Saturday 30 May 2009

Feeling good :)






Hello my gorgeous friends,

I'm feeling extra fantabulous right now. The weather has been fantastical and the sunshine can chase all the blues away.
Like I said the other day, apart from not being a millionairess, I can't really complain, so everything is jiggy!

I was meant to be doing a photo shoot today, but we were short of a stylist and I wasn't in the mood for styling myself, so I have postponed this shoot till I get back from Miami.
I have also booked some shoots meanwhile I'm out there so watch this space...and hopefully I will make it into the recording studio too. We'll play it all by ear because I want to rest too! Yeah right! lol

So...after all the excitement of Sunday's show (Soul Unique) and my extra long journey home, it took me a couple days to recover.
But as promised, I took my son out for the day. Luckily, living in West London there's lots available. We went for a Chinese meal and then to see that kids film "night at the museum 2" in Shepherds Bush. He loved it and was totally shattered when we got home. So it was a great day for us. I spend a lot of time with him, but very rarely do we have a day where it's all about him 100%. I didn't do any work and limited twittering!

Wednesday, like many of you, I watched the Barcelona v Manchester United match. I was rooting for Man U, so if you follow the footie, you'll know what sort of mood I went to bed in! Hmmmm



But, you know me, never down for long. Woke up in a good mood and had a nice jog in the morning as I kinda slacked for a few days. But I'm bang on it again. Jogging in the morning followed by a workout, so I can fit in with all those beach babes! lol...okay, maybe just so as not to stand out like a sore thumb.
So, that evening, I went to Love Soul Sessions to see Brooke Bailey, Aaron Washington and Erik Rico perform. I was also very pleased to finally meet DJ Barry King and Terry Bello who had come specifically from the states to do this gig. I really liked the atmosphere at the venue and I have been asked to perform at the next one so look out for the flyer.

So, getting back to today...I'm going to rest and tidy up as I kept getting side-tracked and interrupted yesterday, then probably go out for dinner or a movie, something that requires little energy as I have a very busy week ahead of me, meetings, rehearsals, workouts, shows, studio...and I'm sure much more!

Enjoy your weekend

Oh btw, if you are at a loose end, come down to my sis's gig tomorrow @

Bar Music Hall
134 Curtain Road
Shoreditch,
EC2A 3AR
Obenewa & The Truth Movement 8pm
£3...yes three quid!

Be there!!!

See you all soon.

Nay Nay xx


NEWSFLASH...
I have just been informed that ERIK RICO may also be performing on the night.
So this is really one NOT to be missed.

See you there
xxx

Monday 25 May 2009

Happy Mondays...


Photography by Jerry Barnett www.blackandwhitebritain.com


Photography by Paul Soso


Good Evening my lovelies,
I'm great :) I had a brilliant gig @ Soul Unique last night. I was so privileged to have been asked to perform on the same bill as the lovely Kyra UK, Phenomenal Fola and Sexy and sweet Baby Sol. We had a ball and the audience were very attentive.
I wanna thank my loyal supporters who came down to show me love. Some came from as far as Maidenhead, just to see lil ole me! I don't wanna start listing names because I know I will leave someone out, but you all know who you are. THANK YOU xxx



Me and mum who was up waaaaaay past her bedtime to see me sing last night


Unfortunately on my way home, the alternator on my car went on me...so instead of half an hour, it took about 2 hours for me to get to my bed!
But, I was rescued by a lovely recovery man who was so helpful and friendly, and gave service with a smile.
So I wasn't too upset and I still went to bed happy although it wasn't until 5am!

Today I have just been chillin with my son, watching Tv etc.
Now I'm sipping on a glass of Pinot as I'm typing this.
I'm going to relax for the rest of the evening, watch Britain's next Top Model and have an early one because tomorrow me and the little man are going on a little bus adventure to the cinema and shopping!

Good Night

Nads xxx

Thursday 21 May 2009

Thanks for the dedication ...u know who u r XX

Yo, Wot's Poppin? ;)



Hey Yall,
I know I know it's been a little while, but I haven't forgotten ya! I hope you are all well and above all happy! :) I am. Skint as a friggin flint, trust me peeps, this credit crunch thing is no joke! Okay, so I might be slightly exaggerating I'm not going hungry...yet, but it would be nice to splurge a lot more than I do. But hey, I'm off to Miami in a few weeks so I can't complain...Yay sun,sea,sand and erm more sun! :)

Last weekend seems like ages ago, I suppose it was, but I had a good one all the same.
My friend, poet, author and Youth Team leader Alexander Jackman, invited me down to his youth project on Saturday. Luckily he has received funding to take some of the kids on a trip to Boston, USA, but the previous week he had told them the trip was off. So when he told me he was going to tell them at the end of year presentation ceremony that the trip was still on, I had to be there to see their faces. And trust me it was priceless.
I had met them all before when I went to talk to them about careers. They were under the impression that if you have a talent, you don't have to study! How wrong could they be. I had to explain to them that they need something to fall back on. I know I don't use my qualifications as a Law graduate, but I could get a very good job if I decided not to sing anymore...not worth thinking about but I have to set a good example. Also, I know sometimes we make the wrong decisions and veer away from the path expected of us or what we have set out for ourselves, but it's not impossible to get back on track. I had my son at a very young age(he's nearly 10 now,so... yeah, I was quite young!) and I must admit I had second thoughts about going on to higher education. But I'm glad I stuck with it and proved to myself and others it can be done!

So, anyways, I enjoyed meeting up with my young people and glad with the progress they have made.
The project is not just a youth club where they play games. They are equipped with skills to help the 15/16 year olds deal with life after school. I was proud to be there and soppy me had a tear in my eye as they got their certificates!

Stush came down to talk to them as well and gave them some precious words of encouragement. She's had it tough, but she's still going and is a brilliant example to the kids, who asked her to perform "f ur ex" and joined in!
I think that was the highlight of my weekend, and I would like to thank Mr Jackman for allowing me to be involved because I know he loves those kids like his own family.

The rest of the weekend I just chilled with my family and those close to me. What more could I ask for?

This Sunday 24th May I will be performing with a full band @ Soul Unique
BAR REZ, 1 NINE ELMS LANE, VAUXHALL SW8 5NQ
It was supposed to be @ Plan B in Brixton, but as it burnt down the venue has been changed! But I've been reassured it's a good venue, so I look forward to seeing you guys there!
So as a lead up to the show I'll be on www.urbanjazzradio.net tonight to talk about moi! :) So tune in if u get a chance.
On the night Baby Sol and Fola will also be performing so it's really value for your money, plus there's an after party where you can boogie with me and the other performers! Sounds like a plan aye??? You know you want to!

Playing the best in Rare Grooves, 80s, Classics, 90s and Present day

DJ Crisstoss (Lightinin FM)
DJ Maurice (Soul 2 Streets)
DJ Crime (Lightinin Fm)

Plus a exclusive reggae and old school bashment set by
DJ Madness sound fusion(on top fm)
AYIA NAPA SUEY(on top fm)

Playing the best in Soulful House, Funky, Broken Beat, 95-96 Garage, Jungle, Calypso and Afro Beat.

Anyhoo, my darlings, I gotta get my son off to my mum's and get ready for this radio interview...

Later

Nay xx

Friday 15 May 2009

In a sentimental mood....AGAIN ! lol



A clip I filmed on my lil camera :)
Love the words of this song...

Thursday 14 May 2009

Back in business!

YAY! I have a blackberry again! Luckily, I told my friend about my lack of sanity because of losing touch with the world, by having a 'standard' phone...and they gave a me a blackberry to use until my phone is repaired or replaced.
I was just talking to another friend earlier and he was saying that it's amazing how we are so reliant on technology...it's a scary truth, but it is reality.
So, all my twitterers will be happy, because I kinda fell of the radar for a few days, but I'm back! http://www.twitter.com/nadiva99

This week, I've been quite fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend time with some of my some closest friends. On Monday, one of my friend's came and interrupted my trampolining session and told me to get showered cos he was taking me to lunch. We went to Richmond and had a lovely meal by the river. I love our relationship because it's genuine. True friends will disagree from time to time but if your relationship is real you will always come to some understanding and carry on.
That's us. Sometimes I don't like to hear what he's saying cos he's right and other times he will avoid me until as long as he can before he admits that he misses me and I'm right! I love being right!
He's going home soon (Seychelles) to see his dad and is threatening not to come back! But I know he will, cos he'll miss me too much!



Another friend of mine came back from spending 5 months in Nigeria! So we celebrated her return last night by going to see another good friend of mine perform in Wole Soyinka's play, "Death and the King's Horseman" @ the National Theatre. Nonso Anozie has acted on stage in the Shakespeare productions Othello and was the youngest person cast as King Lear in a professional production. Also he has starred in RocknRolla, Atonement and was the lead character in box office and dvd hit "Cass" based on a true story of a football hooligan. I sound like a proud mother boasting about him, but we have been friends for nearly 10 years and I am excited that his talent has been recognised.
I would highly recommend you to go and see this play as it highlights the differences between the British colonial culture and the Nigerian (Yoruba) traditions and how they collided in the 1940's.
There's loads of dancing and singing too, so you know I was loving that!
We all went for a few drinks in the Green room bar and had a nice catch up before Nonso had to sign all his fans' autographs and drop my friend and I home!
Twas a pleasant evening :)
But today I was left a bit worse for wear. I'll blame it on the a a a a a alcohol! LOL. Nah it was my fault for drinking on an empty stomach.

I can't believe it's Thursday already. This week has gone too quickly! We really need more hours in the day. Where has this year gone? Before we know it, we will be half way through and it seems like I just celebrated New Years. More reason not to procrastinate.

Anyways luvvies,
I'm gonna catch up with you soon
Nads xx

Monday 11 May 2009

Thank You xxx



Quickly I just wanted to thank you all for the comments you left on my last post and the messages I received. Somebody has obviously got some issues they need to deal with,I'm thinking they could be a frustrated model who wants less competition as they seem to have a problem with me modelling, but it's cool and I won't stop. There's always one, lol, but I'm still gonna stay on my grind to do what I have to do to get where I wanna be.
Anyhoo, I had a relaxing weekend. I practically stayed in my house all weekend apart from going to church...ooh! How could I forget, last night I went to the studio to record a duet with my sis for her mixtape with the TRUTH MOVEMENT. The track is banging, it's called "Watcha mouth"...I will let you know how you can get a copy when it is available.
As for mine, you will have to wait a few more months, but it's coming and I appreciate your patience.

I'm upset guys...I went for years without having a blackberry, but since I got one last October, it has become a part of me. Unfortunately, last week Wednesday it went on a loo la! Out of the blue with no warning. Luckily, I listened to my friend Zalon who had the same problem, just days before. He told me to back up all my information on my computer. I am so grateful for that advice because I have so much stuff on that lil berry.
Carphone Warehouse actually took the p out of me though by giving me the crappiest most basic phone in the history of phones! And as I was leaving the store, the dude says to me "make sure you don't lose it otherwise you will have to pay for it"!!!
I had to count to about 30 and it took all my will not to dash the phone back at him! The handset must be worth about 10 quid. The cheek of the guy! He must have had a death wish. Pffft
Anyway, they're telling me it could take up to 28 days to fix my software issue! Should it really take that long peeps? So I am feeling a bit lost right now and all my fellow blackerry AKA crackberry users are sympathising with me cos they know they would feel!

What else...Yeah, like I said, I will be off to Miami shortly. Miami = beaches, pools etc, so it's only right I should have the perfect beach body. Luckily, I am only a size 6-8(uk) 2-4(US)and can kinda get away with being lazy. But I want that boom boom pow body...so I have started exercising again! So far I have been jogging two days in a row, first thing in the morning, then been jumping around on my trampoline. I've actually been enjoying it and feeling more enegry already. So I am definitely gonna keep it up!

Anyway, gotta dash now. I mainly, just came on here to thank yall for your support and say hey hey.
Speak soon peeps.
Nuff love
Nay Nay xxx

Saturday 9 May 2009

WOW!



I know I said I'll see you on the other side (of the weekend) but I thought I would just write a lil bitty blog to say thank you.
I only uploaded my EPK 24 hours ago, and already loads of you have checked it out. Also I see nearly as many of you have checked out my rehearsals that I put up and have sent me lovely messages. I'm glad you like those two songs as they are both sentimental to me. 'Missing u' because I sang that when I won Best Unsigned @ Earls court and 'Crazy' because I wrote it about 4 years ago and was great therapy for a situation that was very frustrating at times.
I know certain situations will test you and it is human nature or even animal instinct to sometimes lash out. But it's better to channel your energy into something more productive.
I'll let you in on a little secret. I have had a couple of negative comments from people or should I say a person, on this blog saying "you're too ugly to model", "stick to what you do best", " it's better to hear you and not see you".
I must admit, I was shocked that someone actually took the time out to firstly find my blog page, then write something so nasty. But at least they had to admit I could sing! lol.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, since then I have had numerous photographers, make up artists and stylists requesting to do photoshoots with me. I've actually had to postpone and turn some down because of my commitment to my music.
But what I'm trying to say girls and boys is...stay focused, the devil works in many ways, but don't let him win.
I'm a realist peeps, I know I'll never be Britain's Next Top Model, but funnily enough, I wouldn't want to be, but as long as I enjoy singing and posing and there is a demand for it...I will keep doing it...as for those who don't agree, look away and block your ears.

Nite nite my sugar dumplings xx

Friday 8 May 2009

I feel like a zombie!



I feel like a Zombie...right now I probably look like one too! lol
I stayed up for nearly 24 hours on Wednesday with John from Dirty Media doing my EPK (Electronic Press Kit). It's now up on youtube (check video bar) so have a look @ our hard work!
I have been uploading vids of rehearsals etc on youtube today too so search for me!
I don't know what I will be doing this weekend. But I doubt I will be going out. So you all go out there and party for me and tell me how it went.
See ya on the other side
xxxx
Nighty night
Nads xx
xxx

Tuesday 5 May 2009

OH WHAT A WEEK !

Hello beautiful people,
I hope you are all well and happy.
I'm not too bad apart from feeling totally knackered. But that's the story of my life so there's no point in complaining!
Anyhoo, I've been a bit of a busy bunny this week, therefore not having time to post blogs but you were always in mind. Sometimes I'm out and I'm like, "I wish I'd filmed that for my blog". Anyway, I was able to capture some of it on film for you, so here goes.

Okay...so Wednesday I had a meeting in Giraffe in Chiswick. As you know I lurve to eat so it was a greeeaaaat meeting :)





Thursday, I was booked for a photoshoot in West Hampstead so I had to get an early night.
It was with the talented Mr Paul Soso. He's very artistic in the way he shoots and is not afraid to experiment either. Google him and also search for him on Facebook. He has a group on there with loads of examples of his work.
Most people think modelling is easy because all you have to do is "pose", but there's a lot more to it and I am always tired and hungry after a shoot. I had actually planned on going out to a restaurant with a friend who has an office just down the road from the location, but as usual the shoot overran and I had to make do with Nandos AGAIN! I think I am gonna actually overdose on chicken very soon.




I'm still waiting for the images to be sent through, but see above for a couple of them.


I had been looking forward to Friday all week because I had planned on going to the Teedra Moses show, and I am a big fan of hers so I made sure I got my hands on some tickets as soon as her show was announced.
Everyone likes to think they're unique and I think we all are but alot of people have actually compared me to Teedra many times, on a musical and physical level, even Raphael (Saadiq) who knows both of us, so I wasn't surprised to be mistaken for her as I entered 'The Venue'. It's mad that she calls herself the 'young lioness' too because over the years my friends have likened me to a lioness. It's all a coincidence, but I don't actually mind as she's someone I admire anyways.
And she didn't disappoint despite the many technical hitches, which were out of her control. But she was a proper professional, soldiered through it and gave her fans a good show.





When the show was over, my friends and I decided the night was still young and headed over to one of Mink Events @ Carbon in Marble Arch, where I met some more of my friends. I planned to just breeze through but ended up staying for a couple of hours despite knowing I had to get up early for a photoshoot in Oxford on Saturday
morning.



I regretted my late night @ approximately 7:30am Saturday morning when I had to get up and get myself ready to go to oxford for another shoot. I was excited about this one because the photographer (Nicola Belson http://www.modelmayhem.com/1028182) had chosen a beautiful location called Harcourt Aboretum. It was so picturesque. I didn't even feel like I was in England at times because of all the tropical flowers. It was a great place to escape and luckily the weather was perfect.



Sunday SHOULD have been a day of rest, but it was still all go for me! After church, I was put to work because it was my sister's bday so I had to go and cook for her get-together. But we had a great time. It was a girlie night so as you can imagine we chatted till we were literally falling asleep! And no, we didn't spend all the time chatting about men...much! lol

Which brings me to yesterday, Bank holiday Monday. I was invited to the Kele Le Roc video shoot for her latest single 'Retro'.
I was honoured to be there because I have a lot of respect for Kele. She's been in this business for a while and still has so much passion for it. We were graced with the presence of legends Omar an Don-E and also my friend Zalon, who is now in St.Lucia recording with Amy Winehouse.
It was a looong day as there was a lot of waiting around and re-takes. But Kele seemed to be happy with the result and that's what matters. Look out for the video...coming soon.













That's me for now! Have to get to bed now because my contact lenses are about to pop out as my eyes are soooo tired. Have a great week. Will holla at ya soon.

Loads of love...your girl
Nads xxx

Sunday 3 May 2009

I'm hitting the bottle again....


I think I have an addiction. For the last two years I have reached for that bottle, time after time. But in the last two weeks I have stayed away in the hope of giving up, but I feel myself weakening under the pressures of everyday life!


Nah silly....I'm not an alcoholic, but I really wanna dye my hair black again. I was trying to go natural, but I really hate my brown hair colour so i think I will succumb tonight!
Will fill you in on my busy week tomorrow or tuesday. Have a good bank holiday weekend peeps
Nads
xxx