She Defines Soul.Substance.Style (No. 001): Sandra Nkaké

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Written By: MIM!—5 years ago when we launched MIM!, we published an article titled Accomplished, Amazing, And African where we highlighted 40 style icons, media moguls, crusaders, songbirds, athletes, and leaders of African descent. By focusing on women who are accomplished, amazing and African, we were making a point to "shine the spotlight on women who deserve recognition for their brilliance, while reminding ourselves of the extraordinary strength of African women ... [because] all of us are capable of nurturing our individual talents and achieving greatness." Here's more of what we said in our Feature story,

African women are doing it all. Running successful companies. Fighting political injustice. Producing hit movies. Singing sold out concerts. And so much more. Their achievements are as diverse as our heritage ... It is about time that the world take notice of African women's diverse talent, beauty and intelligence ... [And remind ourselves that the] strength that is within women who produce movies, strut down runways, fight injustice and lead communities, is in all of us because we are African women.

We've since reflected this spirit in MIM! Magazine, but there will always be more accomplished, amazing, African women than there will be pages in a magazine. Using our blog, we are able to pick up where the magazine leaves off with the column She Defines Soul.Substance.Style. All the more fitting given that this year we celebrate 5 years of publishing this year. Our goal is to show you 1000 amazing, accomplised and African women in the next 5 years! Help us reach our goal sooner; if you know someone who should be profiled or you want to nominate yourself, e-mail us at mimimagazineonline[at]gmail.com.

We've picked Sandra Nkaké as our first woman who defines Soul.Substance.Style. Read her profile below.

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Born in Cameroon, but raised in France, soul singer singer Sandra Nkaké blends soul, funk, and jazz to create a sound that is uniquely hers. A distinct artist with a beautiful husky voice and an eclectic musical sound that's equally soulful as it is jazzy, Sandra's first album, Mansaadi (which means "Little Mama" in Abo, a dialect spoken in South West Cameroon), is sung primarily in English with fourteen songs that reflect her complex self: "a woman-child, a boyish woman, a mother, a free, instinctive and sensitive woman who fully bears the weight of being seen as a panther when she feels more like a tiny mouse." It is now your turn to discover this artist—a writer/composer/singer—who defines Soul.Substance.Style. Visit www.sandrankake.com.

(Photo Credits: Li Roy)