Talking About A Nu Revolution With Les Nubians

Written By: Lola K.—Les Nubians are in a league of their own—carving out a name for themselves as the beautiful soul sisters with an artful mastery of bringing together jazz grooves, African beats, hip-hop melodies, and lyrics in both French and English to create a sublime sound that is uniquely their own. Their previous two acclaimed albums, Princesses Nubiennes and One Step Forward, charted impressively on the Billboard Top 200, each respectively the highest debut for a French language album in the past 20 years, and their last project, Echoes was hailed as “a musical expedition of poetry and song.” To achieve such critical and popular success in the modern musical landscape without confining one’s artistry to one-dimensional labels such as “soul” or “World” is remarkable, but then again, so are the sisters who have remained true to themselves and faithfully reflected their diversity in their music throughout their long-spanning career. Hèléne explains, “I think that being children of a mixed couple, definitely puts you in that mindset—you are the world, basically. You become a universal citizen. You can’t envisage life as this way or that way. We have a kind of global point of view. We don’t see color. We are color blind—a little bit. History then makes you root everything to a cause and so you understand the world and why, badly, that world has been organized and divided. But from the start, I believe that [we are] citizens of the world.” With conviction in her voice, Hèléne adds, “The universe is beautifully organized and I have faith. And that faith makes me celebrate life, love and cherish the world, and try to be a better human everyday.” Read the rest of the article in Talking About A Nü Revolution from MIMI's fall 2010 issue, New Wave Noir.