On Saturday, April 2nd, The Shrine and Giant Step invite you to a very special evening featuring a live performance by Goapele backed by Chicago's own Verzatile, with DJ Mark Fulla Flava on the 1s and 2s.

Born on July 11, 1977, Goapele Mohlabane is the daughter of a South African activist father and a New York Jewish activist mother who met while they were both studying in Kenya. Raised in the Bay Area, she was and still remains heavily involved in community-based activism. Taking her passion for the community and music, she has applied the same DIY grassroots techniques to her music career.

After briefly studying music at Boston's Berklee School of Music, she returned to her homebase on the West Coast. She formed her own label, Skyblaze Recordings, to oversee her musical career and after establishing a large fan base she released her debut album Even Closer in 2002. In 2003 she was named fifth on Rolling Stone's Top Artists To Watch For list. By 2004 Skyblaze Recordings had been picked up by Columbia/SME Records for a national distribution deal and the album was re-released again to national acclaim.

Her sophomore release Change It All peaked at #32 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album Charts and #2 on the Top Heatseekers. Since then her fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of her third album Milk & Honey with an expected release date later this year.

Check out the video for the single "Milk & Honey" below...



... and here is a flashback to when we fell in love with her.



Goapele