Need To Hear: Haddy N'jie

"Singer, Haddy N'jie"

If you like listening to Nina Simone then this artist comes the closest in her delivery and sound of Nina with her soft ...fluid vocals and delivery that will have you hitting repeat. Haddy's soulful lyrics need no bells and whistles to evoke strong emotions because her music brings them all together harmoniously.

Haddy Jatou N'jie is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, author and journalist. She holds a degree in journalism from the Oslo University College. Haddy began her television career as a news journalist for NRK. She has since expanded to work on a broader field, and is today recognized as an author, journalist, playwright, musician and a singer. As a solo artist, she has released three albums: White Lies, Welcome Home and World of The Free.

Haddy's and members of the group, Queendom which not only represents Norway, but several African and Caribbean countries as well: Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Trinidad and Gambia.

She has toured the country several times, together with Concerts Norway, and produced several full-night performances with her comedy group Queendom. Check out some of Haddy N'jie's musicand show your love to this wonderful singer by adding her to your music list. 

Photo: Fredrik Lyngås Pedersen

Afrolista of the Week: NABIHA BENSOUDA

Nabiha Bensouda is a Copenhagen based performer. Nabiha has Danish and North-West African roots (Gambia, Mali and Morocco) born and raised in Copenhagen as the eldest child in a family of seven. Nabiha grew up listening to disco music and soul, but at the age of five she fell in love with reggae. Later, her love turned to rock music, R’n’B and electronic music. Nabiha has been exposed to most genres and has now developed her own unique style, which is strengthened by her sublime and distinctive vocals. She possesses an energy and attitude that bewitches the listener of her music in a brilliant way.

"Nabiha performing at this years Zulu Awards in Danmark"

Throughout the last year, Nabiha worked intensely on her debut album ‘Cracks’ together with the Swedish producer/writer Carl Ryden, which was released in Denmark February 1st 2010. The tracks on the album are inspired by pop, urban and electronic music the productions are on an international level, rarely seen from an artist out of Denmark. Carl and Nabiha have written and produced most of the songs on the album but also collaborated with fantastic songwriters such as; Nina Woodford, Cozi Costi and Chanelle Gstettenbauer. During their first writing session, Nabiha, Carl and Cozi wrote the track “The Enemy”, which is the second single off the album in Denmark.

”Cracks” entered the official Danish Top-40 Album Chart at 17 and on the TDC PLAY download album Top-40 ”Cracks” has so far peaked at 7. The album has received fantastic reviews with 5-stars in several music magazines such as Gaffa, Tjeck, Sirene & Olivia and received 4 stars in various other well known magazines across Denmark. Nabiha has done several spectacular live performances on Danish National TV this spring – including the prestigious Zulu Awards show.

Nabiha is in the Danish charts right now with her first single “Deep Sleep” - a song with an incredibly strong hook focusing on “just wanting to sleep”. The middle-8 is a lullaby from Mali, which Nabiha’s mother used to sing to her when she was a child. The lyrics in the lullaby are a mix of African and French and it always put Nabiha to sleep.  Nabiha is an artist to definitely be on the look out for as she expands her reach all across Europe and on into the USA.
(Source:Nabiha)