Naadei

Montreal songwriter Naadei sequestered herself in Miami for 10 months working on the songs that would become her debut EP, Im Fine, and today, we’re getting an exclusive look at the results of her Magic City grind. On her lead single, “Lisa,” Naadei enlists College Park’s own Trap-A-Velli 2 Chainz for a feature, with Montreal mystic High Klassified on the beat.

“Lisa” sees High Klassified whipping up an ethereal world for Naadei’s breezy chorus vocal, with a synthetic choir and redlined 808s at the centre of it all. "It’s always a challenge writing to a High Klassified beat—we've worked together before and we mesh well, but his productions are so complete,” she told Complex. “It's like hearing something that's already perfect and you have to add something to it. I'm just here trying not to mess anything up."

According to Naadei, this ambient post-trap banger is a bit of a sonic outlier on her new project. "I wasn't even going to include this song, actually. The EP is kind of cloudy and chill, so I couldn't see a trap song fitting in. Then Chainz was rapping about threesomes and gold Rollies. I was like, ‘k, thanks b, what am I supposed to sing about? I'm single and I'm on the bus.’”

Despite initial trepidation, Naadei holds her own in Tity Boi’s domain, rapping about white rich girls with grills, dropping a reference to Montreal hotspot Apt. 200, and coming clean on the struggle of balancing Soundcloud ambitions with scholarly obligations. On “Lisa,” Naadei gives us a reminder we all need once in a while: being real is the ultimate flex.

Listen to “Lisa” by Naadei below. You’ll hear more dreamlike vibes on her debut EP, Im Fine, which can’t come soon enough. - Complex

Montreal, QC – Montreal vocalist Naadei recently teamed up with High Klassified and 2 Chainz for this new track titled “Lisa.”

This track explores the idea of cultural appropriation. And by “explores,” I mean just that. Naadei isn’t necessarily saying cultural appropriation is a bad thing. But she’s not glorifying it either. She’s putting it out there for y’all to decide what you think about it: “All my white girls/ All my white girlfriends/ With your credit cards/ Your big-ass house girlfriends/ Got 2 Chainz on I knew you’d like that/ I got HK on I knew you’d like that.”

Naadei penned this song about one of her friends named Lisa: “I met this girl she was called Lisa/ White girl dressed like a drug dealer/ Lisa told me tell all y’all n**gas/ Dont nobody f**kin’ with you in the ‘burb.”

As Naadei explained it to me, she was trying to wrap her EP but couldn’t think of anything to write about. So she hit up Lisa and asked her for some ideas. Here’s how it all went down: “The next day she shows up in her parents’ Benz (which she drives). And she used to rock the gold bottom grill at the time. She said something like ‘Bro you gotta go H.A.M. on this one.’ and she was gibberishing on a Migos-like flow. I remember thinking, ‘How did this adorable privileged kid from up north Quebec end up with me in a parking lot consulting on a trap song?’ I thought it was sort of cool and wrong at the same time.”

And as I mentioned, the track also features Tity Boi trap god, 2 Chainz, on the first verse: “Met her last night/ F**ked her last night/ Woke up this morning/ F**ked her this morning.” CLASSIC 2 CHAINZ VERSE ON A CANADIAN TRACK. Represent. This warms my soul so much. This is perfect. Naadei has actually known 2 Chainz (or as she calls him, “Tit”) since she was 16. She was hesitant to put the feature on the track because she didn’t want his feature to steal the shine off her project.

But look how it all worked out: this track isn’t dope because of any one artist on here. It’s dope because it’s an organic collaboration. It’s not the bi-product of a struggle artist reaching for a feature so people will listen to the track. It’s the bi-product of one of Montreal’s top up-and-coming vocalists working alongside one of Montreal’s top up-and-coming producers and one of rap’s most predominant trap artists.

Naadei has the history with 2 Chainz. But she also has the history with High Klassified (who she’s known for several years now). After missing a flight in Miami and misplacing her computer, Naadei found herself stuck in the studio with no beats to record on. She lurked through SoundCloud and jacked one of his songs off the Palindroma EP that eventually became “No More.” That’s when they started working together and they’ve been pals ever since.

So long story short: this is one of the freshest tunes I’ve heard in a minute. And I also love how she slid in on the cultural appropriation awareness. As Naadei so perfectly summed it all up for me: “There’s a white girl with cornrows drinking lean and singing along to 2 Chainz right now. Are y’all cool with that? Yes? No problem, then. Have a drink and sing along. It’s all love.” - Hip Hop Canada

When two hometown favorites join forces to create some authentic Montreal fire, the people rejoice. When one of them brings along day­-one homie 2 Chainz for the ride, it makes for one hell of a party in these Montreal streets. Out of her predominantly cloudy and smooth Im Fine EP, Naadei comes up with an unexpectedly hard­hitting first single titled “Lisa” and gives all the gold teeth’d white girls something to stand for. Listen below! - Boi-1da.net

Vous vous souvenez de Naadei ? Mais si Naadei, la petite protégée de Booba ! On avait un peu perdu de vue la canadienne depuis son morceau "Ride" apparu sur le troisième volume de la série « Autopsie » du D.U.C. Mais, avec la sortie du premier extrait de son futur EP, pas besoin de parler de retour, car la belle n’est en réalité jamais partie. Partagée entre le studio et les scènes américaines, celle qui s’est revelée avec le morceau "All I Have" apparu sur la mixtape Autopsie Vol. 2 de B2O prépare depuis un petit moment déjà ce qui sera son tout premier projet officiel.

I'm Fine, titre de son futur EP, est le fruit d’un travail de 10 mois passé dans les studios de Miami. Pour « Lisa », le premier extrait de ce travail de sape, elle a pu compter sur 2 Chainz et High Klassified pour l’épauler. L’un au couplet, l’autre à la prod. Pour un résultat diablement efficace. À l'heure actuelle, très peu d'infos ont filtré sur cet EP. Tout juste sait-on qu'il sera très "cloudy and chill". Pas de date de sortie ni de tracklist mais tout ça devrait arriver très vite ! En attendant, on aura tout le loisir de s'écouter "Lisa" en mode repeat. - SURL

Deep from the underground scene of Montreal, R&B/soul artist Naadei has surfaced with her first official single "LISA" and we just can't turn away from it. It's been on repeat ever since we laid eyes and ears on this one track. Her soft-airy voice telling us a real-story line that is relatable to every Montrealer out there makes it that much more special. It's like we finally got some true, hard-hitting soulful music to listen to from the 514. Off her upcoming EP titled I'm Fine, the track features 2 Chainz and a heavy production by none other than homie High Klassified. We caught up with Naadei thru da phone while she was shopping at Ikea to get to know her a bit more. Click play on the track and scroll through our iMessage interview below:
(text images) - IX Daily

À notre époque d’abondance médiatique, il n’est pas rare, même avec la magie de l’internet, d’entendre un beat qui nous plaît et de découvrir avec stupéfaction, via Shazam ou un peu de recherche, que nous avons dans les oreilles un produit bien de chez nous. Ce fut le cas pour moi avec Lisa, une pièce de Naadei produite par High Klassified, comportant aussi un featuring de 2 Chainz.

Comment une artiste dont on n’a pratiquement jamais entendu parler peut-elle obtenir une collaboration avec deux grosses pointures au zénith de leur popularité?

L'auteure / compositrice / interprète montréalaise a tranquillement fait son bout de chemin en quelques années, et représente assez fidèlement la maxime contemporaine « work hard, play hard ». Sa voix éthérée a trouvé preneur chez Lil’ Jon et Booba, elle a tourné en Afrique et en Europe aux côtés de Wyclef Jean, et fait partie de la nouvelle génération de Montréalais qui ratissent large.

Elle vient de passer 10 mois à Miami pour enregistrer sa prochaine parution, un EP dont le titre est I’m fine, avec des thématiques très introspectives, et des productions signées par des mecs comme Richie Beats ou Grandbuda. Ça sonne comme du Drake sans maladresses, comme une réponse locale à Tinashe, ou une version féminine de The Weeknd sans vulgarité, avec une personnalité bien unique. C’est du R n’ B radiophonique absolument pas cheesy, et on a même droit à un Peethugg (de Chromeo) qui vient faire un tour pendant le langoureux interlude. Il serait, à mon humble avis, très difficile d’avoir plus de street cred que ça.

I’m fine sera disponible dès le 30 novembre, en exclusivité sur Noisey. - Nightlife magazine

Montreal's Naadei has been experiencing a slow burn through progress, working with a number of artists in France and the U.S., as well as touring Africa and Europe with Wyclef Jean. But after months of helping others, Naadei decided to be a little selfish as she packed her bags and flew to Miami to work on her first solo project in isolation. The finished EP is titled I'm Fine, and acts as a celebration of loneliness, despite the fact that it's filled with guest features from Montreal OGs P-Thugg and High Klassified, as well as from trap godfather 2Chainz.

"Everybody on this project is someone I was excited and starstruck to work with," said Naadei over e-mail when asked about the lineup on this project. "Most of us like to keep our bodycount low when it comes to collaborations so I'm always thankful when an artist shares their time and talent with me. Also all of them are my friends and I know where they live, so they couldn't really say no." - Noisey

Naadei is a recent discovery, but we’ve been hooked on the Montreal-based songwriter ever since we heard “Lisa,” a High Klassified produced post-trap wave, R&Beastmode cut, featuring 2 Chainz. Her debut EP, Im Fine, just dropped today, and another immediate standout is “Cool Friends,” produced by Shaqarts. Slow-burning synth drones fill out resonant drum samples, as Naadei reveals a confessional story of self-doubt. One hopes Naadei will get a jolt of self-confidence on the heels of Im Fine, ‘cause this music is better than being friends with the DJ. - Complex

Naadei Liones gives ambient post-trap instrumentals the Midas touch, stunting with melodic, introspective waterfall flows on her debut EP, I’m Fine. If the Montreal singer/songwriter keeps this up in 2016, she could be looking at a major come up. - Complex

The Montreal R&B songstress just recently (re)surfaced onto the scene with her I'm Fine EP. She's the type of girl who's friends with all the cool cats seeing as though her collaborative efforts were pretty seamless on her debut release featuring P-Thugg from Chromeo, High Klassified as well as 2Chainz. We recently reviewed her EP and even conducted an iMessage interview when she debuted her first single "LISA" - we couldn't avoid putting her on our list as she deserves all the success in the world. - IX Daily

Montreal's Naadei has been experiencing a slow burn through progress, working with a number of artists in France and the U.S., as well as touring Africa and Europe with Wyclef Jean. But after months of helping others, Naadei decided to be a little selfish as she packed her bags and flew to Miami to work on her first solo project in isolation. The finished EP is titled I'm Fine, and acts as a celebration of loneliness, despite the fact that it's filled with guest features from Montreal OGs P-Thugg and High Klassified, as well as from trap godfather 2Chainz.

"Everybody on this project is someone I was excited and starstruck to work with," said Naadei over e-mail when asked about the lineup on this project. "Most of us like to keep our bodycount low when it comes to collaborations so I'm always thankful when an artist shares their time and talent with me. Also all of them are my friends and I know where they live, so they couldn't really say no." - Noisey

Naadei is a recent discovery, but we’ve been hooked on the Montreal-based songwriter ever since we heard “Lisa,” a High Klassified produced post-trap wave, R&Beastmode cut, featuring 2 Chainz. Her debut EP, Im Fine, just dropped today, and another immediate standout is “Cool Friends,” produced by Shaqarts. Slow-burning synth drones fill out resonant drum samples, as Naadei reveals a confessional story of self-doubt. One hopes Naadei will get a jolt of self-confidence on the heels of Im Fine, ‘cause this music is better than being friends with the DJ. - Complex

Naadei Liones gives ambient post-trap instrumentals the Midas touch, stunting with melodic, introspective waterfall flows on her debut EP, I’m Fine. If the Montreal singer/songwriter keeps this up in 2016, she could be looking at a major come up. - Complex