It was on a Valentine´s day that Layori discovered her love – her love for great performances. She stood on the stage of the “Mayflower School”-auditorium in her domestic Nigeria to sing for three thousand of her fellow students and their relatives. “It was just overwhelming. It felt totally natural for me to stand up there on stage und perform.” She had trained her voice from her early childhood on, but she found out in that very moment that music would play the leading role in her life from now on.

With her album Origin the singer dares to start again from a turning point. With the first few bars of the blues-colored, follkoristic title “Dada”, sung in her mother tongue Yoruba, Layori pulls the listener into a sounduniverse where Pop, Soul, Reggae, even Jazz can communicate the easy way. What we hear is an airy, almost completely acoustic, calm music, that is simple, catchy but multilayered – music that is never dominant but always electrifying. It is sung by a woman that loves transpareny as much as mystery, a woman that shows a surprising maturity for her age, a woman that is obviously in balance with herself. With her sensous alto voice the singer is aiming directly at the hearts and souls of those who listen to her. Often she has been compared to Tracy Chapman, sometimes even to Sade (who is also from Yoruba origin). “I guess it´s the trembling in my voice which by the way is typical Yoruba. Would I sing my lyrics with a strong accent no one would come up with idea of comparing me to Tracy”, says Layori.

In Wally Warning the singer and songwriter had an important and experienced partner on her side while creating Origin. He and Layori agreed, that the title Origin contained the message that the music should remain as natural, pure and genuine as possible. Two guitars, bass, percussion, background vocals, occasional horns and strings set the right frame for Layoris voice. She sings in three languages (besides Yoruba it´s English and Spanish). One can´t resist her, whether she´s intonating the mantra-like “What Is Love” or she´s playing with the many shades of her splendid organ. It´s astounding how powerful and fragile she can sound at the same time. “Both comes from the challenges that you have to face when you travel the world constantly. The fragile has maybe to do with me being homesick, missing the protection and love of my family.”

By the way: Layori is a slightly shortened version of her second name which means “through grace you were saved”.

The singer was born in westafrican Nigeria, the country with the largest population on the black continent. Her sign is Virgo. At the time of her grammar school age her father, a business man, decided to settle with his loved ones in New York. A few years later the head of the family feared the loss of cultural identity, the fading away of African roots and with his wife and children moved back home. With great effort Layori had to relearn the African way of life. Her parents sent her to  an arts school. There she made her first steps as a model, took singing way more serious, belonged to a literature and debating club and represented her school at different competitions. When she turned 16 the next big cut in her life took place. With her seriously religious aunt she moved to London. She could only stand the strict woman for half a year and escaped to Portugal. There the beauty made a living on the catwalk and sang at Lisbon´s Jazz- and Piano bars. “Portugal is the perfect country, not only because of the weather and the mentality of the people. It´s the place were Africa and Europe have the strongest connection.”

Layori: “In a certain way Origin is like coming home. In all the years that I spent in different countries in the world, my african soul was always present. Never ever would I do something that is against my culture, my pride, my believes, my roots. With Origin I can now show my family: look, I´ve made something out of my life.

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