Born on November 13, 1976inthe ancient city of Jos in northern Nigeria,Najeem ‘NAJ’ Shuaibu has a story to tell.His earlier life was culturally and religiously diverse; Son of a SouthernMuslim father and a Christian mother,Life was oftentimes tough, and can even be described as contradictory, yet it is very inspiring. His fatherjoined the army at a young age and eventually became a war hero. His Mother was strongly connected to the local political scene in Lagos, which stirred Naj’s fascination for the subject from a very early age.These factors are solely responsible for his immense contradictions – a strange combination of a Tough, no-nonsense stance passed on by his military father as well as a diplomatic and compromising side from his mother.
Although he was born in the Northern enclave of Jos, his family moved a lot and he spent years between Nigeria’s economic and cosmopolitan city Lagos as well as the very conservative stronghold of the north, Kaduna.This single factor has diverse influences on his social conscienceand eventually impacted his music as an artist.
His musical background is inspired from deep within his roots. Both of his great grandfathers had a strong passion for music and would spend hours teaching him the local art of dancing and singing, This in effect, exposed Naj to the fundamental elements of traditional African Folk musicand their multi-lingual influences. Hence, he began to develop a natural talent for distinguishing a wide range of musical tones and patterns, which now plays a major role in his artistic style and enables him to switch between languages during delivery of rap verses.
Although he was very talented and a hard worker, his family could be considered poor and unable to provide all of the basic needs for a young man to horn his skills. However, his strong desire would not let him fail… Wanting to improve his situation, and having a burning desire to excel, Naj left Nigeria in 2001, on a journey to Kazakhstan to pursuea new life.He enrolled at the prestigious Kazakh-AmericanUniversitywhere he majored in ComputerTechnology and a minor in Russian language. While studying,Naj continued to share his musical and performing talents by competing in the various events held in the City of Al-maty. He immediately began to create a name for himself, which led to him being scouted by companies, for both modeling and performance opportunities.
On August 1st 2002, Naj decided to take the next big leap… He dropped out of the university to pursue his lifelong dream full time. He moved to China where heworked low-incomeEnglish teaching jobs and modeling gigs to fund his pursuits. This took him across multiple mainland cities,where he spent time exploring the culture, and building a network of industry contacts. While he was in Beijing, He recorded tracks with Gao Xiao Song, one of China’s leading composers at the time, and also Tim Wu, The famous hip hop artist from Shanghai Thamestown.
Naj was truly inspired by his friend long term Wilson (With whom he Co-founded the group Infinity Skillz) in 2004, while they were in Harbin producing a track that ended up being a hit song in the clubs of Harbin, China. To his surprise, the song took off in multiple cities in China, starting with a famous Blues Club in Harbin. Naj experienced the local people’s excitement and positive response to the music he and his friends created, and knew that this is what he wanted to do...He moved to Shanghai in the fall of 2006 and has never looked back since...
In October 2006, Naj was featured in a Nike commercial, alongside world-renowned track and field athlete Liu Xian, the Track & field legend and Olympic gold medalist in the Athens 2004 Olympics. He alsoco-founded a hip-hop group called “Infinity Skillz”, The group created a new genre, by blending traditional oriental music, with mainstream hip hop and R&B. They went on toproduce songs that becamechart-topping hits in the foreign category music on the Mainland (Songs: How many Girlfriends, and Fall in Love). Not only local Chinese radio stations, but also different international web radio portals picked up these hits. The group Infinity Skillz was eventually nominated by the Nigerian Entertainment Awards Association for best “Nigerian Group performing overseas”.
Returning home to Nigeria in 2008 for a yearlong sabbatical, Naj continued to expand his knowledge and talents within the Nigerian entertainment circle, where he managed various nightclubs in Lagos and also went on to start La Familia recordswith close friend Sean Omole.
He is currently working on his solo project, introducing a new style of music to the global party scene. His invention, “HOUSE-POP”, is beginning to create buzz locally in both China and Nigeria. It draws multiple influences from established genres such as House, rock, electronic and Hip-hop. Naj’s first single “My House-Pop” has already started to take off in the Chinese Domestic scene especially in Shanghai.
Not only has Naj created music, he has also branded himself as a nightlife, entertainment and marketing vehicle in Shanghai as he continues to work with several venues hosting parties and enjoying what he does best… Partying like a rockstar!
Stay tuned for the upcoming launch of “HOUSE-POP” releasing 2011!
DOWNLOAD : Naj - ''Shangai''
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