For his farewell album, Moses Pelham brings Xavier Naidoo back from his six-year break from music. Why?
After 31 years in the business, Moses Pelham now wants to turn his back on the music industry. But for his final album LAST WORDS, the 53-year-old brings Xavier Naidoo back to the microphone. But why?
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Three tracks with Naidoo – the explanation
One says goodbye, the other reports back: Moses Pelham’s last record will be released on January 24th – Xavier Naidoo will also be there on three songs. After an almost six-year break from music and a lot of discussion about his statements and theses, he can be heard again in a completely new way.
Regarding the controversial decision to include Naidoo on the LP, Pelham said in the “Bild” interview: “I’m very happy to have Xavier on ‘Last Words’.” Rather, it seemed that the musician couldn’t be persuaded to do so . Only two short phrases, namely: “Everything is fine” and “We are friends”. Otherwise he probably had nothing to say about the Naidoo case.
To the background
In 1993, Pelham started out as a rapper with his specially founded collective Rödelheim Hartreim Project and became famous far beyond the borders of his hometown Frankfurt and was often referred to as “the hip-hop godfather”. Soon he was not only making and producing music himself, but also discovered some musicians who later became well-known artists in the German music scene. In addition to Sabrina Setlur and Cassandra Steen, this also includes the controversial soul and R&B singer Xavier Naidoo.
So the Naidoo who debuted with NOT FROM THIS WORLD in 1998 – an LP that sold over 1.5 million copies and stayed in the top 20 of the charts for a year. But recently the musician attracted negative attention – conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic statements, climate change denials and Reichsbürger statements shot him out of the public discourse.
On April 19, 2022, Naidoo’s apology video came via Instagram: “I realized that I had irritated and provoked my family, my friends, my fans, people who defended me, but also many other people with disturbing statements, for which I would like to apologize.”
The apology did not restore his reputation. Too many questions and discussions remained unanswered. After that it became quiet around the singer.