Passionate, Powerful & Wise Beyond Her Years – Nneka Shares Her Story on CNN African Voices
Posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 3:31 PMBy BellaNaija.com
Nneka Egbuna was recently profiled and interviewed on CNN’s African Voices and we are totally floored! Nneka has this passionate way of communicating her story and views on Nigeria that just makes it must watch TV. You can tell that Nneka skipped the media training classes her record company might have tried to send her on – and we totally love it! No PR tripe, just real talk, straight from the heart.
She talked about her harsh upbringing in Nigeria (Born to a Nigerian father and German mother, Nneka grew up in her hometown of Warri, Nigeria, before leaving at the age of 19 to study in Germany), her journey from Nigeria to Germany and that experience raised her consciousness and awareness of the issues in Nigeria. In her words, “The period of time that I spent in Germany educated me a lot about being Nigerian. Before, I never really was that conscious of my surrounding, of our politics. I knew that there was something going on, but I never really felt responsible,” said Nneka.
Nneka is currently on tour in the US and will be appearing in American Vogue later this year!
Watch Nneka on CNN African Voices
Tags: cnn, CNN African Voices, Nneka
go girl.
I haven’t watched d interview yet, but I luv dis girl (ain’t homo, though). Hopefully I’m d first to comment this time around!
I like her:) Love her acccent more.. very original babe:)
The title of this article is misleading…for a second I was confused ‘His’?….kindly edit.
Woooow…………..I’m first, I’ll like to thank ma momma *heheheh, jst kidding*
Bella love ur blog but pls fix the glitch……… Nneka is a lady – “Nneka Shares His Story on CNN African Voices”
yayy………. styl 2nd!!!
Love the videos, she’s beyond AMAZING!!
Passionate, Powerful & Wise Beyond Her Years – Nneka Shares His Story on CNN African Voices
Bella, this should read “HER story”. Kindly edit.
“Nneka shares HIS story…”??? REALLY??? LOL… Oh well, I love the girl so I’ll let it slide… She is one talented human being.
I understandwhen she says she wasn’t conscious of her
surroundings until she left, moving can do that to you.
I wasn’t African until I left Nigeria. I love her honesty, the rawness of her lyrics
*sigh* girl crush
I saw her life once and she is an okay singer. The thing that bothers me a bit is that, although i fully understand pidgin, i cant understand what she is singing about. And if I dont understand her,, how more will the audience grasp what she is singing about. This is the keyfactor why she isnt internationally known in my opinion.
love her. dynamic personality!!!
WOW something original…this is good coming out of our nation. i respect this girl and the fact that she is being herself in everything. hopefully they dont try to change her or her music. fierce n luv
@Mimi where on earth are you that you are saying she is not internationally regonized? was she singing in Warri from these clips? she has sold out in Europe she is touring the states and has more gigs this summer with other big names! She is the next big thing from Nigeria after Fela. You dont have to understand what she is saying from her passion and action the message is clear. She is talented and that you can hardly say for female Nigerian musicians except for a handful. Wishing her the very best
I love her and her mannerism….. first time to hear her music, but it is beautiful and i cant wait to hear more from her!
yeeeparipa i didnt no dat she had a nigerian accent, anyway we all love nneka. me dat am in america self i can never forget about naija ,if u ar born nd raised in naija dere wil always be a very strong connection even wen u relocate, naija sweet oo
Ich liebe ihren Akzent. Sie ist eine schöne Person. Bis nächsten, sie wird schlagen Toronto am 10. August in El Cohambo. Ich habe mein Ticket & Ich freue mich, sie zu sehen!
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I love her accent. She is a beautiful person. Up next, she’ll be hitting Toronto on August 10 at El Cohambo. I just got my ticket & I am excited to see her!
Aww she’s so cute and talented! She just seems very comfortable in her own skin! Love her!
@mimi: that you do not understand what she is saying/singing about does not mean others do not. Remember you are just a unit of the audience. She is not internally known??? yet she has appeared on The David Letterman Show (alongside the likes of Oprah, B. Obama, Jay-Z).. i dont any Nigerian that has appeared there; she is not internationally known??? yet she has appeared on CNN African Voices (alongside the likes of Prof. Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie, etc.) As long as I recognize it is your opinion, please wake up! Love you, Nneka… keep flying our flag high, and higher!!!
When would nigerian artist realize that the best of those that made it internationally were those that maitained that original nigerian accent. Fela,Youssou Ndour, Femi and now Nneka. e.t.c. It hurts me when i see Nigerians that grew up in Nigeria rapping with an american accent. some one goes to America for the summer and already he has an american accent. that’s a weak self-esteem. I like yousssou ndour but i dont understand a word he says.
A wonderful girl from a wonderful nation. Keep it up baby, u are great with ur philosophical words of this wild world. The spirit of God dat duels within u will continue to guide u through to archive ur aim.
Who would have thought… by just being yourself and being proud of your country and continent….Go Nneka.. the sky is your starting point..
@shehu
you are actually right, i never noticed that.
GO NNEKA!!!
I found out about her sometime last year and was wondering why she isn’t as big as she should be.
well her time is NOW!!!
the time has come….
as much as im a big fan of this girl, i can’t understand why she speaks as she does. i mean, i’m igbo, grew up in nigeria, etc… and i don’t know how many people of our generation i know that talk so “raw” and “unrefined”, so to speak… yeah i get the idea of being real and stuff, but you don’t have to speak primitively. her issue is not even just with her accent, it’s with pronunciation… what’s all the “dem” instead of “them”… etc… these are just simple lessons in diction that she can address.
take a look at chimamanda adichie, she has held on to her nigerian accent, but at least she promounces words properly and can conveniently speak to and be understood by an international audience.
how does she plan on having an international audience with this diction? i know it’s cute for a while, but after that, one begins to wonder what’s actually wrong.
other than that, as hard as it might be to believe, i love this girl and her music, like really… i just wish she would be able to speak better
she doesnt have style period.she can wear those african prints but they should be nicely made even if she stands for simplicity in dressing,she should be ”simply gorgeous”and she needs a good make up artiste too,infact she needs a stylist.Go Nneka,u rock!!!
@ugo i thought the same too, about the way she speaks and all. Still, i thinks she
she’ got real talent!
Nneka is an inspiration. All the best to her.
@ugo
huh? se u kno jackie chan no sabi englisi even after all this time. if this is her signature, it’s working damn fine.
hey, why don’t we together list internationals who have flawed english (both in accent and pronunciation and even tenses) who are recognised, respected and loved never-the-less; shall we?
tsk.
All those talking of her accent, abeg go and sit down, if you grew up in Warri you won’t have mouth to talk here, leave matter for Matthais
Nneka rocks, she inspires me.
Only Nigerians with their colonial mentality will have a problem speaking with a true Nigerian accent….you know she grew up in Warri…this is the reason the west loves her…she is not a wannabe she simply is
Arnold Shwartznegger with his thick, undiluted german accent still made it in hollywood and later the Governor’s mansion in Califonia! Una too dey yarn about in consequential things! whats the big deal if she has a Waffi accent? You would too if you grew up there! Nneka nothing do you.. those accent-bashers dont know what they are talking about! ptcheeeeeew!
It’s an irony that Nneka is more of a hit abroad than in the Naija she so proudly and unapologetically identifies with. Google “Nneka the singer” and you’d be surprised at number of rave reviews she’s getting; she has been severally described as the “next big thing” and “poster girl” of the european music scene. I don’t have any problems with her accent. In the interview she made herself clearly understood to anybody with a modicum of intelligence and an open unprejudiced mind. That said, hope she lives up to the huge expectations and bring that Grammy to Warri and Nigeria..
@mimi..actually she is a great singer.Her vocal range is not really showcased on the cd ,but her voice soars and is fantastic when she sings live
Can anything good come out of Nigeria? You have the answer right there…..note, The very last song of the entire interview (Kankpe) is on Fifa 2010 video game. She is surely international indeed.
Daz sounds lik osha name.d sky is ur startin point