Falana Finds Her Voice in New EP, 'Rising': LISTEN

Project Title: The Rising EP

Release date: October 15th, 2021

Distributor: AWAL

Label: Rubikon Ent/Grey & Blue

Off the back of her first single of 2021 Joy, Falana is set to springboard into her long-anticipated EP Rising. The Rising EP is themed around women’s empowerment. It’s a journey of the different emotions and stories that we all experience, but told from a female perspective, through song and music. Stories of self-love, personal struggle, romantic love, and self-perspective. Through her own lens of living and experiencing different cultures (Nigeria, Canada, United Kingdom, Cuba, Denmark), whether personally or professionally, Falana’s EP has a unique perspective and sound that is truly global. The project's producers and contributors also reflect this global story: KingBjmn-USA (Future, DJ Snake, Kranium), Dale Virgo-Jamaica (Rihanna, Drake), Tboy-UK (Burna Boy), Lord Quest-Canada (SchoolBoyQ, Raekwon, Bosco), Davay O-Nigeria (Adekunle Gold), Tyler Richards-USA.

Hailed as “Nigeria’s Coolest Front Row Star” by Vogue, she knows the importance of disrupting the often one-dimensional view of women that we’re constantly shown by our newsfeeds.“I love fashion because it’s another form of expression. But for me I think one of my main motivators is just being a different reference point for African women, and women in general,” she explains. “I’m sexy, but I’m not selling sex. I’m different, but I’m still beautiful. I’m strong, but I’m soft. I care about how I am presented because what you see is what you know.” Her distinctive braid pom-poms have fans tagging her in fan art and pictures of their own hair: “I feel like it’s become this signature for me that’s so powerful now.” The RisingEP is the result of collaborations that started before the global pandemic, including recording in Jamaica, England, Canada, USA, Portugal, Ghana, and Nigeria. The process has been one of healing and self-discovery; each trip unveiling a new layer that allowed her to write from a different perspective. “I feel that I’m in my spirit position to be able to speak to different people because I’ve experienced so many different places,” she says. Falling between genres that have influenced her own journey, from Soul and Pop to R&B and Afrobeat, with the Rising EP, Falana has been able to hit the balance she’s been searching for her whole life. “It’s funny how things fall together slowly and then all at once. I feel like I’ve really found my voice. And I think once an artist finds their voice, they become unstoppable.”