WOMAD

Njaaya

From Senegal

NJAATYA, whose real name is Ndiaya Gueye, is an artist of the new generation of senegalese singers. Rooted in the populous neighbourhood of La Medina, which has always provided Senegal with great artists in theatre as well as in dance and music, NJAAYA managed to en-capture all the ethnical and cultural richness of this region in her voice - a genuine Senegalese microcosm.
Songwriter since her teenage years, NJAAYA made her debut as a professional singer with a bang by working during 2 years with Didier Awadi's PBS Radikal, where she was serving as backing vocalist. It is after that experience that she joined the band Alif (first Senegalese female rap band) for the sake of - she explains - a "more feminine expression". With her 2 other band fellows, NJAAYA conveyed the Senegalese women's voice from Ouagadougou to Conakry in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and even Slovakia.
Always looking for her artistic identity, NJAAYA left Alif in 2006 to give free rein to her musical penchants- more soul, acoustic and traditional. So for 3 years NJAAYA has been working to develop something unique on the Senegalese musical scene. In love with fusion between countries styles, she now knows how to mix accents and severe intonations with very modern music, more oriented towards R'n'B, soul or Reggae. Therefore all those who discovered her through her multiple performances unanimously predict a glorious musical career.
NJAAYA wites, composes and plays the guitar, which makes her a complete artist, with her own voice and style. In addition she also collaborated with numerous artist, like Omar Pene, Abdou Guité Seck, Awadi, Wageable, Gaston, etc… just to cite the most famous. The result of this long research and improvement work will be released soon on Gaston's Déf Dara label, whose studio was used to record it. The album will be entitled SOCIAL LIVING and will be a call for more sharing, solidarity and tolerance, which are particularly precious values for NJAAYA.
(Biography supplied by artist management 2010)

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