Out of an obscure corner in West Oakland, singer\/songwriter Nia Cephas arrived like a modern-day oracle with a marvelous debut album, Cosmicpolitan. Positioned to be released by Little Village Foundation at a no-fee event Nov. 21 at Amoeba Berkeley, the album\u2019s eclectic 11 tracks channel the influence on Cephas of bossa nova, samba, Middle Eastern folk, pop, blues, reggae and jazz music.<\/p>\n
Timeless themes and wisdom-of-the-ages lyrics find flight on the wings of songs written by Cephas. Recorded over a one-year span at Kid Andersen\u2019s Greaseland Studios in San Jose, every indication in her first release is that the 26-year-old is a fast-rising artist worthy of the spotlight.<\/p>\n
Cephas is also a guitarist, and on the album some tracks have her playing acoustically with multi-instrumentalist Rick Andersen. Other songs are backed by a full band, notably including several award-winning musicians. Among the impressive group are keyboardist Jim Pugh, head of Little Village Foundation; Grammy-winning bassist Jerry Jemmott; drummer Gary Novak; and others. Cephas\u2019 mother, Roseanne Duarte, gets into the act, singing backup and playing piano.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cosmicpolitan was produced by Kid Andersen, Pugh and award-winning blues singer\/songwriter\u00a0Alabama Mike\u2014who happened to play a vital role in Cephas\u2019 career and, specifically, in \u201c400 Years,\u201d a song on the new album.<\/p>\n
Cephas had the good fortune to cross paths with the celebrated Alabama-born, now-Oakland resident Mike on the front stoop of his cousin\u2019s home. Learning she sang and played guitar, he invited Cephas to join them. She did, singing her \u201c400 Years\u201d and causing Mike to later have her sit in with his band for a show in Berkeley. One opportunity led to another and ultimately, to Pugh\u2019s Little Village Foundation signing a deal to produce her first album.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Cephas said she wrote \u201c400 Years\u201d during a time of intense emotional turmoil. It was 2020, when Covid and the Black Live Matters movement demanded\u00a0 attention\u2014as did stories of unarmed people of color being targeted, injured or killed by police officers meant to protect them. Cephas\u2019 father is African American; her mother, Brazilian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wondered if I\u2019d have an experience where officers unduly stripped me of my rights,\u201d Cephas said. \u201cThat song tells the story of African American people over 400 years. One line says, \u2018Help us glow like a light bulb burn long.\u2019 That\u2019s a reference to inventor Lewis Latimer who assisted in creating an element in light bulbs that helps them burn longer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other lines relate to additional historical stories and collectively support a declaration of resistance against oppression: \u201cWe not gonna take it no mo\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another standout track, \u201cFrequencia,\u201d is written partially in Portuguese and unleashes Cephas\u2019 spontaneous, scatting voice. \u201cI was nervous about scatting, but I was alone in the studio with just Kid and myself,\u201d Cephas said. \u201cI felt very free. I was giggling and laughing. The Portuguese came in because my mother is Brazilian. It was hard to mix my African American and Latino cultures on the album, but I have dual citizenship and really, multiculturalism\u2014my ancestry\u2014is the foundation of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBorderland\u201d is captivating, largely due to the Middle Eastern traditions that allow Cephas to vary the song\u2019s tempos and to employ the two sides of her voice that can be gentle, lyrical and hypnotic, or flip without disruption into highly percussive tone and articulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cKid plays the oud [a lute-type string instrument] that gives that Middle Eastern flare,\u201d Cephas said. \u201cI felt powerfully about the genocide happening in Gaza and had put together an [ad-hoc] group in Berkeley to protest. We started a movement that ended with a candlelight vigil. The song speaks on going into yourself and going what I call \u2018god mode,\u2019 which reflects my spiritual journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
That journey includes a horrific car accident that in 2019 nearly ended her musical career, if not her life. \u201cI woke up in the hospital with tubes down my throat,\u201d Cephas said. \u201cI almost lost both of my legs, but they were able to put titanium rods within my femurs. All the nerves in my dominant hand were severed, and the bones were shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cephas refused to accept the doctors\u2019 prognosis that it would take one year to walk and that the use of her right arm was impossible without extensive surgeries. Instead, she walked in about two weeks and, after intense therapy, returned her arm to functionality.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience solidified my belief in my true reality and the power and potential of the human body and mind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Soon, Cephas embarks on a three-month tour in Brazil, where she is excited to connect with a culture and audiences who are part of her lineage. In the future she hopes to collaborate with artists and bands steeped in roots and mainstream music, along with other musical genres, such as electronic music.<\/p>\n