Adi Oasis

The French-Caribbean singer-producer (now based in Brooklyn) recently announced her new full-length album, Lotus Glow, to be released March 3. Her first album as Adi Oasis, the album features an eclectic range of guests, including KIRBY, Leven Kali, Jamila Woods and Aaron Taylor. 

On Lotus Glow, the French Caribbean, Brooklyn based soul-funk-r&b artist combines her masterful production, soaring vocal chops and spectacular bass prowess to create her most personal work to date – and also her most political. For Adi, the political themes are unavoidable. “Thematically my new album is fearless, yet vulnerable, and also more political, because I’m a black female immigrant, and these are my truths.”

The album title, Lotus Glow, sums up Adi’s journey, while being a manifestation of her future dreams. “Out of the mud grows the lotus,” Adi explains, referring to the many struggles she has overcome in her life, from growing up in the Parisian projects to being a Black woman in America. “Lotus Glow represents the flower I’ve blossomed into, the artist I’ve worked on becoming all my life. The glow is where I am going next. It’s my destiny.” 

Since going solo in 2018, Adi has earned widespread critical acclaim and a thriving fanbase, partly due to her incredible live shows. Her single “Whisper My Name” was featured in a stunning COLORS debut in early 2021, and she has garnered critical praise from press including Vogue to Rolling Stone, Wonderland, Line of Best Fit, Afropunk and many others. 

She has toured globally, appearing with such artists as Anderson .Paak, Gregory Porter, JUNGLE, Keyshia​ Cole​, Lee Fields, Big Freeda and more, and has performed at Central Park Summerstage, Afropunk, Funk on the Rocks (Red Rocks) and London Jazz Fest. 

As a kid, Phillip-Michael Scales didn’t understand what it meant that his Aunt’s close friend, who called him “Nephew” and he called “Uncle B,” was actually B.B. King. When it did become clear, as Phillip-Michael began playing guitar, he decidedly shied away from soloing and most things blues. Instead, he fell in love with songwriting when an English teacher told him “A great writer can make their reader identify with anyone.” The trouble was he couldn’t find his story in the blues. With a fierce independent streak and a passion for performing, Scales fronted his own indie bands, wrote and recorded his own music, and worked to make a name for himself on his own terms. All the while, his “Uncle B” just smiled a knowing smile and encouraged him to “stay with it.” As Phillip-Michael began to discover “the blues” in his private and personal life, their relationship grew closer. It wasn’t until “Uncle B” passed away, that Scales began incorporating more of the blues into his music. “These days I’m finding more of my story in the blues. A lot has led me here between politics, my identity, and the idea of Legacy.” The result is a sound he calls “Dive Bar Soul” which takes a bit of indie rock storytelling and couples it with the passion of the blues.

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