A melting pot called Nadirah X

Erin Hansen, Gleaner Writer

Surrounded by the buzz of booking agents, managers and the general clatter of the Wyndham hotel bar, the unassumingly vivacious lyricist/rapper, Nadirah X, sat in a modest black T-shirt and jeans, gently bouncing her daughter on her lap and sipping coffee from a paper cup.

In the present slump that is called Jamaica's music industry, when it appears near impossible for a new artiste to break ground overseas, Jamaica-born Nadirah X gives a story of extraordinary success.

Nadirah's artistic interests are somewhat a melting pot of ideas. While studying computer graphics at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in the early 2000s, through a series of casual linkages and an interest in lyricism, Nadirah landed at the door of reggae producer Homer Harris.

Insecure with her vocal ability but confident in her lyrical prowess, Nadirah developed a socially conscious rhyming style that landed her the winning spot at the 2002 Caribbean Music Expo.

Unique rhyming

During the expo, a chance meeting with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, who was drawn to Nadirah's unique rhyming over a live band and DJ set, instantly materialised into a European tour where she met the likes of Mudbone from Parliament Funkadelic, Annie Lennox and later opened for Pink's 'I'm Not Dead' tour.

On Monday, Nadirah X released her debut album, Ink, eight years after her breakout on to the international scene. "It wasn't a plan," Nadirah told The Gleaner as she looked onwards at her husband, producer/rapper Swish, who nodded in agreement.

"It was about collaborating a lot and meeting some really great producers."

While Nadirah's style of spoken word lyricism may not be that unordinary in the large musical sphere, her approach to music is. Her almost stumbling path to success has landed her in the studios of various internationally known producers. Even her approach to studio time seems holistic and unplanned, explaining, "I never go into the studio targeting anything. I just let it come about organically."

The album, which was two years in the making and features a range of reggae, soul and hip-hop tracks, was released with a book mutually titled Ink. The book contains a collection of her lyrics and poetry and the photographs of long-time mentor, Stewart.

The key to unveiling Nadirah's unconventional, slow-roasting success abroad lies in her patient determination to be more than just a musical artiste. It was "never about bussing," she said. "It's never been that your just doing music." Nothing exemplifies this more dramatically then Nadirah's work with Conspiracy for Good, a non-profit project to build libraries throughout Africa.

Charity work

In her campaign for the Conspiracy for Good, Nadirah, in collaboration with wegivebooks.org, guarantees for every book read online another is donated to the programme's libraries in Africa.

To promote the campaign, Nadirah became part of a multimedia interaction orchestrated by Heroes creator, Tim Kring, in which she became part of the storyline for an online gamers' plot.

Shot in real time, Nadirah is filmed as she tries to escape from the fictitious Blackwell Briggs organisation, a metaphor for 'big business', seemingly trying to destroy her community-built library in Zambia. For four months Nadirah stayed in character, travelling through Africa and making her way back to London as interactive game players led the path. When asked why she took part in such an elaborate game, she said, "Most of my lyrics are about evolving and effecting change." She stated it was about "literally doing it, physically doing it, living the Conspiracy of Good".

Nadirah X is currently working on an album with her husband, producer/rapper Swish, and looking to expand on a film career in Los Angeles where she lives.

On Tuesday at the Knutsford Court Hotel, Nadira X will give Jamaicans a rare view of what the artiste, formerly called Nadz, has to offer at the International Food Festival.