Nneka: Nigeria’s MOBO Award Winning Star, Global Music Treasure
Originality always outlives trends. Some artists care less about fame and more about the message, their lens on the struggles in Nigeria and America. But if you’re not part of the inner circle controlling Nigeria’s music scene, being seen takes extra grind, especially for women. Take Nneka Egbuna, the Nigerian-German singer, songwriter, and actress born in Warri to Anambra roots. Her breakthrough came when Sean Paul brought her on stage at Hamburg Stadtpark, Germany, her first concert outside Nigeria. That moment didn’t just put her on stage, it put her on the map.
Some artists have a kind of superpower that makes you wonder, how did Nneka survive Warri and still carry such a grounded, fearless presence to the world? At every chance, she represents Nigeria, even with her mixed heritage, half Nigerian, half German. I won’t dig into her private journey growing up, but she pours that story into her music. Imagine leaving Nigeria at 20 and still choosing music as your weapon to tell the world who we are as Nigerians, and the daily struggles we fight through.
We glorify today’s hits like the game just started, forgetting that in 2008 Nneka Egbuna dropped ‘Heartbeat’, the track that put her on the global map. Its impact went far beyond charts; even Nas jumped on the remix 15 years ago. By 2012, Rita Ora sampled it for her debut single ‘R.I.P.’ featuring Tinie Tempah. But ‘Heartbeat’ was more than a song, Nneka used it as a metaphor for both personal heartbreak and Nigeria’s political instability, telling the struggles of her people in one timeless record.
Nneka gave us ‘Heartbeat’ in 2008, a record that blended heartbreak with Nigeria’s political chaos, got a Nas remix, was sampled by Rita Ora, and even won her a MOBO Award. Yet in her own country, she’s barely celebrated. Is Nigeria sleeping on one of its most important musical exports?
From Warri to the world, Nneka remains one of Nigeria’s brightest stars and a true global music treasure.
(Editor’s note: Read Africa Interviews’ exclusive with Nneka here).
Oyebanji Akins is a Nigerian-US based writer, podcaster, music critic, and social media influencer
