In recent years, Goapele, who now lives in Los Angeles and dabbles in acting, has been making an even more concerted effort to try new things, releasing songs that are more orchestral and symphonic, like “Breakthrough,” or more pop-based and faster in tempo, like “Hey Boy.” But branching out has its caveats, and admits that she’s been “afraid” of taking chances, and that she’s forced herself to “just do it anyways.” Take, for instance, “Romantic,” another early Goapele track that is sultry, twangy, and brimming with bluesy guitar chords, or “Undertow,” a glitchy and emotive electronic number from her 2012 album, Break of Dawn. “Closer” may be a lush, dreamy effort rooted in neo-soul, but her other songs differ in style. Nothing feels broad enough.”Īnd she’s right. “I understand it for marketing purposes, but I’ve always hated defining myself with a genre. “I think it’s too limiting,” Goapele tells SF Weekly. To date, it has been listened to over 4 million times on Spotify and has been featured in a slew of films ( Honey) and TV shows ( 90210) as well as in remixes by big-name rappers like Drake and YG.Īs a result, many people know of Goapele, who has a throaty, athletic voice, because of “Closer.” But she hesitates to pigeonhole herself as solely an R&B or neo-soul artist. But “Closer” still remains her best-known and most beloved hit. 17, has released four more albums and a handful of singles.

Since then, Goapele, who will perform at Mezzanine on Saturday, Sept.

Goapele closer album version