Nneka - From Africa 2 U (a misshapedmixtape)

I know that I am two days late on this one. But trust me... it's worth the wait. 

Nneka is a Nigerian/German artist that I'm not going to classify. Coz labels are usually lame and sell things short. And I'd probably call her post-post-colonial or something retarded like that. So I won't. 

Anyway, she is GREAT. If you like female artists such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu or Mystic (or, to name some newer artists: Janelle Monáe, Dessa or Santogold) then be prepared to fall in love. All six of those artists are among my top-favorites... and Nneka is pushing her way up to join them.

So yeah, that's my pitch. Download this shit already.

A bit more context, Nneka released her latest album, "Soul Is Heavy,” last week in Europe (not yet in the US though). "Soul Is Heavy" follows the two excellent albums that Nneka already released ("Victim of Truth" in 2005 and "No Longer at Ease" in 2008). Unfortunately, neither of those albums ever officially crossed the Atlantic, but there was a 2010 release ("Concrete Jungle") that packaged some of her best songs together on an album for an American audience.

This mix features my personal favorites culled from all three Euro-released albums (including her latest... plus a J.Period remix and two other songs off of an EP) painstakingly sequenced to feel like a real album. I probably spent TOO MUCH time on this tape... but I think that in the end it actually flows together better than "Concrete Jungle" did (in general, Nneka does cover a lot of ground and different styles in her releases, so it was a good challenge).

I hope it serves as a proper introduction to Nneka... though I did omit some fantastic songs ("Come With Me", "The Uncomfortable Truth", "Beautiful" and the album version mixes of "Heartbeat" and "Walking" are just some that come to mind), in part because I wanted to encourage you to actually BUY Nneka's stuff (that you can find). These are the types of artists that we need to support (especially in the USA).

An added bonus is that this mix has a manageable length that can fit onto one CD (if that's still the way you prefer to digest yr musical vitamins... actually I try to shoot for sub-80 minutes most weeks).

You'll find the download link in the "comments" section... and here's the track list below:

Nneka - "From Africa 2 U (a misshapedmixtape)"

01 : Africans [Victim Of Truth]
02 : Camouflage [Soul Is Heavy]

03 : Focus [No Longer At Ease]
04 : Showin Love [Victim Of Truth]
05 : Heartbeat (Remix ft Nas) [Heartbeat EP]
06 : God Of Mercy [Victim Of Truth]
07 : Sleep (ft Ms Dynamite) [Soul Is Heavy]
08 : Walking (J.Period Remix ft Jay Electronica) [The Madness]
09 : Soul Is Heavy [Soul Is Heavy]
10 : Suffri [No Longer At Ease]
11 : God Knows Why (ft Black Thought) [Soul Is Heavy]
12 : Changes [Victim Of Truth]
13 : Mind vs. Heart [No Longer At Ease]
14 : Stay [Soul Is Heavy]
15 : Kangpe (ft Wesley Williams) [No Longer At Ease]
16 : Burning Bush [Victim Of Truth]
17 : Shining Star [Soul Is Heavy]
18 : From Africa 2 U [No Longer At Ease]
19 : V.I.P. [Soul Is Heavy]
20 : Heartbeat (Chase & Status Guitar Mix) [Heartbeat EP]