She was born to Pakistani parents and grew up in Libya and New York, but Rapture hitmaker Nadia Ali is looking forward to her first performance in India as a homecoming.
The artiste who recently got her first Grammy nomination in the remix category for her track Fantasy, will perform at the Sunburn festival in Goa this month.
And her dream itinerary includes riding a rickshaw for the first time and a meeting with AR Rahman.
“Sunburn is my first performance in India. I’m looking forward to seeing the land that my ancestors are from. I am excited to eat the food, meet the people and of course ride a rickshaw. I am truly counting down the days,” Nadia told PTI in an e-mail interview.
The singer-songwriter and former front-woman of the group ‘iiO’ has been a fan of the Oscar winning ‘Mozart of Madras’ since childhood and counts him as one of her inspirations.
“I have been a AR Rahman fan since I was a kid , I love his music and background scoring. It would be amazing to meet and work with AR Rahman,” said the 30-year-old.
Nadia who began making music at the age of 17, grew up listening to a mix of Bollywood and Beatles, but says that more than anything else, it is people who inspire her music.
“Personal relationships are my biggest inspirations in creating music. Also traveling to so many great places helps the imagination in coming up with stories for songs,” said the singer-songwriter.
Her first single Rapture, released in 2001 and became an instant hit. It topped UK charts and spawned countless remix versions. In 2006 her trackIs it Love topped the US dance charts and her last release Crash and Burn, has become a club smash, peaking at number 6 on Billboard’s Dance Club chart.
Nadia is now keeping her fingers crossed for February 13, the 53rd Grammy Awards.
“My initial reaction to the big news was a overwhelming feeling I can’t describe, just to benominated for the Grammies is a huge honour and I hope it is the first of many,” said the artiste.