Aṣa was born in Paris to Nigerian parents who worked in France and studied cinematography there. Her family returned to Nigeria when she was two years old. Her parents are from Itoku, Abeokuta South Governorate, Ogun State, Nigeria but Aṣa grew up in the city of Lagos in southwestern Nigeria and 18 years later returned to Paris where she lived her life as a salaried artist detached. She has three brothers, being the fourth and only female child in the family.
Asa's musical influences grew over the years from the collection of great music her father built for his work as a cinematographer. These discs of American, Nigerian, and African soul classics included the likes of Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, King Sunny Adé, Diana Ross, Nina Simone, and Miriam Makeba. Aṣa was inspired by her father's collection of playlists.
Aṣa returned to France at the age of 20 to study at the IMFP school of jazz music, where she was told by teachers to go ahead and become a recording artist because she was ready and didn't need any schooling. Back in Nigeria her first single "Eyé Adaba" was broadcast. Aṣa soon signed with Naïve Records. In collaboration with Cobham's Asuquo and with the new involvement of Christophe Dupouy and Benjamin Constant, she produced her first self-titled album, which went platinum, Aṣa. The release of the album propelled Aṣa into the charts of radios across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in 2008 she won the prestigious French Constantin Award when she was voted the best young talent out of 10 singers or groups by a jury of 19 music industry specialists in Paris.
Her second album, Beautiful Imperfection, in collaboration with French composer Nicolas Mollard, was released on October 25, 2010, and was certified platinum in 2011. Beautiful Imperfection's lead single entitled "Be My Man" was released in late September 2010. As of 2014, Aṣa was reported to have sold 400,000 albums worldwide
May God bless her new age
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