By Kennedy Nyavaya
South African rapper Nadia Nakai is proud to be associated with Zimbabwe and just cannot get enough of the love she has received from her local followers.
Born of a South African father and a Zimbabwean mother on the southern side of the Limpopo River, Nadia Nakai, who wowed a youthful crowd on Wednesday night at King 98’s Francesca album launch, could not hide her joy at being “home” throughout the performance.
“I always feel the love and I appreciate it, I will never forget where I come from,” she told Standard Style soon after her performance.
Watch: Tamy Moyo Live performance @ King 98 Album Launch
Apart from satisfying her cravings for Freezits, pork pies, “Chicken Inn” and Cherry Plum Sparletta, the musician, who at an earlier stage in life used to frequently visit her maternal grandmother in Chinhoyi, described the country as “part of my identity”.
“I was not born here and neither did I grow up here, but I always represent where I come from because it’s the household I grew up in,” she said.
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“A lot of people say I am not representing Zimbabwe, but if I wasn’t, you wouldn’t know I was Zimbabwean, so the fact that you know I am, means I have made it very clear what my heritage is.”
Turning to her fire-powered performance that remarkably drew wild reactions from the crowd, the first lady of Cassper Nyovest’s Family Tree record label described it as amazing.
“I feel like this was my homecoming even though it was not my event. I am still waiting to drop my album and come home to do my own event,” she said, while revealing a keen interest in returning again.
“I will be speaking to people who can help me do a show, album launch or something back home. So, I am going to look into the promoters that are really killing it this side that can help me because I know I need to connect with people on the ground.”
Dressed in a racy beige-coloured bodysuit with swaying glittering textures, Nadia Nakai’s stage presence carried with it a rare aura that kept the revellers engaged throughout her set.
This is despite the fact that people hardly pay attention to local female artistes especially at such big stages.
The Naa Meaaan hit-maker urged local promoters and music fans to be patient with female musicians and give them a chance to be part of the industry’s growth by getting them involved.
“I feel they [female artistes] should not place a lot of blame on themselves because I think the local music industry and media industry still need to grow together and as musicians we need to be patient and allow that growth to happen as we grow with it at the same time,” she said, adding that sidelining of certain artistes based on gender was an industry-wide problem.
