Labi Siffre is an English singer-songwriter and poet, born in London in 1945, whose warm blend of soul, folk, and protest music runs from the early-'70s Pye years to his 1988 return. Crying Laughing Loving Lying (1972) is the classic — Eminem sampled I Got The... for My Name Is — and (Something Inside) So Strong became an anti-apartheid anthem. Explore Labi Siffre vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Claudius Afolabi Siffre was born in Bayswater, London on June 25, 1945 to a Nigerian father and Belgian-Barbadian mother. He launched his recording career in the early 1970s and released a catalog across Pye Records before retreating from music for over a decade. He returned to the recording career with So Strong (1988) including (Something Inside) So Strong - a powerful anti-apartheid anthem that has become widely covered. He came out publicly as gay in 1988 and has been with his civil partner Peter John Carver Lloyd since 1964. His song I Got The... (1972) was sampled by Eminem for My Name Is (1999), bringing his work to new audiences.
Labi Siffre's sound combines soul, folk, R&B, blues, singer-songwriter, and protest music with his distinctive warm vocal delivery and lyrical content addressing personal experience, social justice, anti-apartheid politics, and LGBTQ identity.
Original Pye Records pressings of the 1970s Labi Siffre catalog are widely collected. Multiple anniversary editions and reissue programs (including the comprehensive Demon and Cherry Red reissues) have been released.
Listeners new to Labi Siffre typically start with Crying Laughing Loving Lying (1972) or So Strong (1988).
