Nadia Ali | Biography Feels So Good Without ever making the music lose its distinctive trance character, Armin van Buuren released an album bursting with diversity.
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
Nadia Ali | Biography
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
Nadia Ali is available for download on Beatport, the world's largest music store for DJs.Nadia Ali | Biography
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
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| Nadia Ali | Biography |
Nadia Ali born (August 3, 1980) is a Pakistani-American singer-songwriter, born in Libya and raised in Queens, New York. She gained attention as the frontwoman and songwriter of the band iiO, after their 2001 hit "Rapture" reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also charted across several countries in Europe. Their 2006 single, "Is It Love?", reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.
After embarking on a solo career in 2005, Nadia became successful as an oft-requested vocalist inelectronic dance music. She released her debut album Embers in 2009. Critics praised her unique songwriting, which combined electronica with ballads, Eastern and acoustic music. Three singles from the album reached the top-ten of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart, including the No. 1 hit, "Love Story". The song was also nominated at the International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference, while "Fantasy" was nominated for a Grammy award.She has collaborated with several notable producers and DJs, such as Armin van Buuren, Schiller, BT, John Creamer & Stephane K and Avicii. Ali is currently working on her second studio album.
Nadia Ali (Urdu: نادیہ علی; born August 3, 1980) is a Pakistani-American singer-songwriter, born in Libya and raised in Queens, New York. She gained attention as the frontwoman and songwriter of the band iiO, after their 2001 hit "Rapture" reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[1] The song also charted across several countries in Europe.[2] Their 2006 single, "Is It Love?", reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.[3]
After embarking on a solo career in 2005, Ali became successful as an oft-requested vocalist in electronic dance music. She released her debut album Embers in 2009. Critics praised her unique songwriting, which combined electronica with ballads, Eastern and acoustic music. Three singles from the album reached the top-ten of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart, including the No. 1 hit, "Love Story".[4][5][6] The song was also nominated at the International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference, while "Fantasy" was nominated for a Grammy award.[7][8] She has collaborated with several notable producers and DJs, such as Armin van Buuren, Schiller, BT, John Creamer & Stephane K and Avicii. Ali is currently working on her second studio album.Nadia Ali was born in Libya to Pakistani parents in 1980. The family relocated when she was five years old and she was subsequently raised in Queens, New York.[9][10] An eight year old Ali used any opportunity she could get to sing after a friend heard her humming a Madonna song at school and complimented her.[11] While continuing singing as a hobby and for the thrill of performing and receiving no formal vocal training, she had also started writing poems and songs for her friends by the time she was 15.[9] As a teenager her interest in dance music developed after visiting nightclubs in Manhattan and inspired her to dream that she would one day be featured on one of the records playing in the club.[12]
Ali started working in the New York offices of Versace when she was 17, where she attracted attention by singing at the Christmas parties.[9] A colleague from Versace introduced her to producer Markus Moser, who was looking for a female singer to collaborate on some of his original production for a girl group in Germany.[11] The two teamed up with Moser working on production, while Ali wrote the lyrics and vocals for the songs.[13] Her first song was the single "Rapture", which she wrote in 30 minutes based on an encounter with an Australian nightclub patron.[14] Released in 2001, the single became a commercial success peaking at No. 2 on UK Singles Chart and Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart, while charting in several countries in Europe.[1][2][3] The success of "Rapture", Ali said, caused the formation of iiO as the music they were initially working on was quite different from dance music and were asked to come up with a project name to promote the single.[15] They originally named themselves Vaiio after the Sony VAIO laptop Ali used to write the lyrics on.[2] The duo toured internationally and released several more singles, including "At the End", "Runaway", "Smooth", and "Kiss You". Their first studio album, Poetica followed in 2005.[4]Ali left the group in 2005 to pursue a solo career, while Moser continued to release iiO material featuring her on vocals. Most notably, these releases include the 2006 single "Is It Love?", which reached No. 1 in America on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart,[3] the 2007 remix album Reconstruction Time: The Best Of iiO Remixed[4] and the 2011 studio album Exit 110.[4]
Her decision to pursue a career as a singer was not initially encouraged by her Pakistani parents who were academically inclined and wanted her to pursue a more stable career. She has said since then they have evolved and are one of her biggest supporters.[10] Speaking of her identity as a Pakistani and Muslim woman, she has said it is very important to her to set an example that they are able to contribute positively and capable of taking their career into their own hands. Explaining further, she said that she feels it as her responsibility to any women who are sometimes stereotyped to show that they can contribute to arts or any professional field.[9] Her ethnicity, she has stated, has been an advantage and helped her stand out in the entertainment industry.[16] She has said that over the years, she has met South Asian women who have told her that her story has inspired them to pursue something they loved.[17]Ali started working on her debut solo album soon after leaving iiO, a process which took her four years. She attributed the delay to her busy tour schedule and the fact that she was still learning and "trying to establish her identity as a songwriter and co-producer".[15][18] Her first solo release was a collaboration with Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren, titled "Who is Watching?", the track appeared on his 2005 album Shivers.[19] She has described "Who is Watching?" as one of her most meaningful songs, the song described one's struggle to reach the top, only to realise once one is there how lonely it is and how one has forgotten their priorities and the important people in their life.[20] This was followed by "Something to Lose" in 2006, a duet with singer-songwriter Rosko, produced by John Creamer & Stephane K and released by Ultra Records. 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.[21][22]
In June 2008, she released "Crash and Burn", the first single from her solo album. The single became a club success peaking at No. 6 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart.[5] She released the second single, "Love Story" from the as-yet untitled album in February 2009. It topped Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart in April 2009 and was nominated for the Best Progressive/House Track at the 2010 International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference.[6][7] Ali was featured on MTV Iggy in March 2009, where she recorded three live acoustic videos, performing "Rapture", "Crash and Burn" and "Love Story".[23]
The third single "Fine Print" was released in July 2009. Ali announced that the single preceded the release of her debut solo album Embers.[24] The single peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart.[25] Embers was released in September 2009. Co-produced by Sultan & Ned Shepard, Alex Sayz and Scott Fritz, Ali self-released the album on her own label, Smile in Bed Records.[18] Embers generally received positive reviews, Chase Gran from About.com called it a "well rounded, gourmet album with impressive songs".[26] Gail Navarro from Racket magazine complimented Ali on her songwriting saying, "It wasn’t just her sultry sound mixed in together with that enchanting singing voice; her songwriting got me hook, line and sinker".[27] Speaking about the self-release of the album, she has cited her creative independence and the pressure of deadlines as the main reasons why she created her own record label.[28][29] She chose to release her singles and albums digitally citing the nature of the electronic music audience with the listener choosing to click a button and getting music instantly and the traditional method of distribution deals in the United States.[28]
Ali released two collaborations in 2009, the first "Better Run" with Tocadisco was released on his album TOCA 128.0 FM,[30] and "12 Wives In Tehran" with Serge Devant was released on his album Wanderer.[31]Nadia Ali (Urdu: نادیہ علی; born August 3, 1980) is a Pakistani-American singer-songwriter and the former front-woman and songwriter of the band iiO, whose 2001 hit “Rapture” reached number two on the UK Singles chart. Embarking on a solo career in 2005, Ali has garnered much success. Her single “Love Story” reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart, while “Fantasy” was nominated for a Grammy award. She has also collaborated with several prominent producers and DJs such as Armin van Buuren, Schiller, BT and John Creamer & Stephane
Nadia Ali | Biography
