Snoh Aalegra, singer and song writer
Jakarta, IO – Snoh Aalegra performed charmingly, entertaining the audience on the final day of the 2024 BNI Java Jazz Festival at JIEXpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, Sunday, 26 May.
This is Aalegra’s first stage appearance in two years. “This is my first gig in two years, so it’s special.
“Can I take you on a little roller coaster ride of feelings?” he said, as quoted by Antara.
Aalegra is also coming to Indonesia for the first time. “I am so honored to be here tonight for you. “My name is Snoh Aalegra; this is my first time in your beautiful country,” she said.
Aalegra’s arrival on stage was greeted with screams and applause from the audience, until finally the song “Whoa” opened her performance at Java Jazz this time.
“Situationship” and “In Your Eyes” were two songs that got the entire audience dancing together while singing the song, which is of the “R&B Soul” genre.
Her performance was witnessed by thousands of spectators who had previously queued patiently and finally filed the BNI Hall room.
This year, with the theme “Embracing Unity Through Music”, the 2024 Java Jazz Festival aims to encourage togetherness and unite various groups through the universal language of music.
This jazz music festival was held for three days on 24 – 26 May at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta with a number of jazz artists and other genres presented from within and outside the country.
Iranian Swedish-born singer and songwriter Snoh Aalegra is one of the most exciting voices in recent times. Recognized with multiple GRAMMY Nominations, and winner of Swedish Grammys, her music draws heavily from her life experiences and challenges as a person who has long felt like an outsider and is now coming into her own. With multiple sold-out headline tours across North America and Europe, her two nights at the historic Radio City Music Hall received raving reviews.
Aalegra was born on 13 September 1987, in Uppsala, Sweden, to Persian parents hailing from the south of Iran. She grew up in Enköping, Sweden, moving there with her mother following her parents’ divorce. They later moved to Stockholm. She began writing music at the age of 9.
He was the object of praise from music heavyweights such as the iconic Prince, who was her mentor for three years before he passed, and luminary hip hop producer No I.D. In addition, she’s already collaborated with celebrated artists and producers such as Tyler The Creator, Drake, Alicia Keys, Common, John Mayer, Vince Staples, James Fauntleroy, and many more.
In 2001, at the age of 13, Aalegra signed an artist development deal with Sony Music Sweden. She would ultimately leave Sony Sweden with no music being released.
In 2009, Aalegra began her musical career, using the mononym “Sheri”. She released her debut single “Hit and Run” on 16 February 2009, with production by Andreas Carlsson. The single peaked at number 12 on the Swedish Single Charts. She released her second single “U Got Me Good” on 4 December 2009, reaching number 2 on the Swedish Single Charts.
On 6 April 2010, under the name Sheri, she released the studio album First Sign, on Universal Music Sweden. It features a cover of the 1984 song “Smooth Operator” by Sade, and the singles “Hit And Run” and “U Got Me Good”.
In 2013, Aalegra signed to No I.D.’s ARTium Recordings. In July 2014, she debuted under her new name, Snoh Aalegra, and appeared on Common’s tenth studio album, Nobody’s Smiling, featuring on the song “Hustle Harder”. She released her debut single, “Bad Things” featuring Common, in October 2014, and her debut EP, There Will Be Sunshine, on 17 November 2014, through ARTium/Epic. The EP includes “Stockholm, Pt. II (Outro)” featuring Cocaine 80s.
In 2014, she became a protégé of Prince after he discovered her music and reached out to her. He mentored her until his death in 2016.
In February 2015, Aalegra said she had changed her legal name to Snoh Nowrozi. She added “Aalegra” to her stage name because it means “joyful” in Italian (changing the spelling of “allegra” to make it her own), and because there was already an artist named Snoh.
On 11 February 2015, Aalegra released her frst single as Snoh Aalegra, “Emotional”, produced by RZA. She also appeared on Vince Staples’ debut album, “Summertime ‘06” in June 2015, providing vocals for the song, “Jump off the Roof”.
Aalegra released the EP Don’t Explain on 8 April 2016, through ARTium Recordings, with features and production from James Fauntleroy, No I.D., Boi-1da, Christian Rich and DJ Dahi. The EP features a cover of the 1944 song, “Don’t Explain” by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. John Mayer plays guitar on “Under the Infuence”,[10] and the fnal track, “Chaos”, was written by Sia. In 2017, she went on her frst North American tour, in support of Daniel Caesar.
On 20 October 2017, Aalegra released her debut album, Feels, with features from Vince Staples, Vic Mensa, Logic, and Timbuktu. The album is a “nostalgic blend of soul and R&B” which she calls “cinematic soul”. Her single “Time” was sampled by Drake on “Do Not Disturb”, the closing track on his 2017 mixtape More Life.
On 12 September 2018, her single “Nothing Burns Like the Cold” produced by Christian Rich and featuring Vince Staples, was used by Apple for their iPhone XS announcement video and commercials. In the fall of 2018, Aalegra headlined her first North American tour, with support from Mereba and Leven Kali.
In August 2019, Aalegra released her second album, “Ugh, Those Feels Again”, on ARTium Recordings. The album is considered to be a sequel to “Feels”, similar in mood and thematically.
The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard R&B Album Sales chart, number 6 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, and number 73 on the Billboard 200 chart. The single “I Want You Around” reached number 1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart. She recorded the song “Wolves Are Out Tonight”, produced by Swizz Beatz, for the soundtrack to the 2019 EPIX television series Godfather of Harlem. She released the video to her single “Whoa”, starring herself and actor Michael B. Jordan, on 13 December 2019.
In the fall of 2019, she headlined a European and North American tour, with support from Baby Rose and Giveon, and reached number 1 on the Bandsintown + Billboard Global Rising Artists Index.
In February 2020, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts released Aalegra’s performance where she sang “Love Like That”, “I Want You Around”, “Whoa”, “Fool For You”, and “Find Someone Like You”.
On 9 March 2020, it was announced that Aalegra had signed a recording contract with Roc Nation/Universal Music Group with a partnership with her current label ARTium Records, and released “Dying 4 Your Love”, her first single, through both labels on 10 July. She announced that she was working on her next album, in an interview.
Read: Salim Said, Journalist, Academician and Military and Film Expert, Dies at 80
Aalegra was featured on “Last Time”, on Giveon’s second EP, “When It’s All Said and Done”.
On 9 July 2021, Aalegra released her third album, “Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies”, on ARTium Records and Roc Nation. The album was preceded by singles “Dying 4 Your Love”, released on 10 June 2020, and “Lost You”, released 21 June 2021, which was produced by Maneesh and No I.D.[citation needed] Aalegra began her Ugh, These Temporary Highs Tour in Manchester on 13 February 2022.[citation needed] Aalegra received the nomination at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album for Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies and Best R&B Performance for “Lost You”.
In 2023 she was nominated at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in the category Best Traditional R&B Performance for her cover of Do 4 Love. She released on July 21, 2023 the single “Be My Summer”, on August 2, 2023 the single “Sweet Tea” and on August 18, 2023 the single “Wait a Little Longer”. (rp)