 |
| Khadja Nin |
Khadja Nin is a Burundian artist and humanitarian whose music career kicked off in the 90s.
She speaks French, Kirundi and Swahili and sings mostly in Kirundi which is widely used in her native East African country and Swahili, the most spoken language African language.
Nin's songs are predominantly themed around humanitarian issues, love and coupled with experiences as a child growing up in Africa amongst others. She refers to the late legendary musician and activist, Miriam Makeba as her hero.
Her self-titled debut album Khadja Nin was released in 1992, later followed by her critically acclaimed second album, Ya Pili in 1994. In 1996, her third and most popular album Sambolera which was a major breakthrough emerged. She recorded her fourth album, Ya in 1998.
The songstress' undeniable prowess has gifted us with some of the most beautiful classic sounds to come out the African continent. There's a sense of calmness that echoes in Khadja Nin’s music; regardless of what she's singing about. Be it about social issues, love or pain, her voice makes you fall in love and listen irrespective of whether you understand the message or not. Her music evokes emotions expressed through an effortless depiction of real life and relatable experiences.
She makes that good music that expresses the inexpressible.
When a song is so beautiful that you don't know what to do with yourself when it plays. Her music has that effect; the power to evoke a series of emotions all at once and neither one dominates the other; all emotions dawn on you at once.
That said, these are the top five most beautiful songs by Khadja Nin that will leave you in your feelings; from the melodies down to the message:
Wale Watu
Here she sings about the plight of the world, what people go through and so forth. Wale Watu is taken off her self-titled debut album Khadja Nin.
Mama
Off her fourth album titled Ya, Mama pays homage to Mother. The unconditional love; what she endures day and night; overall, a mother’s dedication. The sound to this song is everything.
Sina Mali Sina Deni
Sina Mali Sina Deni is a translated cover version of Stevie Wonder's song Free. It features on her third album Sambolera. When listening to this track, I always look forward to to this part,"Mimi ni masikini, sina mali mali, sina deni". These words leave me weeping at not only how Khadja Nin's voice sounds but also the subject being addressed. Her portrayal is riveting.
Leo Leya
Leo Leya is one of those songs, for the lack of a better description, it makes all the women in me cry. Feeling every single emotion expressed in her soothing voice.
Sambolera Mayi Son
You cannot mention Khadja Nin without Sambolera. Like South Africans would say, this song makes the pots to appear. One of the most beautiful songs ever. Timeless, good music. Oh, and need I say one of the best things that can ever happen to you is waking up to this jam?
Compiling this list made me realise that a whole Khadja Nin; there's no credible official platform to find music videos of her timeless work! Someone needs to fix this. It is unfortunate we couldn’t share videos of her music from YouTube as she doesn’t have an official account but what’s best is that you can buy her music HERE.