Nakai talks truth to power in documentary album
Queen of SA hip-hop recounts struggles facing female rappers
Queen of South African hiphop music Nadia Nakai is a trailblazer in the genre and definitely in her own league. This was evident when she had her documentary album premiered on Showmax and Channel O last Friday. Titled Nadia Naked, the 1 hour 30 minutes documentary tells the story behind Nadia ’ s debut album, while taking the viewer to the world of one of the country ’ s shining stars.
It features her live performances, videos of her songs, interviews, collaborations with different artists, people commenting about her talent and i nspiration behind many songs in her debut album that was dropped in December last year. With Nadia Naked: The Album Documentary , the rapper wanted people to resonate with her story and her narrative.
She further explains that she wanted people to know what it takes to be a female rapper in SA because people have certain perceptions that she is successful because of her sexy body.
“There is a perception that I am successful because I am signed under Cassper Nyovest ’ s label.
I wanted people to understand that I might be goodlooking and sexy but I still work a lot harder than some male artists.
I am a hard worker, everything I haveIworked for and I take my craft seriously,” explains the 30-year-old.
The full album that was released in December is doing well, with two of its singles going gold and platinum in three weeks.
The rapper, born Nadia Nakai Kandava, explains that the album was well-received and there is an improvement in terms of peoplewho buy her music.
She says female hip-hop artists do not get the same reception and attention as their male counterparts. .
With women it is hard to get men to listen to them because they don ’ t think there is something resonating with them, but I am starting to see a shift, which is more exciting for the future.
“For female rappers you have to double your efforts more than men to make it,” she explains.
In one of her interviews, Nadia says people say she is always half-naked and that she is selling her music through her nakedness.
“Of course, it is my body. If I can use it to get on another level, whynot? RickyRick and Cassper perform with no shirts on and no-one complains.
I don ’ t care what they say because I know the way I dress does not mean that I deserve to be beaten or sexually assaulted. ”
The rapper says it took two years for her to finish her album because she did not want to release it just for the sake of releasing it.
Nadia joined the industry in 2013 with her first song Like Me.
She also featured in Ricky Rick ’ sAmantombaz ana and also dropped her famous single Money Back, which went on to become a soundtrack for numerous shows and adverts.
Born in SA and attended high school in Kenya before return home, Nadia says she has grown as a singer and different experiences that she went throughwere the only way she can make music that resonates with people of all ages.
She says when she went to the studio, she knew that she was not making music for clubs, gyms or radio but she wanted to make music that people could relate to.