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Nneka is the daughter of an East Nigerian father and a German mother. She was born and raised in Warri-in the Delta region of Nigeria where she attended both elementary and secondary schools. She relished the experience of singing from an early age in her school and church choir. For nineteen years she soaked up the sounds and rhythms of one of the most musical nations on the planet, a country where expressing yourself through song is just a part of everyday life, a country that has music in its very DNA, where the influence of giants like Afrobeat revolutionary Fela Kuti is never far away. But at the age of 19, she made the big decision to leave behind the African way of life. After relocating to Hamburg, Germany, she pursued a career in singing alongside a degree in Anthropology. This Afro-German warrior princess has built on her successes; stretched her muscles; and widened her range- bringing back black consciousness and soul music into the 21st-century.___

Music Career
Since 2003 Nneka has been working closely with hip-hop beat-maker DJ Farhot- a producer from Hamburg. As a young singer, she first gained public attention in 2004 while performing as an opening act for dancehall reggae star Sean Paul at Hamburg Stadtpark. After much acclaim, she was given a green light to record her first album. After releasing her debut EP ‘The Uncomfortable Truth’, she performed on her first tour with Patrice Bart-Williams in April 2005; playing shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Entitled ‘Victim of Truth’, her first album was released not only in Germany but also in England, France, Netherlands, Nigeria and Japan. Garnering rave reviews from the media, the UK’s Sunday Times declared it “the year’s most criminally overlooked album”, comparing it favorably to ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’. ___

Following the release of the album, Nneka enjoyed a sustained and successful period of touring, performing at festivals such as Chiemsee Reggae Summer, Haarlem, Den Haag and Saint-Brieuc- an Art Rock Festival; as well as in respected venues like La Maroquinerie and New Morning in Paris, Tivoli in Utrecht, Paradiso in Amsterdam and Cargo and ULU in London. She has also supported artists such as Femi Kuti, Bilal, Seeed, and Gnarls Barkley. In February 2008 she released her second album, ‘No Longer at Ease’. The title of the album was taken from a novel by renowned author Chinua Achebe; and reflects the lyrical content of the record. Most ___

of the songs are political, and speak to the plight of the Niger Delta and the corruption in her homeland. No Longer at Ease combines the political and the personal in “a winning mix of soul, hip-hop and reggae”. The lead single from it, ‘Heartbeat’, became her first song to break into the German Top five; and later it broke into the UK Singles Chart at number twenty. The following months saw tours in France, Italy and Portugal, while she also supported Lenny Kravitz on his French tour in April 2009.

Nneka was nominated in three categories for the 2009 Channel O Music Video Awards; and won an award for Best African Act at the 2009 MOBO Awards. Soon after, she was chosen as of one Beyond Race Magazine’s ‘50 Emerging Artists,’ resulting in a spot in the publication’s eleventh issue. In the fall of 2009, she staged her first concert tour of the United States performing in New York City, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. She appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in New York before getting her tour underway. Her first US release Concrete Jungle debuted in February 2010 and her track ‘Kangpe’ is featured as a soundtrack on the 2010 EA Sports FIFA video game. She also recorded a song for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa called ‘Viva Africa’, - a tribute to the world on African soil. She won the reggae category of the Museke Online Africa Music Award with her hit song, Africans; and toured with Nas and Damian Marley to help promote their ‘distant relatives’ album. She was a part of the 2010 Lilith Fair Concert where the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Kelly Clarkson, Jill Scott, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mary J. Blige, and many others performed. She won the award for best indigenous artist in Nigeria at the Nigerian Entertainment Awards that was held in New York.

Musical Style
Even though Nneka sings more than raps, she names hip-hop as her primary musical root and most important source of inspiration, while citing artists such as Fela Kuti and Bob Marley as well as contemporary rappers Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Lauryn Hill as key influences in her own pursuit of musical recognition. Her lyrics reflect much of her history and life in Nigeria as well as her time spent in Western Europe. Her songs stress the issues of capitalism, poverty and war; and are often loaded with moral and biblical messages and references, with some music commentators comparing her to Neneh Cherry and Floetry. ___

At The End....
Her story and her sound, with its Afrobeat, hip-hop, and soul influences, put Nneka in the lead of a new generation of cosmopolitan African singers. They are picking up where Tracy Chapman and Erykah Badu left off, only with roots set firmly on the African continent. Although Nneka shrugs off any comparison, she admits that a greater awareness of the diversity of African music is allowing artists like her to find a global audience. J.Period, whose documentary-style mixtape follows the style he has used for other artists including Hill, sees Nneka and other young Africans - like Somali rapper K’Naan -bringing something important back to American music, especially hip-hop. Although Nneka says there is no guarantee she will keep making music, for now, she finds mission in song. “By the grace of God I am still loving it,’’ she says, “I still believe I have a lot inside of me to let out. And there are a lot of people who are suffering, and I want to be the person who can speak for them.”

by Quiballah Scott
Photos by LastFm.com___