Nneka Live & With Love In The Eutropia Sanctuary

I’ve discovered that when in Rome in the Summertime, the good-vibes, open-air, artistic sanctuary of Eutropia Festival with its killer line-up of music artists seems like the only place in the city to be. Also that when in any part of the world at any time there’s a live Nneka concert to be found, that is most definitely the place to be.

Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015

Nneka live at Eutropia Festival 2015

Having loved Nneka’s unique fusion of soul, reggae, Afrobeat and hip-hop music for a long time and having made it my [very-out-of-the-way] mission to get myself to Rome to finally have myself the blessed live Nneka experience, my hopes and expectations for her Eutropia show were incredibly high.

What Nneka and her four-piece band gave (their All), and what the audience received at the gig from the moment they stepped on stage until the last note of the encore played nearly two hours later, went far above and beyond all those hopes and expectations.

with Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015

with Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015

Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015Gros Ngolle Pokossi with Nneka live at Eutropia Festival 2015with Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015The five artists with their combined talents, performed nearly all songs on Nneka’s recently-released album My Fairy Tales as well as a handful of her most well-known tracks from Soul Is Heavy and No Longer At Ease.

Despite the serious lyrical content of those songs, one dedicated to “all the refugees who’ve drowned at sea just trying to find a better home, and all the blood shed for religion”, the music and its delivery lifted the Eutropia crowd higher, higher and higher again. As Nneka herself pointed out to the Eutropia crowd, to constantly battle against the world’s injustices is tiring – and to throw love back at those causing the suffering is a much more productive and uplifting exercise. From start to finish positive energy and love were undoubtedly flowing to and from the stage.

Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015

Both seeing and hearing the young but seemingly old-soul Nneka, open her self-described (‘Halfcast’) “big lips” and “big mouth” to sing her politically and spiritually charged lyrics with the most truthful and naturally flowing emotions from heart and soul, with her incredible voice, mesmerized me like no other female artist has done before in the live arena except for the divine Erykah Badu.

Nneka live in concert at Eutropia Festival 2015

Get a glimpse of the very special live Nneka experience with this here footage from her Eutropia show. The first song ‘Shining Star’ is a single from her 2011 album Soul Is Heavy, and the second ‘Babylon’ is from the new album My Fairy Tales.


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You can also listen below to a compressed mp3 version of the track ‘Book of Job’ from My Fairy Tales, two more here (‘Believe System’ + ‘Local Champion’) and songs from past Nneka albums here. Remember you deserve to hear and have the hold-in-your-hands, uncompressed hard copies in you music collection to love forever after, and in whatever form you choose to get them, Nneka and her musical collaborators deserve your financial support.

Nneka - My Fairy Tales (2015)
Book of Job by Nneka – My Fairy Tales (2015)

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Concerts in the good-vibes sanctuary of Eutropia L’Altra Città Festival 2015 continue until September (check out the program here). If you can only get to one, be sure to make it the George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic show tonight 🙂 .

My Fairy Tales By Nneka

Once upon a time at the beginning of the 80s, a beautiful and intelligent girl from the Nigerian kingdom of Warri was born. She was named Nneka Lucia Egbuna, and was destined to bring much musical goodness to the world.

Nneka grew into a passionate, socially and politically conscious woman.  Also a special music artist with a unique vocal style and moving voice.

By 2011 Nneka had blessed the world with three albums+ of the delightfully soulful, hip hoppy, skanking kind [listen here].  Through those songs she told stories of suffering and injustice that needed to be told; and was a musical messenger of the kind that the all-too-troubled world needed more of.

Nneka - Soul Is Heavy (2011)

Soul Is Heavy (2011)

Nneka - No Longer At Ease

No Longer At Ease (2008)

Nneka - Victim of Truth

Victim of Truth (2005)

 

 

 

 

 

The world and its people who heard Nneka’s music were better for it. And, so it became that Nneka was decreed a living music legend.

Four seemingly long years later, and not so long ago, Nneka finally gifted the world with another album she named My Fairy Tales.

Nneka - My Fairy Tales

My Fairy Tales (2015)

Nneka fans of old found less of the soul and hip hop flavours in My Fairy Tales than past albums. They got more Afrogroove highlife, reggae and dub; even a dash of EDM to end the story. Some folks felt that overall My Fairy Tales didn’t have the same ‘bite’ as other Nneka creations. Others said the new album’s sound was more cohesive and consistent than albums which came before.

No matter what was said, everyone agreed on some things: it was an absolute pleasure to hear Nneka’s impassioned voice singing nine new songs; the music sounded like no other in the world; the bass lines in My Fairy Tales hit them deeply like bass should; and importantly, that it was good to be reminded that despite the suffering, corruption, violence and injustices inflicted on Africans (and people everywhere), the response must always remain the same: education, compassion and the Almighty Love, in abundance.

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People all around the world listened to My Fairy Tales and loved it. They felt refreshed and grateful to hear new music of the high quality and conscious kind.

Believe System by Nneka – My Fairy Tales

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Local Champion by Nneka – My Fairy Tales

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The people bought My Fairy Tales and other Nneka albums on vinyl where they could, or at least on cd; and treasured them in their music collection forever thereafter. They admired Nneka’s paintings –  remembered the music and messages of dearly departed Fela Kuti – pored over the lyrics in storybook font and discovered the names of Nneka’s many musician and producer collaborators – felt touched by Nneka’s voice – heeded her messages, and danced.

Nneka - My Fairy Tales (2015)

The extra-blessed also found themselves the live Nneka experience somewhere around the world in 2015.

For My Fairy Tales and all other Nneka music experiences before and beyond, the people lived, and died when they’re naturally supposed to, happily ever after in peace and love. 🙂

The End.

…of Beaver’s Fairy Tale.