America, drawing inspiration from migration, memory, culture, and identity. Her previous works have explored places both physical and spiritual, from Nigeria and Harlem to the legacy of South African icon Miriam Makeba. On What Does It Take to Bloom?, however, the focus shifts inward. Rather than mapping a city or a cultural landscape, Somi charts the evolving terrain of self-discovery.
Known for her genre-defying blend of jazz, soul, highlife, spoken word, and African musical traditions, Somi continues to push creative boundaries on the new album. The project showcases a more adventurous vocal approach and a deeper trust in her artistic instincts. By rejecting labels and embracing authenticity, she presents blooming not as a destination, but as a continuous process of becoming.
At its core, What Does It Take to Bloom? is about belonging, healing, and accepting that personal growth is rarely linear. Through reflections on womanhood, identity, loss, and resilience, Somi invites listeners into an intimate exploration of what it means to come home to oneself.
Born to Ugandan and Rwandan immigrant parents and raised in the American Midwest, Somi has become one of the most respected voices in contemporary jazz and global music. Her 2021 GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album made her the first African woman ever nominated in a GRAMMY jazz category. In addition to her acclaimed recording career, she is an accomplished actor, playwright, and recent Broadway performer, having starred in the Tony Award-winning production Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.
What Does It Take to Bloom? Tracklist:
- Throw Something
- Sometimes Love (ft. The Cavemen)
- What Does It Take to Bloom?
- Mama On Blooming
- So You Want to Be a Woman (ft. Lakecia Benjamin)
- Aiwah
- Sugar
- Mama On Tradition
- Ngayaya
- Lay It Down
- Interlude: Skin To Skin
- We’re All Falling
- Love Could Be Anywhere
Select Tour Dates:
June 25 – New Haven, CT – International Festival Arts & Ideas
September 17 – Champaign, IL – Krannert Center for Performing Arts
September 18 – Evanston, IL – Space
September 19 – Indianapolis, IN – Jazz Kitchen
September 27 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Skidmore College
September 29 – Madison, WI – Wisconsin Union Theater
October 1 – New York, NY – World Music Institute at Sony Hall
October 10 – Denver, CO – Dazzle
October 11 – San Francisco, CA – SFJAZZ Center
October 12 – Santa Cruz, CA – Kuumbwa
Additional dates will be announced.
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