Nadja Benaissa
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| Nadja Benaissa | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nadja Benaissa |
| Born | April 26, 1982 |
| Origin | Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany |
| Genre(s) | Soul, R&B, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 2000-present (group) 2005-present (solo) |
| Label(s) | Universal Urban |
| Associated acts | DJ Sakin, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, No Angels, Vanessa Petruo, Sisters Keepers, Jessica Wahls |
| Website | NadjaBenaissa.de |
Nadja Benaissa (born April 26, 1982 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German singer, songwriter and occasional actress, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful all-female pop band No Angels, the "biggest-selling German girlband to date," according to the German media.[1]
After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Benaissa released her solo debut album Schritt Für Schritt in 2006. The semi-autobiographical album was entirely recorded in German language, taking Benaissa's work further into soul, R&B and jazz music,[2] but enjoyed moderate commercial success.[2] She's currently recording her second solo album.[3]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Benaissa is the second child born to an African-Moroccan father, Muhamed Benaissa,[4] and a Bosnian-German mother, Sabina.[4] Raised in a Muslim home[5] alongside her two years older brother Amin, former chairperson of the AStA at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main,[6] she spent much of her childhood in Langen, Hesse, where her parents worked in the catering business.
At the age of nine, Benaissa began playing instruments, learning the piano and the flute.[7] Her early musical interest grew after having auditioned and won a role in the school stage musical Tabaluga during her first year at the Dreieich-Schule-Langen.[7] In her early teenage years, she began writing songs, and at the of 13 Benaissa started performing in several cover bands within the Frankfurt am Main area,[7] eventually winning the second place at Jugend Musiziert, a supraregional music contest for youths.[7]
On October 25, 1999,[7] at the age of 17, Benaissa gave birth to her daughter Leila Jamila, an event which she describes as "the proudest moment of [her] life."[7] Although Benaissa and her boyfriend ended their relationship, Benaissa began attending evening classes in pursuit of her O-Levels school certificate.[7]
[edit] 2000—2003: Breakthrough with the No Angels
In 2000 Benaissa auditioned for the debut installment of the German reality television program Popstars in Frankfurt. She entered the competition with thousands of other women, and the judges Simone Angel, Rainer Moslener and Mario M. Mendryzcki were impressed with her performance of Mariah Carey's hit single "Hero."[7] She earned a position in the top thirty finalists and immediately travelled to Mallorca, Spain to join her competitors for a workshop. Although struggling with dancing choreographies,[7] Benaissa made it to the final ten on the show, and during a special episode in November 2000, jury member Angel disclosed that Nadja was chosen to become part of the final girl group No Angels.
With the final five members of the band in place, Popstars continued tracking the development and struggles of the No Angels. However, it took another four months until the band released "Daylight in Your Eyes", a partial cover of Victoria Faiella's unreleased 2000 single, which would subsequently appear on the band's debut album Elle'ments. Both the single and the album became an unexpected but major record breaking success, when both peaked at number one on the Austrian, German and Swiss singles, airplay and albums charts - all at the same time.
In the following years the band released two number one studio albums (Now ... Us! and Pure), a live album and a successful swing album (When the Angels Swing), totalling twelve singles altogether - including four number one singles. Eventually selling more than five million singles and albums worldwide, the No Angels became the best-selling German girlband to date[1] and the most successful girl group of Continental Europe between the years of 2001 and 2003.[1] On September 5, 2003, the four remaining members of the band (now without Jessica) announced that they would no longer be performing together after three years of continual touring and increasing cases of illness. The release of The Best of No Angels in November of the same year marked the end of the band, with each member going their separate ways in early 2004.[1]
[edit] 2005—2006: Launching a solo career
While her former bandmates pursued solo careers in music and television, Benaissa, who had suffered from sleep deprivation and distance to her daughter,[8] decided to focus on motherhood the following months.[8] In fall 2004, however, she signed a solo contract with Universal Records Urban and started work on her debut album. Encouraged to perform soul and R&B music with lyrics in German language after a 2001 participation in the Sisters Keepers project's single "Liebe & Verstand," Benaissa decided to focus on writing songs with German lyrics only.[8] As a result she released her first solo single, "Es Ist Liebe," produced by Tino Oac, in September 2005. The Motown-inspired ballad received positive reception from music critics, but failed to chart on the German Top 50.
In the fall of 2005 Benaissa went on tour as a supporting act for the German leg of Simply Red - In Concert.[7] Afterwards she prepared the release of her second single "Ich Hab Dich," which was chosen to represent Hesse on the 2nd Bundesvision Song Contest. Benaissa eventually finished fourth with 104 points, while the single entered at number 36 on the German Singles Chart. Two weeks later Schritt für Schritt was released, yet barely reaching the top 70.[7] In June 2006, Nadja participated in another non-profit-making aid project when she provided vocals for the Fury in the Slaughterhouse cover, "Won't Forget These Days," released during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
[edit] 2007—present: Reformation of the band
Although Benaissa was preparing her second studio album, involving production by German producers Audiotreats, DJ Desue, Loomis Green, MRF Entertainment, and Monroe among others,[9] for a February 2007 release,[9] she decided to postpone the release in favour of a reunion of the No Angels in early 2007. However, as all four band members have settled on the continuation of solo projects, Benaissa entered Berlin recording studios in January 2008 to record fifteen new demo songs, including material she already penned in 2003.[3] According to her MySpace blog, she will finish album recordings with a second session in March [2008].[3]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Schritt für Schritt (2006) (GER: #71)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER Singles | AT Singles | |||
| 2005 | "Es Ist Liebe" | 64 | - | Schritt für Schritt |
| 2006 | "Ich Hab Dich" | 36 | - | |
[edit] Appearances
| Year | Song | Featured release |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Liebe & Verstand" (Sisters Keepers project) | Lightkultur |
| 2005 | "Know Your Emotion" | Emotion magazine theme song |
| 2006 | "Won't Forget These Days" (Music Team Germany project) | Charity CD single |
| 2007 | "Dirty Dancing" (DJ Sakin & Friends featuring Nadja Benaissa) | Vinyl single |
| "Unlock My Chains" (Superlounger featuring Nadja Benaissa) | Islands Vol. 04 | |
| 2008 | "Mein Jahr" (Fler featuring Nadja Benaissa) | Fremd im Eigenen Land |
| "Schüffelma" (Skit Sketch featuring Nadja Benaissa) | Kennsduskitsketwarumnich? | |
| TBA (Marq Figuli featuring Nadja Benaissa) | Wunder |
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d "BLITZ Spezial über die No Angels". Presseportal. Retrieved on 5 April 2007.
- ^ a b Interview. Soulsite. Retrieved on 17 January 2008.
- ^ a b c "Blog." Official Nadja Benaissa MySpace.
- ^ a b Short Biography. WoodZ. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
- ^ Article about German Muslims: "Kümmeltürke oder Terrorist?". Spiegel Spezial Nr. 2/2008. Retrieved on 25 March 2008.
- ^ "Wir geben jetzt noch mehr Gas". ABS Nordrhein-Westfalen. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k ZIBB report. RBB-Online. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
- ^ a b c Planet Interview. Presseportal. Retrieved on 30 December 2007.
- ^ a b 094life.de Interview. 094life.de. Retrieved on 19 February 2008.
[edit] External links
- NadjaBenaissa.de Official website
- Official Myspace
- Nadja.tv Official fansite
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