Enjoy the stunning lyric video to How? on YouTube. How? is taken from the evocative new album The Awakening – available right now here on RasheedMusic.com, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon music and other platforms.

Rasheed Ogunlaru | How? | Written & performed by Rasheed Ogunlaru ©Rasheed Ogunlaru 2020. Produced by John Hamilton. Lyric video directed by Marcin Kovacs. Discover The Awakening: https://www.RasheedMusic.com/Music Stream on Spotify.

The wait is almost over: my new album The Awakening is due for release here on 19 December 2020 and will be available to download here on RasheedMusic.com and for streaming on Spotify.

Review:

Rasheed’s moving and enlightening fifth studio album The Awakening opens with the catchy, guitar-driven Indie-pop Smoke Signals – an alarm call of personal meltdown. The record immediately changes pace with Artificial Intelligence which sets the sobering subject of technology in over-drive to soothing, Eastern-infused instrumentation. Next is Animal, an infectious dance track with all the urgency of the impending extinction that it explores. Its message is aptly followed by Everyone’s Going (A Little Bit Crazy) a pop-rock protest song which speaks volumes about the times we’re in of political, global, social and emotional tensions … a fast-paced world and inner hurt.

How? open the space in that the album title speaks  of. It’s sparseness and centring pace invites us to question, reflection and on a journey of introspection. Crying for the World  is both a personal confessional and an expression of empathy to everyone that somehow also marries a West End/ Broadway style signature song with hip-hop beats. Letting Go is a touching, tender ballad of surrender and a real song-writing gem.  If I only Had the Courage takes us on a journey of transformation both reflected in its ballad-like start to its rousing closing flourish. Appreciation and Let Go of Seeking pick up the pace; these up-tempo dance track usher in a sense of change, hope and celebration. Free is a cool collaboration which sees Rasheed team up with Ashley David Simon whose energising rap elevates the track and the listeners’ consciousness. The album closes on a high and highlight with Bring Love Back an infectious, heart-felt mid-temp pop anthem. If that weren’t enough Rasheed gives us a bonus track: AI (Deep Compassion Remix). Here Rasheed transforms the beautiful instrumentation of Artificial Intelligence – a touch of alchemy and a true call to Awakening.

Credits:

All songs written by Rasheed Ogunlaru, ©Rasheed Ogunlaru 2020 except: Free © Rasheed Ogunlaru & Ashley David Simon 2020; Animal and Bring Love Back  ©Rasheed Ogunlaru & Marcin Kovacs 2020. All tracks produced by John Hamilton at EQ Studios, London – except Animal and Bring Love Back produced by Marcin Kovacs. Cover photography by Ajamu, art by Marcin Kovacs. All vocals; Rasheed Ogunlaru except Free ft Ashley David Simon with additional background by John Hamilton.

With thanks to everyone involved in this project. Dedicated to one and all. With love, Rasheed

Get ready… My new album Life Lines will be released on 10 November 2018 and will be accompanied by the YouTube release of the first video from the album Keys to Inner Peace –directed by myself. Here (above) is a very short teaser of the video and album.  Some things are worth the wait.

Meanwhile I’ll leave you with Sweet Talker the most viewed track from Rasheed Re-imagined.

The Future is Now is the second single and video from my new album Rasheed Re-imagined. The album and video are officially released here on RasheedMusic.com tomorrow (20 February 2017)  but I thought – since the song is called The Future is Now –  it might be cool to post the video for tomorrow’s video release right here today.

I very much hope you enjoy the video which was filmed around London’s South Bank last year (late summer if I recall rightly). The video was directed by Marcin Kovacs who also produced all the tracks on Rasheed Re-imagined.

The Future is Now is one of three Remixes on the album. The original version appeared on my last album Lease of Life and was produced by John Hamilton. Here we re-worked the song and I added a tiny bit of new re-worked vocals. It’s funny how life flows, as I listen back to this song I feel it’s apt for the times we are in where at one and there seems lots of change and uncertainty – and how also there is the key importance of being present, mindful and aware that tomorrow is partly a construct of the mind and partly a outcome of all that we have been – and all that we do today.

“Maybe we can make it, baby if we face it, don’t live your life waiting …make peace end all hatred” – Rasheed Ogunlaru, The Future is Now

I am delighted to unveil the video of my new song Stars Align. Simply click on the video icon above to view it.

Written by Marcin Steciuk and myself it’s from my forthcoming album Rasheed Re-Imagined which is due for release on 20 February 2017.

I hope you enjoy it and watch this space for the new album in 2017.

Stars Align Rasheed Ogunlaru & Marcin Steciuk ©2016 Video Director: Marcin Steciuk.  Track performed by Rasheed Ogunlaru and Produced by Marcin Steciuk

So my new album Lease of Life is now out and available here on www.rasheedmusic.com but I for one – as a fan of artists and as a singer/ songwriter myself – love hearing artists themselves themselves talking about their work and what inspires it. With that in mind we just created this film about the album, the songs on it and what inspired it. Enjoy.

All that I’d like to add is my sincere thanks to my good friend, Marcin Steciuk who filmed and directed this and all the promo videos. Also huge thanks to the brilliant John Hamilton of EQ Studios my producer/collaborator who is just brilliant to work with. He made this album very special musically. Thanks too to Rene Coffey who did another brilliant job on producing ‘Time to Heal’ one of the tracks on the album and featured in this promo film.

About the album

This exciting new Rasheed album charts the ups, downs, joys and heartaches of life. Starting with the catchy, up-tempo In Life, the affecting Get Back Up Again and the uplifting Take Flight this collection is a journey through the rich and varied emotions and experiences in life. Love, loss, disappointment and possibility are all explored and fittingly Rasheed then delivers Something Good and Disappointment Guaranteed right after one another – as life so often does. Our journey continues with beautiful Walking Out on Love, the aptly quirky The Mystery and the jazzy You’re No Good For Me – all leading us In the Wilderness. But not for long; Time to Heal lifts the tempo again. It’s the one song not produced by Rasheed’s long time musical collaborator / arranger John Hamilton – with Rene Coffey doing nifty job on production duties on this poignant track. In all Rasheed treats us to 14 tracks on this outing – without a filler in sight. True to form Rasheed rounds off the album with four impassioned, heartwarming songs: Don’t be Afraid to fall in love, I’ll Love You All My Life, The Future is Now and Love is Gonna Get You. They wrap up the collection beautifully optimistically and to remind us of the magic of life – which as the album title reminds us – we only have for a while.

All songs written / sung by Rasheed Ogunlaru. © Rasheed Ogunlaru 2015. All songs produced by John Hamilton and Recorded at EQ Studios London except “A Time to Heal” produced by Rene Coffey.

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Thanks  

I would like to start with a huge vote of thanks for John Hamilton, my producer and long-time musical collaborator. It’s John’s musicianship that you really hear on this album. John plays most of the instruments throughout the collection: keyboards, guitar and bass with myself on support on selected keyboards. Thanks too to Rene Coffey for her outstanding work producing ‘Time to Heal’. Thanks to Ajamu for the cover photography and to Steve Bryne for the graphic design.

I’m very grateful too to Marcin Steciuk for the wonderful work in producing several videos for the album all of which you can enjoy here on my YouTube Channel. Finally I’d like to thank everyone who has supported my music and helped me along on my musical journey over the years including Marcus Fellowes, Marshall Franklin Ravel, Janet Kumah, John Gibbons, Yinka Sapara, Robert Bicknell and Kweku Aacht. But extra special thanks are due to Kevin Arnold with whom I wrote and recorded a rich set of songs in my early years – when I was seeking a recording deal –  of which I am very proud and which made me the songwriter I am. I would finally like to thank my late great singing teacher, Mark Hayden.

Listen and download

You can hear four selected tracks from the album (and then three from the last one) right here on the “Listen to songs” music player feature on the site. You can also hear the whole album on the my YouTube Channel and you can download the album right here on the website. Enjoy.

Watch Rasheed sing songs Lease of Life

Right at the end of last year I decided to do an intimate little gig – my first live show in many years – in order to present some of the songs from the album. You can enjoy the segment with the new songs right here:

Here’s the video for Disappointment Guaranteed another track from my forthcoming collection Lease of Life.

I’m quite proud of this track. I wrote it a couple of years ago in the small hours of the morning walking home from a night out. In fact two songs emerged pretty much back to back so I need to check my voice recorder on my phone to see if I still have the second song on it. What I remember about this song is that I felt it was strong right away. It just so happened that I was booked into EQ Studios with my producer John Hamilton that day just beginning.

So there was a first. I recorded a song pretty much immediately after writing it. I have to give John some real praise here. This is one of several occasions where he absolutely ‘got’ what I was trying to create and the mood of the song straight away. His ‘Rhodes-style’ keyboard solo in the middle of the track was an inspired, one take bit of impromptu playing. The strings that end the track are a classic bit of the magic he brings to the table as a musician and producer.

There’s something about this song that reminds me of some of the very earliest songs that I wrote. I think part of that is also the area of the voice that I sing this song with. It has a bit more of the chest to head voice tenor style more than the baritone voice that I naturally am and that over time I became far more comfortable with embracing and grew into.  So there’s something of a naiveity, vulnerability, youthfulness and honesty about this song that I like. Yet it has something of someone who has lived a bit of life and has become more wise to it,

The long spoken intro to thee video and the video itself was the work of my good friend Marcin who thought it would be good to utilise a bit of the acting together with the kind of spoken speech that I use in the work I do today as a life coach and motivational speaker. I really like the blue colouring and mood of this track. Thanks Marcin and thanks John.