Concrete Jungle

Personnel: Sven Waje (guitar); Farhad Samadzada (keyboards, programming).Audio Mixer: Jean Lamoot.Recording information: Boogie Park Studios, Hamburg; Hitspot Studio, Hamburg; Silly Walks Studio, Hamburg; Studio 6, Switzerland; Studio Ferber, Paris; Sven's Studio, Hamburg.Photographers: Jens Boldt; Youri Lenquette; Nneka Egbuna.Concrete Jungle, a compilation of tracks from Nneka's first two European albums -- eight are taken from 2008's No Longer at Ease; four from her 2005 debut Victim of Truth --serves as her introduction to American audiences. The child of a Nigerian (Igbo) father and a German mother who divides her time between Hamburg and Lagos, but takes most of her musical inspiration from American hip-hop and soul (and Jamaican reggae), Nneka comes across perhaps all too readily as an emblematic figure, an embodiment of certain familiar Pan-African tropes. Her compelling personal story seems to encapsulate many of the complexities and contradictions of African diasporic history