PARK CITY, UT – In a world that feels constantly at war, Alex Boye is trying to promote healing. His music – self-described as “Pop music with an African twist” – has been producing positive vibes for more than three decades. He’s had success as member of a 1990s boy band, as a gospel singer and, most recently, as a contestant on the NBC hit show America’s Got Talent. His music videos have garnered more than 260 million views on YouTube. But it’s his newest original single “We All Bleed the Same” that has him more excited than he’s ever previously been in his career.
“Everything right now is trying to divide us,” Boye said, referencing racial and violence issues in the U.S. and socio-economic and political clashes globally. “My new EP is trying to do the opposite. I’m trying to unify through the power of music. ‘We All Bleed the Same’ is a song that should give you an amazing feeling. When I sang it three weeks after the Orlando shooting, I felt healing just singing the song. Unfortunately in today’s day and age we give each other labels a lot, but those labels are dividing us. I wanted to do a song that talks about one label: the human race. This song and the EP is one big group hug – a sonic group hug.”
Boye has become known throughout the music industry and his fan base as an amazing cover artist. His unique style of pop with an African twist is something that he has given treatment to such popular songs as Disney’s “Let It Go” and “Under the Sea,” as well as more mainstream pop songs such as Adele’s “Hello” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” But this new EP, which goes by the same name as the single “We All Bleed the Same,” is his first original album since his time a decade ago as a Gospel artist. He said it was his mother – a native of Nigeria – who eventually convinced him that it was time to tackle such a project.
“I first started doing this Pop music with an African twist when I was contacted many years ago by a group called The Piano Guys,” Boye said. “They’re classically trained musicians who do pop songs with a classical twist. They asked me to sing Swahili on a cover of “Paradise” by Coldplay. In Swahili, the word for paradise is ‘Peponi.’ When we posted that song on YouTube, it had 4 million views within four hours. Now it has more than 51 million views. The funny thing is that for years my mom had been telling me that I should be giving my music an African twist. But African music is often lumped into the genre of ‘World Music,’ and that’s a small niche. When that video with The Piano Guys got so many views, though, I realized that this African influence came natural to me. When I showed it to my mom, she said, ‘I told you this would work.’ The moral of the story is that you should always listen to your mom. So after that I started wondering if I could make original stuff that has the same flavor. The result is this EP, which is a more marketable pop music with an African twist.”
The African flavor is present throughout the album. Boye sings in six different languages throughout, and introduces instrumental influences native to African countries. All of the songs continue the theme of unity – many of them sparked by one individual idea that he expands on through music. The single “Arms Around the World,” for instance, started with an exploration of the idea of inclusion. Once he found a melody and good beat, the lyrics for the song came naturally. In the end, it’s an album that he said is relevant for today – a socially conscious EP with music that people will want to get up and dance to.
The EP is scheduled to be released July 29, with a new music video for the single “We All Bleed the Same” to be released on Boye’s YouTube channel. Fans can also visit his website AlexBoye.com for more information about his music. He also stays active on social media through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, for those fans who want to know about upcoming live shows.
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