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Claudius Afolabi “Labi” Siffre is a British singer, songwriter, and poet of British and Nigerian heritage. After working as a taxi driver and playing jazz guitar in a London house band, Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, finding early success with hits like “It Must Be Love” (1971) and “Crying Laughing Loving Lying” (1972). He is notable for his unflinching honesty and willingness to address social issues like racism and homophobia in his music. Siffre came out of a self-imposed retirement in the mid-1980s after seeing a documentary about Apartheid South Africa, which inspired him to write his most famous song, the powerful “(Something Inside) So Strong” (1987). The anti-apartheid anthem, which he also revealed had personal roots in his experience as a gay man, won him an Ivor Novello Award. He released four more albums between 1988 and 1998, and has also published essays, a play, and three volumes of poetry.
Siffre’s music gained more widespread recognition through hip-hop sampling: his 1975 track “I Got The…” was famously sampled by Eminem on “My Name Is” and by Jay-Z, while Kanye West sampled his 1972 song “My Song.” Siffre has been a vocal activist, even stipulating the removal of homophobic lyrics when granting Dr. Dre permission to sample his work. Siffre was with his partner, Peter Lloyd, for 48 years, marrying him in a civil partnership as soon as legally possible in 2005. Following Lloyd’s death in 2013, he married Rudolf van Baardwijk in 2014, who passed away in 2016. Siffre continues to write and engage in social activism.
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