Alex Boye will be in concert Feb. 5–6 at Desert Hills High School in St. George. These performances will take place two weeks after Boye is slated to appear in Kanab. The Kanab concerts were scheduled as the result of the town winning a social media contest, and after the announcement both Kanab evening shows quickly filled up, leading to the addition of a matinee performance. Seats are still available for the St. George performances, which will start at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 and 7 p.m. on Feb. 6.
Alex Boye is “Africanizing” the pop landscape yet again, infusing the explosive rhythms and various languages of his ancestral continent into the perfect embodiment of the singer’s belief that “music has no passport.”
“Both of my parents were born in Nigeria, and I lived there for several years of my early childhood,” says Boye. “But even with that strong Nigerian background, I never focused on the African culture in any of my music before. As a singer and artist, I’ve always been this British guy who has lived in the U.S., recently became a citizen and so in essence I’m also African American. For years, my mother urged me to put some African influence into my music, but I kept insisting that it wasn’t a commercially viable genre.”
“I’ve done everything else — jazz, pop, hip hop, gospel, heavy metal, even emo — and then I got a phone call from The Piano Guys wanting me to be in their video singing Swahili,” he adds. “The resulting success of the ‘Peponi’ video had been the biggest response to any of the music I had ever done up to that point, and it was exciting to see so many people responding to pop with an African twist.”
Looking forward, Alex Boye is presently engaged in a number of exciting activities:
— An invitation to audition for a recurring role on the next season of “Empire.”
— The first round of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” wowing the judges with his high-powered and energetic “Africanized” stage show.
— An upcoming album entitled “Afromerica” featuring duets with Jennifer Hudson, Peter Gabriel, Akon, Melissa Etheridge, and Wyclef Jean.
— Three of Alex’s “Africanized” songs slated to be featured in highly anticipated Warner Bros feature film “PAN” featuring Hugh Jackman.
— Performing in Carnegie Hall, Alex’s second and third performances at that venue this year alone.
— Scheduled appearances and performances on “Today Show” and “Good Morning America” to promote the Carnegie Hall events.
— A song collaboration with Grammy Award winner Judith Hill.
— A song featured on an upcoming biographical film depiction of Olympic champion Jesse Owens.
“What I’m doing now is taking those big arena type songs I sang with Awesome and mixing them with the joyful vibe of African music,” Boye said. “The ultimate goal is to make people feel good and give them a few moments of uplift, which as I’ve discovered over the years, can have transforming and even lifesaving potential. I’m glad I finally listened to my mom, and it feels good to be home.”
For ticket information, go to ticketor.com/alexboye.
