And I just - I don't know, it just immediately put me at ease and I just felt captured. And it was towards the end of that project and they came to me with this instrumental track and they just said, you know, this seems like your vibe. GOAPELE: Well, there's a producer Amp Live and a producer musician Mike Albert(ph) who plays in my band, and a few years ago because it was before even 'Closer,' before a distribution and all that, we're going to press that 2,000 copies…ĬHIDEYA: I think I have one of those copies. I know we can make it better baby.ĬHIDEYA: 'Closer' got a lot of people into your work. If you could realize you need to set aside just a little time. And I enjoy, you know, getting dress to do(ph) shows and doing all of that, and speaking on subjects that are close to my heart and that I see affecting me, and people around me and people in this country is kind of the balance. I care about a lot of social issues and I care about fashion. GOAPELE: I think it's integral and other aspects are there no matter what. Do you ever feel that putting social issues front and center in your work kind of takes you away from other aspects of what you do or is it integral to what you do? GOAPELE: You write a lot of lyrics about social issues whether it's gentrification, self love, any - the whole gamut. When I look in your eyes unconditional sweetness uncompromised. GOAPELE: (Singing) You're always tempting me because you're so romantic. And the whole time, I just had to keep reminding myself, like, am I really singing in front of all these people right now? Is everyone really listening, you know? But it was great. GOAPELE: I did a show in the bay area, a summer stage show that was huge like that. And it's pretty surreal knowing that there's that many people listening at one time, you know. And being somewhere like the Hollywood Bowl, I'm seeing those immediate people in front of me, but other than that, it's just dots and I'm just imagining who's out there and imagining their responses. GOAPELE (Singer): You know when I'm singing, I can see so many people and I can see their response and everything. When I spoke with her earlier, she explained why she loves intimate venues. Though she's now caring for a newborn daughter, Goapele continues to perform across the country.

And she's put out two albums on her family-owned record label Skyblaze. Her single 'Closer' was a favorite on radio playlists across the country in 2001. The artist Goapele is one of Oakland's latest rising stars. The Tower of Power was born there, so were Tony, Toni, Tone, who we were just listening to, and the Pointer Sisters. Oakland, California has been turning out soulful acts since at least the 1960s.

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