Have you seen this woman?

There’s a part of me that admires Helen Folsade Adu for refusing to be a slave to anyone’s idea but her own of what a musical artist owes their audience.

But DAMN, she makes it hard to stay a fan.

Sade apparently doesn’t feel she owes her audience a damn thing.

It’s been almost eight years since her last studio album, Lovers Rock was released and that was after another eight-year gap following its predecessor,  Love Deluxe.

Since her emergence on the music scene in 1984 , Sade has made only five studio albums in 24 years.  Prolific the woman is not.  However,  you certainly can’t complain she gluts the market with product.

Unlike a Madonna or Janet Jackson who refuse to act their age and still strike sex kitten poses when they’re closer to being soccer moms, Sade has no problem getting out of the way of the spotlight.  If anything, she avoids publicity like Superman avoids Kryptonite.

The very last time I saw Sade was at the now closed Polaris Amphitheater.  She put on one hellacious show as she kicked off her shoes and danced around the stage.

That was September 10, 2001.  The events of the following day pushed the pleasant afterglow of the concert clean out of my head.  With only a live album since the last studio release, one might wonder how the events of September 11 affected Sade Adu.

One thing’s for sure.  It didn’t inspire her to crank out any new music.

Since 2001, Sade has once again pulled a disappearing act.  There is nothing—nothing— to be found about her present life or future plans through searching the Internet.

As we both share the birthdate of January 16,  I keep hoping the 49-years-young diva might drop me a  card, but no such luck.

Since she’s been producing music in 8-year intervals, it’s possible Sade could spring a new album on her fans.  But on the other hand, the same thing i said the same thing in 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003….

The Nobel and Pulitzer Price winning novelist and essayist Toni Morrison was once reported to say, “All art is  in knowing where to stop.”  For Sade and her fans, the dilemma lies in her inability to start.