Goapele Mohlabane is a Bay Area R&B singer, songwriter, producer and activist from Oakland, California. Born July 11, 1977, Goapele’s name (pronounced gwa-puh-lay) means “to move forward” in the African language Setswana. After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, she returned to Oakland to work on what would be her debut album, Closer, which was independently released in 2001. The title song “Closer” got her recognition and Columbia picked up the distribution of her album, added songs and released Even Closer in 2002. She has since released several albums and singles such as “First Love,” “Milk & Honey,” “Play,” “Hey Boy,” “$ecret,” and “Purple.”

Goapele has worked with a number of Bay Area hip-hop artists such as Hieroglyphics, E-40, Zion I, Clyde Carson, Rexx Life Raj, and Mac Mall while also collaborating with Snoop Dogg, Dwele, and Mos Def among others. Goapele was inspired by the activism of her parents and she was honored by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights with their first ever Human Rights Cultural Hero Award in 2006.