Nkechi Ka Egenamba (born 24th September 1983),[1][2] (first name pronounced n-kay-chee)[3] known as Ninja, is an English rapper and the female lead vocalist for the British indie band The Go! Team. Doing a mixture of rapping, chanting and singing, Ninja is well known for her energetic stage performances and dancing. In 2005, NME voted Ninja the 15th coolest person in music.[4]
Early life and education
Born Nkechi Ka in 1983,[1][2] "Nkechi" is short for Nkechinyere, and means "what God has given" or "gift of God" in Igbo, the language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group in West Africa, numbering in the tens of millions.[5]
Ninja is from London.[6] Her father is a Nigerian lawyer,[7] and her mother is half-Egyptian, half-Nigerian.[7] Ninja is one of five children and was brought up in a very strict household.[7] She had been studying at university before she joined The Go! Team.[8]
The Go! Team
The Go! Team playing at Berlin Festival in July 2007
Ninja became lead singer for The Go! Team after founder Ian Parton created the first The Go! Team studio album. With Ninja, the live band became a "separate entity" to the original studio vision, as their performances became radically different from their recordings, particularly due to Ninja's freestyled vocals contrary to the sampled vocals present on the album.[9] Parton acknowledged that Ninja had become the "face of the band" in an interview with Erik Leijon in September 2007.[10]
