Born from a French mother and a Burkina bé/Senegalese father, Jennifer Zonou aka Hawa has been rocked in music from an early age. As a DJ addicted to all kind of grooves, her father passed her on his genuine love and great vinyls collection of Rap, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Afrobeat, or Reggae music. While her mother, keen on American Folk and Pop, gave her awareness and sensibility for the beautiful melodies and songwriting of artists such as Rickie Lee Jones.

Yet it was not until 2000 that Jennifer began her singing career. A native of Macon (near Lyon, France), it was only after she met with IPM, a Hip-Hop group from Lyon, that she gained confidence in her skills and decided to start practicing in the best possible school: Gospel. Thus she joined the choir called “Héritage Soul” (Soul Legacy), where she connected with Raphael Chambouvet, keyboard in the choir and in many projects of the Lyon’s music scene such as CHK, or later Mr Day.

At that time, her voice could be spotted on many Hip-Hop projects from Lyon, including Dialect Music, Casus Belli and therefore IPM, but it’s only when she entered a new choir, « Precious Voices » that Jen took another turn in her career. She then rose in a Nu-Soul duo act called Ebony Source, whose album will certainly never be released, but which allowed her to tour seriously and to open for top French artists such as Diam’s or Wallen, but also for international names such as Lizz McComb.

Jennifer then began to work solo with her old mate Raph, who has since continued to play in bands such as Mr Day and who quickly liaised her with Favorite Recordings (Dynamics Onra, The Funk League Solomko Andre…) and his founder Pascal Rioux. A new Hawa was born, raising the challenge of writing in English with surprising ease. Very soon the first demos came to life, including « Sweet Lucky Day », which will later be found as the B-side of her first single « D.A.N.C.E. « , released in 2009.

In 2008 she met with Bruno « Patchworks » Howart (Metropolitan Jazz Affair, Uptown Funk Empire, Mr Day, Mr President…) at a concert in Lyon. Internationally renowned within the indy Soul/Funk music scene, Patchworks is immediately interested and offers to produce some songs for her. Coming next is a first acclaimed 7inch (“Dance”) and several appearances alongside Mr Day and Mr President, naturally followed by the common desire to collaborate further. The result is called ‘My Little Green Box’, first album by Hawa due for release on June 6^th 2011 on Favorite Recordings.

Mainly produced by Patchworks, MLGB is naturally instilled with the Soul/Funk touch that made him successful. But the album is also deeply led by Jennifer’s eclectic influences, and each of its 11 songs is the result of a true joint effort between her, Bruno and Raph on some tracks like « Full of Love. » Above all, this mysterious “green box » contains 11 great groovy nuggets and reveals a fully uninhibited Hawa. She impresses first thanks to a natural musicality gained through her years of Gospel, but also makes her own imprint with an approach to writing and rhythm very inspired by her long passion for Rap. In the wake of the Queen Sharon Jones and all her Soul daughters such as Nicolle Willis or Giselle Smith, Hawa could well find her place in the circle of the international top Soul Sistas, thanks to this first faultless attempt. Now we hope you’ll feel the same!!

Discography

• Chaos Clan – Loin de l’eden
• IPM – 1 pied dans le  biz (2003)
• Ebony Source « Le comble de ma solitude » - Extrait de la compilation Les soulfood sessions vol.1 (2004)
• Casus Belli  – Soul Fiction (2005)
• Dialect Music – La spéciale (2007)
• C.H.K  – Slow Motion (2009)
• Hawa – « D.AN.C.E » 45 T (2009)
• Abigoba – Fragments of Human Words and Voices (2010)
• Mr Day – Small Fry (2010)
• Mr President – Number One (2011)

Quotes

• TELERAMA SORTIR: “L’inattendue Hawa. Jolie voix, joli sourire et un premier album qui la place d’emblée dans le cercle des chanteuses soul qui savent faire monter la température. Avec « My little green box », la Franco-Burkinabé a signé en 2011 chez Favorite Records un disque espiègle, chaud et surtout très groovy. Sur scène, elle irradie une énergie rare.”
• NOVAPLANET: “Ça groove à l’ancienne ! Ça sonne, ça pulse ! Sur Nova, on raffole de la voix d’Hawa et des titres de My Little Green Box.”
• FIP: “ Hawa est une des plus belles voix de ces dernières années qui nous attire dans son univers dès la première écoute.“
• RADIO NEO: “ Si vous ne connaissez pas encore Hawa, il y a de fortes chances pour qu’elle ne reste pas inconnue très longtemps. Véritable diva au timbre sensuel groove-soul et jazzy. “
• Nick (Record Kicks / IT): “Wicked Track!”
• Simon Harrison (Basic Soul Show / UK): “Some killer summer tracks in there! »
• Paul Gamblin (Black & Blue – RTRFM 92.1 / Austria): “Lovely sounding tune this, the vocals sit well on the groove – really like this one!”
• Gerald « Smoeb » Travineck (98.3 Superfly / Vienna): « Everytime I play Hawa’s version of D.A.N.C.E., people ask me if this is the original. I always answer, yes of course. I am waiting for the album ever since. The first release out of it, gives me hope. Hawa’s personality and voice glitters in the world of casting shows and stereotypes. My little green box is golden »
• Nelson Ramalho (Power FM / IRE): “Cool album, I would support my favourites on my show. I like the big band sound as the backing and her vocals are cool.”
• Michael Rütten (Soul Patrol / Soulsearching Radio / DE): “Really into this one here!”
• Vincent Provini (FIP Radio / FR): “This record is a bomb!!”
• Adnsound.com (FR) : « Un vrai coup de cœur, (…) le premier album d’une future grande… »
• Paris Pompor / Groovescooter (AUS): “Sounding great!!”
• Wim (The Find Magazine / BE): “I really like her voice/style”
• Daniel (La Captura Del Sonido / Ibiza): “Like Hawa´s album a lot. No divas here, just soul music of today. ”
• LadySmiles (UK Jazz Radio / UK): “Love that soulful album from Hawa, great funky tasting work.”