HIP-HOP LEGEND Nas calls her “amazing” and “an incredible
artist.”. The Sunday Times hailed her as the new Lauryn Hill and said her debut
album was “as good as The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” And now award-winning
Nigerian singer-songwriter Nneka is back - with a captivating, reggae-tinged
fourth album My Fairy Tales.
“I decided to call this project My Fairy Tales as a way of
making subject matter that is sometimes quite heavy and bitter sound sweet,”
says Nneka. “My previous albums had quite heavy names – like No Longer At Ease
and Victim Of Truth. ”
My Fairy Tales, Nneka's fourth is released through Bushqueen
Music and was born while she was studying French and living in Paris. “I'd
initially gone for one month but ended up extending my stay for several
months,” says Nneka. “While there I met the producer Mounir Maarouf and I just
started recording every day after school. It evolved into this project; the
Parisian Sessions.” It was recorded and produced in France, Denmark and
Nigeria. French producer Mounir Maarouf produced five songs, the Danish Silver
Bullit team with Nneka produced two songs and The Slag [aka Martin Nigsch]
produced one song.
My Fairy Tales is a concept album, exploring the lives of
Africans in the diaspora and the struggles they face - focusing on the
importance of being responsible towards children as well as the significance of
culture, education and identity values. “I wanted to write about this
experience in the ” Nneka explains. “How we cope hustling in ‘another man's
land’. but also the aspects of endurance, perseverance and gratitude.”
My Fairy Tales has a retro groove appeal to it, with
authentic afro-groove highlife blending with roots reggae. In the viral single
Book of Job, Nneka sings: “No matter what comes, on my knees I will stay/ I
keep beseeching, so let the storms come cos I know that love will conquer
everything.”
BORN AND RAISED around the Delta region of Nigeria, Nneka
Lucia Egbuna moved to Germany aged 19 to study Anthropology at Hamburg
University. It was during her student years that Nneka honed her craft as a
singer-songwriter.“I financed my studies in Germany by playing gigs on the
underground scene,” says Nneka. “I've always written from a very young age. I
used to just write down my thoughts and experiences and lots of prayers.”
Her politically charged lyrics swiftly established her as one
of Africa's most powerful voices. Nneka's lyrics examine a myriad of social
issues, including maternal love, heartbreak and the quest for justice. Working
tirelessly over the last decade, Nneka has released 3 previous albums – Victim
of Truth, No Longer At Ease and Soul Is Heavy. Her single Heartbeat [2009]
scored her a UK Top 20 hit and spun a feature by Nas and was also sampled by
Rita Ora for her #1 UK hit R.I.P.
Nneka continues to perform and electrify audiences across the
globe with the likes of The Roots, Gnarls Barkley, Nas and Damian Marley. She
won a MOBO for Best African Act in 2009 and recorded a tribute song called Viva
Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and has appeared on The
David Letterman Show and BET's 106 & Park. In 2014 Nneka joined the judging
panel on 'Nigerian Idol' Season 4.
Nneka's passionate sense of social consciousness also led her
to co-found a charity called The Rope Foundation, in 2012, with Sierra Leonean
MC Ahmed Nyeie [aka Genda]. The Rope Foundation serves as a platform for young
men and women to express themselves through art. Their most recent workshop
focused on working with sexually abused women at the WAGA [War Affected Girls
& Adults] Foundation, in the Bo Town region of Sierra Leone. “The Rope
Foundation works to give a platform to help people express themselves and their
issues in society,” says Nneka, who also serves as the Arts Ambassador for the
African Women Development Fund [AWDF] in Ghana.
Nneka's next European tour is scheduled to commence in March
2015.
My Fairy Tales is released through Bushqueen Music [GSA: Feb
27th 2015. Rest of the World release: March 2nd]
Bio: Precious Williams
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