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Nxdia

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Nxdia
Birth nameNadia Ahmed
Born (2000-06-15) 15 June 2000 (age 24)
Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt
OriginManchester, England
Genres
OccupationMusician
Member of

Nadia Ahmed (born 15 June 2000), known professionally as Nxdia, is an alt-pop musician. Born in Heliopolis in Egypt, they[a] moved to Manchester aged eight and began producing their own music after taking a course taught by Everything Everything. Ahmed released the EP In the Flesh (2023); the single "She Likes a Boy" charted at No. 74 on the UK Singles Sales Chart. A member of Loud LDN, Ahmed's music makes regular use of Arabic and vocal runs.

Life and career

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Nadia Ahmed[3] was born in Cairo[4] on 15 June 2000,[5] and grew up next to Roxy Cinema in Heliopolis.[4] Their grandfather is of Sudanese descent.[6] Their father listened to AC/DC and their mother listened to traditional Arabic acts such as Umm Kulthum,[4] and would take Ahmed to Free Palestine protests from the age of eleven.[7] Their first song was a whimsical track about Hawaii, which they had not yet been to; by nine, their tracks were about identity and self-perception.[4] Nxdia and their family moved to the UK at the age of eight, relocating to Manchester from Egypt; upon arrival, they took up African drumming at a local community centre in Hulme.[7] Their first works were uploaded to YouTube and Instagram, and aged sixteen, they enrolled on Levi Music Project, a two-week group course in which the band Everything Everything taught twelve young people how to produce their own music.[7]

In 2020, they began uploading content to TikTok, including music and discussion of race; by September 2022, they had over 700,000 subscribers on the platform.[6] They released a single, "Ouch!", in 2021,[8] about disappointment with being upset with a friend,[3] followed by the single "Get Between It", released later that year.[9] They released "IDC" in 2023,[3] followed by an EP In the Flesh that August, which dealt with overthinking;[10] the latter's focus track, "Decay", was written about the 2021–present United Kingdom cost-of-living crisis.[11] After discovering old diary pages which detailed their teenage infatuation for a girl and their disappointment at finding that she was attracted to a boy, they wrote "She Likes a Boy",[12] which made reference to Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream".[4] They began uploading snippets of the song to TikTok in November 2023 and released the track in January 2024;[12] DIY described the track as a "queer anthem",[13] and the following month the track spent a week at No. 74 on the UK Singles Sales Chart.[14] A subsequent track, "Jennifer's Body", described their experience of a toxic relationship, and took its name from the Megan Fox film of the same name on the grounds that watching the film helped them frame their thoughts.[4]

Artistry

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In an interview with the Spotlight On podcast in November 2023, Ahmed stated that they listened to My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy as a teenager, and that they found Pink's androgynous appearance gamechanging, having discovered her via her music video for "So What". They also mentioned that they were a fan of Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, and that they spent a period obsessed with a cover version of the traditional Arabic song "Betnadini Tany Leh" by Donia, on the grounds that she had not changed the lyrics from male to female.[15] They also noted in a July 2023 interview with 15questions.net that they also listened to Babymetal and Jon Bellion around this time.[3]

Ahmed told NME in March 2024 that their sound had been inspired by the likes of Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Simple Plan, and that they took further inspiration from Marina Diamandis's "weirdly operatic" voice and from the bilingualism of Stromae, specifically finding the latter's androgynous appearance in the music video "Tous les mêmes" helpful in discovering their own identity.[7] In an interview with Dork the following month, they cited Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Stromae, and My Chemical Romance for their "big choruses, catchy but often sad lyrics, and driving guitar parts".[4]

Ahmed's music constitutes alt-pop, alternates between English and Arabic, and includes regular vocal runs. They told NME that they sung in Arabic to share the language, as they had previously only used the language to converse with their mother.[7] Ahmed is a member of Loud LDN,[16] a collective of London-based women and genderqueer musicians founded in May 2022.[17]

Discography

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EPs

  • In the Flesh (2023)[18]

Singles

  • "Eyes on Me" (2020)[18]
  • "Burst (Like a Bubble)" (2020)[18]
  • "Get Between It" (2021)[18]
  • "Ouch" (2021)[18]
  • "What's It Like" (2023)[18]
  • "Dopamine" (2023)[18]
  • "IDC" (2023)[18]
  • "She Likes a Boy" (2024)[18]
  • "Jennifer's Body" (2024)[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ Ahmed is non-binary[1] and uses they/he/she pronouns.[2] This article uses they/them pronouns for consistency.

References

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  1. ^ @nxdiamusic (16 December 2023). "im non binary, i've openly been talking about it recently and going by any pronouns for the past two years - please know that if this snippet resonates with you, it's FOR you!! we should not be policing who can relate to what & if i wrote this song and idm u shouldn't either!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Nxdia". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "15 questions | Interview | Nxdia | Chasing Catharsis". www.15questions.net. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Ackroyd, Stephen (19 April 2024). "Picture imperfect: Nxdia channels a toxic situationship through a cinematic frame with her new single, 'Jennifer's Body'". Dork. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  5. ^ "goth bless turning 23 👹 (thanku everyone who's reaching out and being so so kind, im overwhelmed- in a very good way! - i always assume people will pay no mind ahaha. which would be fine! no expectations! but for the people i admire and love to go out of their way to tell me they're happy i'm here- maaaan it makes me feel like a billion zillion trillion pounds <3 thanku, i love u n i appreciate you, be kind to yourself and others, always xx)". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b "UK-Based TikTok Sensation Nxdia on Rekindling Egyptian Identity". www.scenenoise.com. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Rigotti, Alex (27 March 2024). "Nxdia is making Arabic alt-pop to heal their inner child". NME. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  8. ^ "NXDIA". FOCUS Wales 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  9. ^ Acosta, Julieanne (23 November 2021). "Gauntlet Mixtape Vol. 4: The best study playlist of all time". The Gauntlet. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Atwood Magazine's Weekly Roundup: August 11, 2023". Atwood Magazine. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  11. ^ "'decay' is a frustrated and endlessly creative new single from Nxdia". Clout. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  12. ^ a b Magnocavallo, Fabio (17 January 2024). "Nxdia - She Likes a Boy". EUPHORIA. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  13. ^ "The Neu Bulletin (C Turtle, Fräulein, Sailor Honeymoon and more!)". DIY. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  14. ^ "NXDIA". Official Charts. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Nxdia: What's It's Like as an Alt-Pop Artist Between Fluidity and Community Building". Spotlightonpodcast.com. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  16. ^ "LOUD LDN x Sister Shindig | Hootananny Brixton Live Music Venue & Club, London UK". Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  17. ^ Wilson, Sophie (19 December 2022). ""We're taking over the scene": meet Loud LDN, dance music's most vibrant new collective". NME. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Spotify – Nxdia - Discography". Spotify. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
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