Her full name is Nneka Egbuna. She is from Lagos Nigeria, but has lived and traveled around the world. She and her music is more well known in places like Germany and France than in the United States at the time of this writing, and hopefully that will change.
Nneka personifies the conscious warrior, speaking truth to power in most of her songs which start off sounding like love songs instead of political songs, but generally weave into the kind of songs that Bob Marley and Fela Kuti would surely appreciate if there were still alive today.
Nneka's birthday lands on Christmas Eve.
Nneka is are unique and her music is powerful & important.
Please click the play button of the first video below and choose the high-resolution & screen options. When the first music video ends,it will automatically be followed by the other videos below, followed by several more hours of excellent music videos if you choose to let it roll. Press forward to skip any video or click the reverse button to replay or return to previous songs, or exit the full screen mode to choose a new video.
Nneka - Africans
Nneka - Heartbeat
Nneka - Soul is Heavy
Nneka - God of Mercy (Live in France at Vieilles Charrues Festival)
Nneka - Do You Love Me Now - (Stellar live acoustic version with Nneka speaking about her backstory :)
Anyone who has read from this blog, or the archive, knows of Nneka. Here is a track not available on iTunes U.S., but is available on iTunes in other markets. The track entitled "Express Yourself" features features Ziggy Marley & Eeday.
Nneka featuring Ziggy Marley & Eeday
Last year, Nneka toured the U.S. opening for Ziggy Marley's brother Damian Marley. It's great to see the Marley clan has embraced Nneka's music. I feel that Bob Marley would surely appreciate Nneka for the messages she puts forth in most, if not all, of her songs. She is one of my top 5 favorite artists since I first heard her music!
There is no better way to describe Nneka than to simply say she has "it".
Her songs are and lyrics are deep and complicated. They personify an independent voice and rebel spirit that challenges the status quo where greed and corruption in her native Nigeria and throughout the world is rampant. Right out of the box, in the feel and groove department, she has that "it" thing too. It's one of the main ingredients.
What separates Nneka from most of the rest in the supposed top tier is that her songs dig hard to say something important. This leads me to wonder why she is not in the top tier, yet. I long for the day that she and artists like her are the top tier that exists. Perhaps in due time, substance will trump bling.
Her songs weave in and out from what seem like love songs at first, into geopolitical humanitarian statements often pointed at unnamed political leaders. At least her songs naturally conjure thoughts of certain leaders without even mentioning their names. Her songs make those who listen think. Nneka really reaches deep for truth which she considers to be real love.
This first song below is one of my all time favorites. It is a beautiful and timeless recording, as is the music video, and it is a very heavy and sad statement about the state of affairs in many parts of Africa and where she originates in Lagos Nigeria, where this video was filmed.
Nneka - Africans (originally released in Europe 2007)
This is an amazing live take of Nneka performing one of her signature songs titled Heartbeat. The studio version of this song (second one down from here) is the very first song I ever heard of Nneka's years ago. And, it did not sink in at first listen. It took a few listens to interpret the meaning of her lyrics clearly, but when I did I felt her depth and it had impact. The song is screaming at political leaders questioning if they hear the heartbeat of their electorate or in the case of dictatorships, the people they rule. I like the interview that follows live take in the video below. It's a tiny window of insight into Nneka. I have had a few chances to speak with her in person and I came away feeling her authenticity is genuine.
Nneka - Heartbeat (live in France with French/English Subtitle after song - 2009)
Nneka is some sort of female Bob Marley in terms of that activist spirit as she stumps for a conscious state.
She has a new record out for late 2011 titled Soul Is Heavy. It has not yet been released in America, but Amazon is offering up expensive import CD's. No idea why Sony Music is withholding the U.S. release, but they making a big mistake, in my humble opinion. Nneka is the kind of artist who deserves development and big pushes in the marketplaces of the world, everywhere.
This next track kills me. I love the live one, that is first below, as well as the next one which is the studio version. The song seems to be about politicians who make promises, but who fail to remember or live up to their promises, but it could be interpreted many different ways.
Nneka - Do You Love Me Now - Live On The Streets of Paris.
