Aphrose Toronto R&B/Soul Artist
Toronto R&B/Soul Artist, Aphrose, Transports Listeners to the Golden Age of 70’s Era Soul With Brand New Single, “Good Love”, From Forthcoming Neo-Soul Album
Single Release: May 19 2023
| With music that moves between the golden age of 70’s Soul and its modern iterations, Canadian R&B, Soul, and Neo-Soul artist, Aphrose, (Joanna Mohammed) is a stunningly expansive vocalist and creative lyricist who honours the origins of the genres through her expertly created, and historically informed sound. With vocal dexterity that would impress her musical heroines, Aphrose’s dazzling, 1970’s hued sound transports listeners to a time when Soul music went beyond a musical category and into a feeling, while incorporating the Soulful sounds of today. Raised in Scarborough in a Trinidadian household by parents who owned a record store in Toronto’s West end, Aphrose gravitated to the music of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson, eventually wrapping their influences into a sound all her own. Her truly explosive vocal talent has led the artist to performing background vocals for Daniel Caesar, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Jessie Reyez, and Charlotte Day Wilson, and after hearing her song on CBC Radio, the opening spot on Chantal Kreviazuk & Raine Maida’s Moon vs. Sun tour, invited by Kreviazuk herself. Featured in Exclaim!, on CBC Music’s First Play, and reviewed on Earmilk, Aphrose’s music and talent has firmly placed her on a steep incline to becoming one of Canada’s leading Soul artists. As she gears up to release her sophomore album this Fall featuring both Classic and Neo-Soul, Aphrose will be releasing her first single from the project, a shimmering vintage Soul ballad about finding the right person titled “Good Love”, on Friday, May 19 2023. Written by Aphrose and production trio SafeSpaceship (Scott McCannell, Chino DeVilla and Ben Macdonald) who also performed on and produced the track, “Good Love” features the incredible vocal stylings of Toronto artist, Kyla Charter. |
| About “Good Love”:Bathed in rhythmic percussion, shimmering synth, and a wall of lushly harmonious vocals, “Good Love” delivers the delightful, invigorating musical magic of live instrumentation, player collaboration, and the subtle intricacies that tie the sounds of Soul with a bow. A song that celebrates the search and ultimate discovery of the right love, “Good Love” creatively evokes the feelings the track journeys through, communicating to the listener through both lyric and instrumentation. Taking listeners through the difficulty of finding love, and the occasional need for reassurance, Aphrose’s newest single tenderly reaffirms that finding “Good Love” is not only possible, but exceptional when the time comes. Aphrose’s stunning range crosses the vocal stratosphere, with both a lead and background performance that packs the powerful punch of Soul’s female giants, showcasing her astonishing range, and complete vocal control. Replicating the warmth of the 70’s – a time when listeners could almost feel a sound, “Good Love” could easily play between “Lady In My Life” and any track from “Songs In The Key Of Life”. Rhythmically glistening with percussive and vocal interplay, Aphrose’s “Good Love” offers an enchanting back to the height of Soul, and forward to her glowing take on it. Taking her artist name from her mother’s birth name, changed after her grandmother converted their family to Christianity, Aphrose honours her Trinidadian roots, family, and musical upbringing with her stage name. Her sophomore album, set for release in Fall 2023, will continue to honour the Soulful sounds of the 1970’s along with the Neo-Soul sounds of today, integrating pieces of her family and upbringing throughout. From Aphrose: ‘Good Love’ is about accepting the love that we so often deny ourselves because we feel undeserving. When the world feels out of control, there’s a safe space where you can go to where you feel seen, understood and accepted; that’s the “Good Love” I’m talking about.” Biography: Toronto-based soul music artist Joanna Mohammed (aka Aphrose) is no stranger to the Canadian music scene. With a reputation for powerful R&B vocal stylings, she has worked with international heavyweights Daniel Caesar, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Jessie Reyez, Nikki Yanofsky and Charlotte Day Wilson, to name a few. After ten years as a working professional vocalist and hungry to express and pursue her own creative ideas, Joanna Mohammed debuted under her artist name Aphrose (chosen from her mother’s birth name). After a string of successful single releases in 2018 and 2019, Aphrose shared her debut LP Element. The nine-track album earned her national acclamation and opportunities – including a live performance feature on CBC Music First Play, tour support for Moon Vs Sun (Chantal Kreviazuk & Raine Maida), song placement on CBC drama series Diggstown, and a spot lending her vocals to a Sportsnet 2019 NBA Finals commercial. She followed up the album with singles “If We EverChange” and “Bobby Daba” in 2021, each wracking up over 100,000 plays on Spotify. Raised in the culturally diverse neighbourhoods of Scarborough, Aphrose’s musical tastes and influences are wide and run deep, shaped by the music present in her Trinidadian household. With an apparent musical reverence for soul legends Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder to modern icons like Amy Winehouse and Frank Ocean, Aphrose’s songs both lyrically and musically embody self-realized power, euphoric love, and ancestral strength. Aphrose’s sophomore album, Roses, is slated to be released in the Fall of 2023. Aphrose shares, “It combines all the sounds I love and is a love letter to my family and where I come from. Throughout the record, there is audio of my (late) grandmother Rose speaking/praying that was isolated from old hi8 home video tapes, and the title single that will be released Roses, is a tribute to her. I’m excited about this body of work because it feels really honest and is exactly the music I want to make right now.” Upcoming Events: Friday, May 5 2023 – The Tranzac – Tickets(Screening) Sunday, May 7 – Cameron House – Tickets (With Ben Kunder) Tuesday, May 30 – Daniels Spectrum – Info Friday, August 18 – Yonge and Dundas Square – Info Connect with Aphrose: Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Spotify /YouTube / TikTok |
