Nadia Ali (singer)
Nadia Ali |
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Nadia Ali (Template:Lang-ur; born August 3, 1980) is a Libyan-born Pakistani-American singer-songwriter, the former front-woman and songwriter of the band iiO, whose 2001 hit Rapture reached number two on the UK Singles chart.
Early years and iiO
Nadia Ali was born in Libya to Pakistani parents in 1980. The family relocated to Queens, New York short after, when she was still a child, and has remained there ever since.[1]
Ali has stated in interviews that the music that most influenced her growing up includes Stevie Nicks, Sade, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, U2, Madonna, Led Zeppelin, Carole King, Carly Simon, and The Beatles.[2]
A 17-year-old Ali was working in the New York offices of Versace, and aspiring to start a music career, when a co-worker introduced her to producer Markus Moser, who was looking for a female singer to collaborate on some of his original dance music production.[3] The two teamed up and started a group that was originally named Vaiio, named after the Sony laptop Ali was working on. They later dropped the "va" to avoid causing problems in the future with Sony. Working with Moser, she wrote the lyrics and the vocals for the songs. After the success of the 2001 hit "Rapture", the single was remixed many times by the likes of Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, John Creamer & Stephane K, and Deep Dish, with bootleg and white label remixes emerging as well. The duo toured internationally and released several more singles, including "At the End", "Runaway", "Smooth", and "Kiss You". An album, Poetica followed in 2005.
Ali left the group in 2005 to pursue a solo career, while Moser continues to release iiO material featuring her on vocals. Most notably, these releases include the 2006 single "Is It Love?", which reached number one in America on the Billboard Dance Chart, and the 2007 Album Reconstruction Time: The Best Of iiO Remixed.
Solo career
After leaving iiO, Ali toured extensively and collaborated with prominent DJs and producers. The first, "Who Is Watching?", was a collaboration with Dutch DJ/producer Armin van Buuren, which appeared on his 2005 album Shivers. Followed by "Something to Lose" in 2006, a duet with singer-songwriter Rosko, produced by John Creamer & Stephane K and released by Ultra Records. Championed on the UK's BBC Radio 1 by influential DJ and tastemaker Pete Tong,[4] the track was licensed to Roger Sanchez's Release Yourself, Vol. 5, as well as Sharam Tayebi of Deep Dish for his Global Underground debut Dubai.
2008-2009: Embers
Busy touring, Ali did not release anything until 2008 when "Crash And Burn" the first single from her yet to be released debut album Embers was released on June 17, 2008 to iTunes. The song was produced by Fritzy, and the EP included remixes by Dean Coleman, DJ Shah, Sultan & Ned Shepard, Astro & Glyde, Justin Thomas, Kered & Kiraly and Dilamani & Rassek. "Crash and Burn", has become a club smash, peaking at number 6 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart.[5]
On February 10, 2009, Ali released her follow-up single to Crash and Burn titled "Love Story" exclusively on BeatPort.[6] It was subsequently released on iTunes the following month. Produced by Sultan and Ned Shepard, the single includes a number of remixes, by Andy Moor, Sultan and Ned Shepard and The Starkillers. The single proved to be a club success, reaching number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart in April 2009.[7] On March 23, BeatPort released Love Story (Part 2) exclusively. This set features remixes from Fritzy & Stylz, the Scumfrog, Dresden & Johnston and Victor Franco. The EP also became available on iTunes titled as Love Story (Les Remixes Noirs). Additionally, Ali was featured on MTV Iggy in March 2009, where she recorded three live acoustic videos, performing "Rapture", "Crash and Burn" and "Love Story".
Her next single to follow was called "Fine Print", released July 1, 2009 on Beatport, then August 1 on other digital retailers, with remixes from tyDi, Fritzy, Serge Devant, Alex Sayz, Andy Harding and Carl Tricks. The single peaked at number 4 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart.[8] Ali announced that the single preceded her album, Embers, along with a release date of September 15 on all digital retailers. Ali reached the top 20 of Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Artists Music Charts in 2009, peaking at number 15.[9]
Soon after the release of Embers, Ali's collaborations with several DJs were released. Her song, "Better Run", with Tocadisco was released online in September on Tocadisco's album TOCA 128.0 FM and the single was released in January 2010. "12 Wives In Tehran" with Serge Devant was released on his album Wanderer in June 2009, and the single was released in December 2009.
2010-present: Queen of Clubs Trilogy: The Best of Nadia Ali Remixed and other projects
Ali's first single in 2010 was the track "Try", a collaboration with German producer Schiller which was released in Germany on March 12. Chosen as the lead single in Germany from his album Atemlos, the music video premiered on YouTube on February 19.[10] She was also a featured guest on his "Atemlos" tour.
Ali's next release was the single "Fantasy" from her album Embers on April 27. The Morgan Page remix of "Fantasy" went on to be nominated in the Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category at the 53rd Grammy Awards on December 1. On May 25, the official music video for "Fantasy" premiered on Ali's YouTube channel.[11] The music video introduced the Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Best of Nadia Ali Remixed - a collection of greatest hits - featuring Ali as the "Queen of Clubs". Highlighting the "Queen of Clubs" theme, the music video began the countdown to the August 2010 release of the compilation. The package was broken into 3 releases titled Ruby Edition, Onyx Edition, and finally Diamond Edition.[12]
The first installment, Ruby Edition was released on August 31. The package includes remixes by several DJs including Justin Michael & Kemal, Green & Falkner, Wippenberg, Thomas Gold, Serge Devant, Andretta, Noel Sanger, Morgan Page, Sultan & Ned Shepard, Dean Coleman and Fritzy.[13] Onyx Edition was released on October 28 and featured remixes by Avicii, DJ Shah, Scumfrog, Ron Reeser, Alex Kenji, tyDi, EDX, Myon & Shane 54, Kevin Alves, KhomHa, Afrojack, Tritonal, Cedric Gervais and David Tort.[14] The final installment Diamond Edition was released on December 21. The album includes collaborations with Sultan & Ned Shepard and Armin van Buuren and remixes by Gareth Emery, Andy Moor, Starkillers, Max Graham and Protoculture, DJ Shogun, Michael Badal, Tone Depth, Lost Stories, Hardwell, Rassek, Eelke Kleijn, Kered & Kiraly and Alex Sayz.[15]
Additionally, 2010 saw Ali re-recording her first single "Rapture" with remixes by French tastemaker and producer Tristan Garner, British DJ Gareth Emery and Swedish DJ Avicii, which were released as an EP on December 21. She also recorded a new music video for the track, which was released on January 24, 2011. [16][17]
Ali also released a string of collaborations with DJ/Producers throughout the year. These included remixes of her upcoming collaboration "That Day" with Dresden and Johnston, which were released on several compilation albums. The next collaboration was with the Swiss duo Chris Reece "The Notice" was released on July 13 on all digital retailers.[18] Ali was featured on the track "Feels So Good" on Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren's fourth album Mirage, which was released on September 10. The track was announced as the fourth single from the album. On October 14, Armin Van Buuren premiered the Max Graham and Protoculture Remix of "Call My Name", a collaboration with the duo Sultan and Ned Shepard, on his weekly radio show, A State of Trance.
Ali announced the release of collaborations with several DJs and producers in 2011, the first of which is "Pressure", a collaboration with Starkillers and Alex Kenji to be released on February 15 by Spinnin' Records. Other collaborators include BT, Matt Darey, Tocadisco, Tritonal, Andy Moor, Hardwell and Morgan Page.[19] She is also currently working on her second album and an experimental acoustic project.[20] Ali has also signed up as a featured guest on Armin van Buuren's Armin Only tour.[21]
Discography
Studio albums
Compilations
- Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Ruby Edition (2010)
- Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Onyx Edition (2010)
- Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Diamond Edition (2010)
Awards and nominations
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Love Story | Best Progressive/Tech House Track at International Dance Music Awards | Nominated |
2011 | Fantasy (Morgan Page Remix) | Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at 53rd Grammy Awards | Pending |
References
- ^ Article on Pakistani Music and Musician Website "Pakmanzil"
- ^ Nadia Ali Q & A on Pakistani Fansite
- ^ Remix Magazine Interview with iiO
- ^ BBC Radio 1: Pete Tong
- ^ Dance Club Play Chart October 18, 2008
- ^ Nadia Ali - Love Story
- ^ Dance Club Play Songs April 25, 2009
- ^ Dance Club Play Songs November 14, 2009
- ^ Hot Dance Club Play Music Artists Chart
- ^ Schiller - Try Mit Nadia Ali
- ^ Nadia Ali - Fantasy (Morgan Page Remix)
- ^ Nadia Ali: Queen Of Clubs Trilogy: Best of Nadia Ali Remixed
- ^ Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Ruby Edition
- ^ [1]
- ^ Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Diamond Edition Amazon.com
- ^ Twitter/Nadia Ali
- ^ "Rapture" (Avicii Remix) Official Music Video YouTube.com
- ^ Chris Reece and Nadia Ali - The Notice
- ^ Nadia Ali Facebook
- ^ Q&A WITH DANCE MUSIC DIVA NADIA ALI MTV Desi
- ^ Q&A WITH DANCE MUSIC DIVA NADIA ALI MTV Desi
External links
- Nadia Ali's Official Website
- iiO Official Website
- Nadia Ali discography at Discogs
- 1980 births
- 2000s singers
- 2010s singers
- Living people
- American female singers
- American house musicians
- American musicians
- American people of Pakistani descent
- American musicians of Pakistani descent
- American singer-songwriters
- American singers
- Nadia Ali
- Pakistani immigrants to the United States
- People from New York City