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Nothing prepares
you for what you eventually find when you engage singer, rapper, and
songwriter, Nneka. Neither the unruly afro nor the petite frame
prepares you for the profound personality buried underneath. However,
one look in her eyes tells you there is more to the singer, and then a
tour through her music will add the final stamp of conviction.

Born Nneka Egbuna
in 1981 to a Nigerian father and a German mother, in Warri, Delta
State, she has grown to be very vocal about her concern for the plight
of the Niger Delta.

The 2009 MOBO Award
winner first hit stardom as an artist in Europe before the Nigerian
music scene began to acknowledge her. However, with or without the
recognition of her homeland, the artist has taken her star quality even
further to the United States where she toured for the most part of 2010
with the likes of Nas, who did a rap in a version of her ‘Heartbeat’
song, and Damian Marley.

“Before the album
‘Concrete Jungle’ was released, I did a mix tape which featured artists
like Lauryn Hill, The Roots, and Nas, among others,” Nneka revealed,
seated in a cozy bar at Bogobiri House.

The ‘Concrete
Jungle’ tour was quite an experience for the artist as she had the
opportunity of performing with artists such as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott,
and Beyonce, among others. However, being on the road all year long was
no mean feat.

“I thank God for my
band. Most of them are older and married. They are disciplined too. We
go to bed early and we eat well because some of them are vegetarians,”
Nneka said of her band members.

In 2010, during her
US tour, Nneka also performed on David Letterman’s ‘The Late Show’,
going some way to create a fan base for herself in the US. She was also
nominated for Best Female Artist at last year’s MTV MAMA awards which
held in Lagos, and award eventually clinched by rapper, Sasha. But
Nneka remains undaunted.

Life elsewhere

She once stated in
an interview that, “I gained an awareness of Africa in Germany. I think
if I hadn’t stepped out of Africa, if I hadn’t lived in Germany, I
wouldn’t have had that mindset today.”

Asked what she
meant, the artist explained that, “Before I moved out of Nigeria, I was
aware alright. I grew up in the Niger Delta. When I went out of
Nigeria, I had the opportunity to know myself. I wouldn’t say my
parents were poor but we had to hustle. My mind was occupied with
getting by.”

“Stepping out gave
me the opportunity to get to know myself and music. I developed the
urge to express myself so that I’ll not be misunderstood because up
till then, I was always misunderstood,” she added.

Furthermore, “it
helped to develop my identity and personality, got me interested in
music, and made me understand that my music had to have a message.”

Leaving Nigeria for
Germany in 2000 became imperative for the artist and marked the
beginning of another phase in her life. “I started studying while also
working part time jobs,” she disclosed. In Germany, she met Nigerians
like herself also working hard to make a living.

According to her,
some of them just wanted to forget about Nigeria. Listening to their
plight and some of her own experiences helped to create various themes
for her creative repertoire. One of those experiences was racism.

Back in Nigeria,
Nneka never saw herself as anything but black. “I never felt different
till I stepped out and experienced racism,” she said.

The height of it
was at Hamburg University where she was studying Archeology and
Anthropology. At the time, she was the only Nigerian in her department.

One of her
professors refused to give her marks for her dissertation. He made
clear his disdain for her colour and her attempt to gain a degree in
that particular field. “You people are good at sports and music. That’s
enough,” she quoted him. She eventually graduated but, “I always had to
prove myself.”

Her music

On what music means to her, the artist says music is a reflection of everything happening within her.

“I don’t look for
topics like: ‘Oh, I have to sing about corruption today’. It comes
naturally. It’s almost like a confession; almost like therapy for me.”

On when she first realised she had ‘it’, Nneka laughs and states modestly that “I still don’t have it.”

“I always knew that
I could sing, but I never knew that I wanted to sing. I never thought
I’ll be doing what I am doing now. All I wanted was to get out and be
free, and learn. I wanted a degree,” she confessed.

Going back to her
childhood, Nneka noted that, “as a child, I always played house. And I
realise that I was always the mother; the figure of authority. I had a
shrine and I had my imaginary friends, but I was in charge. Even today,
I like to be in control. I like to know I can survive by myself and
that reflects in my music,” she disclosed. “But I am not always that
strong,” she reflected.

On her website, her
music is described as having a ‘big splash of Bob Marley, a measure of
Nina Simone, and a lick of Erykah Badu’. Nneka also acknowledges
influence from Fela, Victor Uwaifo, Sunny Okosuns, Sunny Ade, and Shina
Peters.

Film debut

Her recent foray
into the world of make believe is certainly something to talk about.
Sometime ago, she wrapped up shooting for Andy Amadi Okoroafor’s new
movie ‘Relentless’. The movie, which was screened at the Africa
International Film Festival (AFRIFF), held in Port Harcourt last
December, features her alongside ‘Tinsel’ actor, Gideon Okeke.

Nneka plays Honey,
a prostitute with ties to ruthless politicians. According to her, “The
movie shows Lagos from a raw side but with class,” she says. The singer
also performs with musician, Ade Bantu, on a song from the movie’s
soundtrack, ‘Waiting’.

Next steps

Nneka is recording her next album for Europe and the United States and hopes to release it in Nigeria later.

“You have to be creative to run the Nigerian market and keep yourself in the minds of your audience,” she declares.

On why she does not
have a Nigerian record label, she goes on to recount her experience
when she first wanted to break into the local industry. According to
her, it was always one story or the other with some of the labels.
“Some of them wanted to redefine my image,” she says.

Nneka is not all
about music, as she is involved in Rope Foundation, a non-governmental
organisation she co-founded with Sierra Leonean-Liberian artist, Hameed
Nyei, who used to work with ex-child soldiers.

She is also the
NGO’s project manager for Nigeria. “We do workshops with kids that are
less privileged. We use music as a platform for them to express
themselves,” she says.

With the steady progress she is making, already a popular name in
Europe and Africa, and making inroads into the American music scene
with her unique and refreshing brand of music, it is clear that Nneka
is not resting on her oars.