Aruba Red (born Natascha Eleonoré Bruce) is a British alt-soul and

trip-hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

musician named after a female pirate legend (which was invented by the

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

company, which gave the name to a beer). She has described her sound as "alternative soul music centered around themes of transformation and healing, influenced by trip hop, minimalist

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

, glitch,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, acoustic

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

, and dub".

Early life

Aruba Red is the daughter of

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

bassist, vocalist, and songwriter

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of Rock music, rock band Cream (band), Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a ...

Career

2008–2015

Aruba Red first appeared as a featured artist on

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other ...

's album

London Undersound ''London Undersound'' is the eighth studio album by British musician Nitin Sawhney. It was released on , by Cooking Vinyl. It includes collaborations with Paul McCartney, Natty, Imogen Heap, Reena Bhardwaj, Ojos de Brujo, Anoushka Shankar, Tin ...

, released on

Cooking Vinyl Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England. It was founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and his business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner an ...

in 2008, on the track ''Last Train to Midnight,'' which she co-wrote. This collaboration was born out of Aruba Red being selected to work on Sawhney's project ''Aftershock London,'' which led to an 18-month residency at London's South Bank Center with artists including Camilo Tirado,

Riz MC Rizwan Ahmed (; born ) is a British actor and rapper. He has received several awards, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award with nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. In 2017, he was name ...

, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and Sam Carter. Other collaborations and features include

's 2011 album '' All of You''. She also collaborated with Jamaican Reggae Artist

Jah Cure Jah Cure, or Iyah Cure (born Siccature Alcock on 11 October 1978 in Hanover, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae musician. Raised in Kingston, he was given the name Jah Cure by Capleton. Career His first big break came in March 1997 when he rele ...

on her track ''Light Up,'' released on the Jamaican record label TAD's, which was playlisted on Irie FM, alongside her collaboration ''Struggling'' with Reggae Artist

Jah Mason Andre Johnson (born 29 December 1970), better known by his stage name Jah Mason, also known as Fire Mason, is a reggae singer/deejay from Jamaica, active as a recording artist since 1991. Biography Jah Mason was born in Jamaica's Manchester Pari ...

. A video was shot for ''Light Up Light Up'' in

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

. The video was directed by Aruba Red's sister, Kyla Simone Bruce. Aruba Red has toured with

Maverick Sabre Michael Stafford (born 12 July 1990), better known as Maverick Sabre, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and rapper. Early life Stafford was born in Stoke Newington, in Hackney, London. At age four, he moved with his family to New Ross, County W ...

, Natty,

Fat Freddy's Drop Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by mus ...

, and

Ms. Dynamite Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Naomi Arleen M ...

. Aruba Red has performed at festivals including

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

Boardmasters Festival Boardmasters Festival is an annual event held in Cornwall, United Kingdom, usually spanning five days on the second weekend of August. The event is a combination of live music and surfing/skateboarding competitions in and around the town of New ...

Big Chill Festival The Big Chill was an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August. The 2011 line-up included The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Jessie J, Ro ...

, Freeze Festival, One Love Festival, Rise Festival, and Thailand's International Hot Air Balloon Festival. In 2012, Aruba Red released an EP entitled "Demos in Disguise" independently via

Ditto Music Ditto Music is an online music distribution company. It distributes music to 160 digital music stores, including Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Vevo, Apple Music, Beatport, Deezer, and Shazam. It currently operates from its head office ...

. Initially, the release was only available in digital format; a physical edition was later made available in 2013, featuring several bonus tracks. The digital version of the release features five original songs, whereas the limited ''Red String'' physical edition features eight original tracks and an acoustic ''mashup'' cover version of Nirvana's song ''

Something in the Way "Something in the Way" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the 12th song on their second album, ''Nevermind'', released in September 1991. It is the final listed song on the album, althou ...

'' and

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

's ''Homeless''. There is also a live performance version of this cover featuring guitarist Charlie Laffer and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson. She recorded backing vocals for her father's last album, ''Silver Rails,'' which was released on March 24, 2014, on

Esoteric Records Esoteric Recordings is a UK independent record label specialising in 1970s progressive rock, folk, psychedelic, and jazz-rock reissues as part of Cherry Red Records. Its releases include both catalogue reissues and new works from artists who s ...

. In March 2015, Aruba Red was featured on 'Rip Me', a song released by 'Halflife', the collaborative project between

and dubstep producer

DJ Distance Distance (born Greg Sanders) is a British dubstep producer and DJ. He also founded the record label Chestplate, whose sonic direction followed his style, fusing metal influences with dubstep templates. Distance's involvement in Mary Anne Hobbs ...

. In the same month, Aruba also wrote and recorded an exclusive song with

for Sawhney's

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

show 'Spins the Globe'. The track 'Fractured Heart' was written about the last few days Aruba spent with her late father On October 24, 2015, Aruba Red performed "

We're Going Wrong "We're Going Wrong" is a song by British supergroup Cream from the album ''Disraeli Gears''. The song was written by bassist Jack Bruce and was the only song on ''Gears'' that Jack wrote without lyricist Pete Brown. Song structure With the song ...

" and "

Folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has bee ...

" at her father's tribute concert, 'Sunshine Of Your Love - A Concert Celebrating the Life and Music of Jack Bruce' which she co-produced with

. Over £30,000 was raised for Bruce's local children's hospice,

EACH Each may refer to: *''each'', a determiner and indefinite pronoun An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun which does not have a specific, familiar referent. Indefinite pronouns are in contrast to definite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns can represent ...

2018–present

After taking a hiatus from making music professionally, losing her father and becoming a mother, Aruba Red made her comeback releasing an EP entitled "Holy Waters" independently via

. The EP features guest production from

and guitar by

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801 and Quiet Sun. ...

. The EP reached number 7 in the Top 10 iTunes Soul/R&B chart on its release date. It received positive reviews from Tinnitist, The Filtered Excellence,

MixMag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

, and music blog Mystic Sons. On 19 September online music magazine Tinnitist premiered "Goddess Vibes", the first music video from Holy Waters, which became the website's most viewed song of 2018. Aruba Red signed a publishing deal with

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

on 8 November 2018. In June 2019, Aruba Red was awarded the 'Transmission Fund Grant' by

Help Musicians UK Help Musicians (formerly Musicians Benevolent Fund), is a United Kingdom charity offering help for musicians throughout their careers. History It was created by Victor Beigel in 1921 as the Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund, following the death of En ...

to support the writing of her new album. On New Year's Day 2020, Aruba Red released a visual for her song "Violet Electric feat.

In February 2020 Aruba Red released her live video Blue filmed at The Vortex Jazz Club on Blue Monday. On 6 March 2020, Aruba Red released her EP Shadow Work, which received positive reviews from At The Barrier, PauzeRadio, and Spiral Earth. This release was followed with Aruba Red's debut headline concert at

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town, London, Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras, London, St ...

on 11 March.

Mental Health

On 2 November 2019, Aruba Red spoke at BBC Introducing Live on a panel discussing mental health in the music industry and in December 2019 she featured on the Elevate Music Podcast, discussing inter-generational patterns around addiction and co-dependency. In February 2020 she was interviewed on BBC Radio Sussex about her own experiences battling depression and escaping an abusive relationship and using art to heal. On 27 April 2020, Aruba Red launched her 'Meditation Mondays' series on instagram after hosting a guided meditation for the shesaid.so collective.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Red, Aruba British hip-hop singers Living people Singers from London World music singers Feminist musicians British women singers Musicians from Stuttgart British world music musicians Year of birth missing (living people)