Naima

Official Biography (courtesy of Naima)

Naima is a rising soul-singer, musician, songstress and cultural warrior. Based in Oakland, CA, her songs flow through genres picking up flavors of American soul, jazz, rhythm & blues, Arabic soul, and roots music. With a love for improvisation, and welcoming the spirit of the moment, her performances will take you on a journey between the present, past and future where time suspends through music, soul-stories, melody and the spaces between.

Growing up a first-generation Lebanese Arab woman in upstate New York fills life with a set of complexities and understandings that reverberates in the depth of Naima's voice. Filled with a longing for a better world and the presence of an old soul makes the sweet yet haunting melodies of this up and coming artist travel straight to your heart. Armed with an MA in postcoloinal anthropology, years of performance experience and a joy for bringing people together she's set on traveling the world through her music. “I don’t think music can directly change the state of things, but I know for a fact it can inspire people to keep it moving, to keep dreaming of what feels impossible, and can remind us that we’re not alone.”