We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nadjah Nicole. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nadjah below.

Hi Nadjah, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Since I was a little girl, everyone TOLD me who I was going to be. Almost every encounter where I was sharing my gift involved people telling me I was going to be this or that. It stunted my ability to find out for myself. It took me years to truly figure out who I was, wanted to be and how to achieve that.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Nadjah Nicole, a mother, singer& wife. I started singing, or performing rather, when I was 12 years old. I started in church and would sing any and every where my parents took me. I entered into talent shows and pageants to tighten up my craft and to get comfortable on stage. By the time I was 14, I started recording music in the studio. At 16 I competed at Apollo. That was one of my first big moments. I won the first round at amateur night and was on cloud nine! I slowly built a name for myself in Delaware up until I was a participant on the NBC show “The Voice” Season 9. I was a Top 24 finalist and one of the first “Comeback” Artists. That changed everything for me. I was seen and heard like never before.

I think I am still working out who I am in my artistry. I enjoy it actually! I love soul music, funk, jazz, hip hop and anything that can get me in my feelings. I am very sensitive and focus heavily on making music that people can feel deeply. It needs to heal. I can be introverted at times which affects my ability to collaborate but I’m excellent at hiding it! I push through because I know that I have a spirit that can soothe. I’m thankful for that.

I am most proud of my ability to bounce back from things that could or would break people. I don’t allow things that happen in life to stop me from creating and being my authentic self. I take pride in making sure that you can come as you are because I am coming to you just as you see me. And everything is filled with love.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In the beginning of 2018 I found out I was pregnant with twins. I found out early because of health complications. I made the really tough decision to stop gigging, recording, etc. I chose to solely focus on my health and my babies health. It was extremely hard because I had never put music down for anything. For over a year, I was JUST a mom, daughter and wife. Haha! I know that sounds funny, but all my life I was a singer and then everything else. So this was the first time I wasn’t doing anything with music.

I finally began working on music again in the middle 2019 and it was so HARD! I was tired and felt so many doubts. I was starting from scratch and I hated it! My first show was a festival and I had a full band and we did great! But, I was terrified! I had the support of so many and that is ultimately what kept me.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Pay them appropriately for the work they do. That’s it. That’s the answer.

Contact Info:

• Website: nadjahnicole.com
• Instagram: nadjahnicole
• Facebook: nadjahnicole
• Youtube: nadjahnicole

Image Credits
NBC The Voice 2015 Delaware Online – The News Journal 2019