Podtalk: Singer NORAA is Ready to Break Through in the USA

CHICAGO – One the most exciting moments in the culture of music is the anticipated new talent sensation. Warner Music Group’s Elektra France recently discovered a German-born singer known as NORAA – who was supplementing her music career by working as a school teacher – and took her out of the classroom and into the recording studio. She has already made in-roads in her native European scene, and now is poised to conquer the USA. Her first single, “Lie to Me,” was released in April, and is already made its way to radio station and streaming playlists in Europe and America.

With her sultry air and deep global perspective, the POP R&B style singer/songwriter has been tenacious on her road to success. With her combined background – born to a German mother from Cologne and an African father from Chad – she grew up with the influences of gospel, soul and African rhythms. But as a child she spent most of her time listening to the American pop music her parents liked to play, and connected with it even before she learned to speak English. Her influences from U.S. included Lauryn Hill, Sade, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, contributing to her global sound that also has uniquely American qualities.

Introducing the Singer NORAA
Photo credit: Warner/Elektra

NORAA took music lessons and was connected to her evolution in classical piano, while also burning through the Lauryn Hill songbook, spending hours studying Hill’s flow and sensibility. She discovered her love of performance after singing an original song at a party, and looked up after she finished to find the audience mesmerized. In the meantime, she got her Journalism degree, and taught languages in a Paris school while pursuing her music career. After touring as a backup singer, she was signed as a songwriter to the Universal Music Publishing Group, as an artist to Elektra France and as a performer to Live Nation, all in France. In Europe, Live Nation booked her to perform at Cannes for Givenchy, and a week later she did a sold out concert in Ibiza.



Regarding “Lie to Me,” her debut single – produced by Carlos “Los Da Mystro” McKinney – NORAA said, “I love subtlety and sweetness. I would like people who listen to my music to be transported into my vibe – that is emotional and very groovy.” With the release of her new EP coming this summer, NORAA’s songwriting philosophy can be summed up by her favorite poet, Charles Bukowski, “Find love and let it kill you.”

In Part ONE of a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, NORAA talks about her new single “Lie to Me,” her work with Carlos “Los Da Mystro” McKinney and creating the right atmosphere in communicating her music.

In Part Two, NORAA reflects on female empowerment in her life and music, and breaking through in the USA.

Access to the video for the single “Lie to Me” and NORAA
Website: Click here [22] 
Instagram for NORAA: Click here [23] 

YouTube: Click here [24]

[26]	By PATRICK McDONALD [27] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [26]