Nneka

Nneka, born Nneka Egbuna in 1981 in Warri, Nigeria, later made her home in Germany after moving to Hamburg at the age of nineteen to study anthropology. This politically engaged and stylistically wide-ranging English-language neo-soul artist, often likened to Erykah Badu, drew early inspiration from the towering legacies of Fela Kuti and Bob Marley as well as from contemporary urban American voices such as Mos Def and Lauryn Hill, which led her to begin creating music once settled in her adopted country. There she formed a close working partnership with DJ Farhot, resulting in her first recording, the five-song EP The Uncomfortable Truth, issued in 2005 and followed later that year by the full-length album Victim of Truth. The project yielded singles including “The Uncomfortable Truth,” “Beautiful,” “God of Mercy,” and “Africans,” setting the stage for her next album, No Longer at Ease, which appeared in 2008. Its lead single, “Heartbeat,” became her first release to reach the German Top 50.