GOAPELE: 25 Years of Being Closer
- Goapele's 'Closer' was never meant to be her big song, but it became a fan favorite over 25 years.
- Goapele built a successful independent music career, releasing 7 albums on her own terms.
- Goapele encourages young artists to focus on the work, build a good team, and take care of themselves.
“I celebrated 25 years of “Closer” Goapele happily stated during our sit down.
Yeah, the one you know as “Closer to My Dreams.” And here is the wild part. She never planned for that song to be THE song.
“Closer started out like as the intro to my EP, just kind of as an interlude type of vibe,” she told me. It was a B side on her first album, Childhood Drama. She figured Childhood Drama would be her hit. Something more uptempo. Instead, the DJs grabbed “Closer” and never let it go. Neither did she. Twenty five years straight, it still a song her fans wait for in heavy anticipation at every concert.
Now check the resume. Seven albums. Twenty five years in the game. She sold 65,000 records independently in the beginning, what she called “ghetto gold.” And on a major label, 65,000 copies would not even get you on the map. They want at least 500,000 before they take notice. But Goapele built something real without any of that. Only ONE of her seven albums came through a major label. Everything else? Her own way, her own label, her own terms.
That Bay Area independent spirit runs deep. She built her name grassroots, rolling with Hieroglyphics and her own label Skyblaze. Producers Amp Live and Mike Tiger helped shape that sound early on. And she stayed true to it.
“There’s like an independent spirit and a little bit of an underdog type of vibe,” she said. “Wanting to stay true to my own vision and not being confined to any boxes.”
Her latest album, Colors, is proof that the vision never stopped. She has been rolling through the moments the big artists get too. NPR Tiny Desk. On the Radar. All of it. She earned every bit of it doing it her way.
She also learned to breathe along the way. She just got back from Thailand and Bali, a trip she waited her whole life to take. “The grind never stops,” she said. “So I want a pace that feels good.”
And she brings that same energy when talking to young artists. Put in the work over the money. The money comes later. Build a trustworthy team around you. Stay humble. And please, get some sleep.
“I don’t believe in the I’ll sleep when I’m dead mantra,” she laughed.
And since we’re talking milestones, the Oakland R&B singer also made history as the first Black woman to have a music video on YouTube. Her breakthrough 2001 track “Closer” was uploaded to the platform shortly after it debuted in 2005.
She is bringing songs off the Colors album that Houston has never heard her perform live before, plus a special performance of “Closer” just for H Town. Tickets are still available so get yours now. You do not want to miss this one.
Salute to Goapele. Twenty five years deep and still going strong.
Goapele Live: Tickets On Sale Now
Jul 31
- Date/time: July 31, 8:00 pm
- Venue: The Collective
- Address: 12401 South Post Oak, Houston, TX
Check the entire interview here: The Madd Hatta Show Podcast
