Efua – Dream Juice (1993)

Another much overlooked artist of 1993 was Efua Baker. Her sole album was heavily influenced by the Soul II Soul sound that, while not as popular as it was years earlier, was still getting airplay. In Efua’s case there was a real connection, however, as she had dated and had two children with Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B.. Efua’s music was a bit more esoteric, however, more like Soul II Soul when Jazzie B took over lead vocals. Thus, it contains a lot of spoken word vocals, and the music is hip hop–soul- jazz, but it’s still pop. She released three singles, “Somewhere”, "Down Is The Drop" (my fave) and “Strawberry Boy”, but none had much impact. (Check out the video to “Somewhere” below, but keep in mind that the version in the video is a remix of the album track.) She appeared a couple years later on the Soul II Soul album Volume V: Believe, but otherwise her recording career seemed dried up. You would think her story would end there, but luckily Efua embarked on a successful but entirely different career – as a fitness instructor. She appeared on the BBC series Fat Nation and recently trained Christian Bale for his role in “Batman Begins”. A lucky woman indeed!

Video for Somewhere

Video for Down Is The Drop

Video for Champagne

Download Dream Juice

1		Move
2		Down Is The Drop
3		Strawberry Boy
4		Champagne
5		Kiss Kiss
6		Love Is
7		Yes You Do / (Interlude) Do Me Right
8		Somewhere
9		Is There More
10		Knock