The British singer-songwriter whose humanist folk-soul songs quietly became touchstones for Madness, Jay-Z, Eminem, and Kanye West.
MOODS · introspective · soulful · tender · socially conscious · warm · melancholic · uplifting · intimate · folk-soul · wry · emotionally raw
BIOGRAPHY
Claudius Afolabi 'Labi' Siffre was born 25 June 1945 in Hammersmith, London, to a Barbadian-Belgian British mother and Nigerian father. Raised in Bayswater and Hampstead and educated at St Benedict's School in Ealing, he was largely self-taught, absorbing jazz, blues, and early R&B through an older brother's record collection before studying at the Eric Gilder School of Music.
He played clubs and bands around London in his teens and twenties, then moved to Amsterdam with his partner, trading electric guitar for acoustic and playing folk clubs. His 1970 self-titled debut began a run of nine albums through 1998, with 1972's Crying Laughing Loving Lying bringing UK chart success via 'It Must Be Love.' His 1984 anti-apartheid song '(Something Inside) So Strong' won an Ivor Novello Award.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Siffre's catalogue quietly rewired pop history from the margins: 'It Must Be Love' was later covered by Madness, '(Something Inside) So Strong' became an anti-apartheid anthem drawing on his own experience as a gay man, and his song 'I Got The...' was sampled by both Jay-Z and Eminem, while Kanye West drew from 'My Song' for 'I Wonder.' A 2022 BBC Imagine documentary and renewed use of his music in film, including The Holdovers, have helped bring a songwriter often overlooked next to peers like Nick Drake back into view.
GEORGE'S PLAYS
First time on the station.
PLAYED ON WOKE1
