NARDEAN

(Image: @riyel.photo)

Nardean is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter and spoken word poet. She’s emerged from the new wave of female hip-hop artists from the West in the past decade. Musically, her work conflates various styles and forms, producing a tapestry of harmonies borrowed from the likes of Western lo-fi hip hop and non-Western Arabic music. Her 2018 EP Creatress epitomises this musical fusion, while also showcasing the crossover between singing and the spoken word. Exploring a diversity of themes - from femininity and origin stories, to mysticism and ancient history - Nardean’s music empowers the feminine spirit of her listeners, while also helping them realise the importance of their roots and identity.

Currently residing in her hometown St. Clair, Nardean grew up in a proudly Egyptian home. Her diasporic identity as an Egyptian-Australian forms the locus of her music, both stylistically and lyrically. ‘Identity as a whole is such a foundation of making music.’ she tells The Western. ‘If you want to accurately express who you are, you need to know who you are. For me, music is both a tool to find out who I am, and to express who I am.’

‘The Egyptian parts of me were kept quiet for such a long time,’ she continues, ‘but now that I am growing up, I am incorporating it more and more. It is such an integral part of my identity.’

Reflecting on the thematic inspiration for Creatress, Nardean reveals that her EP ‘was about me realising you could create your own reality. It was about realising that everything I thought was a lie, and replacing all my old beliefs with new, empowered ones.’ Creatress was also an opportunity to present an expressive narrative that openly embraces her own womanhood.

‘It told the story of me coming to realise that I didn't have to be submissive because I was a woman,’ she explains. ‘It was about me realising I didn't need to do what I was told! I needed a way to encompass this journey, and an EP like Creatress allowed me to explore these themes and come to my own understanding through it.’

Nardean’s follow-up single MAGIC! has been met with love, and she plans to release new music in early 2020.

(Image: @riyel.photo)