Nneka Has A Lot On Her Mind

By Chiagoziem Onyekwena

‘A Prophet (ess) is not without honor, but in her own country, and among her own kin…’

Let’s be honest, over half of the Nigerian music-listening public who stumble across this review will only glance through its content half-heartedly, that’s if they even bothered to give it a second look at all; they’ve seen Nneka’s name and/or her face ‘somewhere’ before, but that’s as far as the familiarity goes. Fortunately however, some of you will actually take the time to glean through this review; you know Nneka and you like what you’ve heard from the firebrand, so far.

First things first, Concrete Jungle is technically Nneka’s third album, but it really isn’t an album per se. It’s a compilation of songs from points in Nneka’s career, pressed up and released to the American public via Epic Records. Those who’ve followed her career should take Concrete Jungle as more of a re-introduction; the rest should buckle up for the ride of their lives! Take her 2008 European hit, Heartbeat, for instance. With a tender voice that sucks the listener in and takes control of nearly all of your senses, Nneka invokes her revolutionary spirit as she delivers a thought-provoking, slightly aggressive narrative of her fatherland. But don’t let her soft voice fool you though, Nneka’s tongue is caustic and spits venom almost throughout Concrete Jungle. God of Mercy sees her switch things up, delivering rapped bars with the same precision that she puts in her singing.

The more rock-oriented Focus features emcee Nneka once again only this time, she’s slightly edgier. At first, it’s surprising, even shocking, that the same lady whose singing voice is more mellow than a cat’s purr would turn around swiftly and drop the ‘F’ bomb on the same album. But when you go deeper into the Jungle, then you realise that that’s the beautiful thing about Nneka’s music – it’s full of contradictions. With long term collaborator DJ Farhot on the boards, Nneka interweaves rapping and singing, swerves between Ibo and English and marries African culture with Western Ideologies, all in a bid to describe despair while preaching hope at the same time.  Blissful chaos! It’s obvious from Track 1 that Nneka has a lot on her mind, and much like her enormous Afro, she isn’t afraid to let it all out.

Americans would listen to Concrete Jungle and say, even though she’s still very much alive today, Lauryn Hill has already been reincarnated. Along the way, Lauryn met Erykah Badu, shared a joint with Fela Kuti and broke bread with the Roots and voila! The result of all that is… Nneka.

Now with a MOBO prize for Best African act (2009) and a spot on 9ice’s newest album Tradition, hopefully her homeland, Africa, will finally wake up to this woman’s enormous talent.