Khadja Nin

Khadja Nin, a world music sensation in Europe, is a native of the African country of Burundi. On this, her American debut recording, Khadia sings in French, Swahili and Kirundi. Despite the foreign languages, the emotional power of her music transcends cultural barriers.

1 - At the source of the river

Some people's lives are so amazing that they could easily inspire any novelist to write a masterpiece. Chad's life is such a story that deserves to be told. She was born and raised in Burundi, a small African country squeezed in between two gigantic territories, Zaire and Tanzania. She grew up peacefully in a family of eight children, where she made her first steps into music. "Music was always there," she confesses, though she already wished to be Miriam Makeba.

When she turned 16, she left her family and home and went to Zaire to pursue her studies. At the age of 17, she met her future husband and moved with him into the forest, where they ran some lodges for tourists in search of big thrills. She also gave birth to her son and thought that music, for her, was a dream that would never come true.

In 1980, while everything seemed to flow happily, her life changed dramatically. She left Africa for Europe with her new family, a move which proved very tough. She first lost some of her close relatives. Then her husband suddenly died. "I was left alone with my child in a foreign country and I didn't know anybody," she remembers. "I applied for jobs, sometimes the lowest ones in order to make a living," Khadja says almost casually.

In 1985, she met the well-known and talented musician Nicolas Fiszman, which proved to be a turning point in her life. Nicolas fell artistically in love with "this princess from out of the blue" and soon they started to write songs together. Khadja says about him, "Nicolas is the Nin of Khadja Nin."

They had to wait until 1991 to sign their first recording contract. Immediately seduced by this duet with a unique blend of African and European sounds, BMG signed them on the spot. There was no hype on World music at the time, so they contributed to its blossoming. Their eponymous debut album was "critically acclaimed," as Khadja says and commercially, it was a relative success too, motivating her decision to dedicate herself exclusively to music from then on.

In 1994, she releases her second album, "Ya Pili" was released in 1994, and performed live continually - "Something essential in one's musical career. Being on stage is the only way to improve, take risks and directly thank your fans," she says. It was also a good way to prove that she was a complete artist.

Real fame came in 1996. In an attempt to buy itself some cultural credibility and to make a break from previous fake projects, the most powerful French TV channel TFI, selected Khadja Nin as its "summer act" with her third album "Sambolera," (which consisted of broadcasting one of the artist's videos several times a day during the summer). It could have been a risky choice for the channel, as well as for Khadja herself. "People often asked if I was not afraid of being swallowed up by TF1. The answer is - I'm not edible. This opportunity just helped me to reach a larger audience and to move faster. As I knew exactly where I stood, I did not fear anything for my own credibility."

The future proved her right. Her career and her music kept the same level of credibility after she had sold more than 420,000 copies of "Sambolera" worldwide; a huge success for her partners and a big acknowledgement from France and the rest of Europe.

2. Reach the delta of the river

In 1998, Khadja - for whom bitterness and denouncement seem not to exist - is so eager to live and to try out new things that she is arriving at the same step of her career. YA was released. Nurtured with more passion and strength than ever in collaboration with her faithful multi-instrumentalist/partner/producer Nicolas Fiszman, the main quality of this new album is that it is more defined and stripped down than her previous work. This is the result of their long creative partnership, which is a true osmosis now.

"The whole set up for the recording of YA... was great. We moved to South London and stayed in a country house where we installed a mobile studio. Thus, I could invite my musicians and guests, such as I Muvrini (from Corsica), as if I was at home. Besides the friendly spirit of the place, it gave us a chance with Nicolas to develop our working relationship much further. He writes most of the music and I concentrate on the lyrics, but we speak the same language. After so many years together, our style gets sharper and finds its own harmony," Khadja says. Indeed, their immediately recognizable style found in YA... is most convincing and moving eurythmics so far. Beyond the amazingly simple backing track full of hypnotic arrangements and dreamy melodies, Khadja Nin instills in her lyrics such an uncommon touch of humanity, mixed with her own experiences, that the listener cannot avoid being affected. Even when she sings in Swahili and Kirundi, her performance is so outstanding that the emotional power of those lyrics, sung in such a bright and strong voice on top of a dreamy kind of music, is immediately infectious. Being a soulful singer Khadja's spirit during the recording sessions explains it all: "YA... is a bit different from my previous albums as it marks a big change in my life. The first twenty years of my life were wonderful and I will always keep them in my mind. The following twenty years were tough with the loss of very close people and my experience of war, hard times and loneliness, with a child to raise. So I hope that the next twenty years will be a rebirth, a new freedom. With this record, I cast off my old skin for a new one. I treat the former era with a lot of respect and decency but I definitely get rid of my mourning dress."

There is neither pity nor lament in this statement. It rather testifies her integrity and the profound love and respect she has for her art. Humble as ever, Khadja Nin adds almost apologetically, "But you know, I try to stay very calm with it because I came to music rather late in my life and by accident. Actually, music came to me like a gift from God."

Khadja Nin could not have come up with a better offering than her new album YA...

'YA...' is a true testament to Khadja Nin's talent. Her powerful songs illuminate the life's lessons that are deeply embedded in her music. Gifted and soaring vocals combined with Khadja's heartfelt lyrics and contemporary rhythms capture a unique eloquence that forge a hypnotic momentum along the way. 'YA...' reveals music that is eclectic and playful yet roars explosively on a soulful, emotional and spiritual level.

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