It is sometimes hard to believe that the Grammy nomination for Nadia Ali’s “Fantasy” (Morgan Page Remix) is only one of many milestones marking her musical achievements. Nadia’s career exploded as a member of “iiO” with the massive 2001 hit, “Rapture”. Quickly leaping to #2 on the UK Singles chart, “Rapture” would propel Nadia into the spotlight and serve as a shadow of things to come. Now armed with a solid decade of commercial success and an almost feverish evolution of artistic expansion… Something tells us that Nadia Ali is just warming up. To date, Nadia’s career as singer/songwriter has attracted a massive international following resulting from a masterful exploitation of captivating vocals and dance music. Nadia has attributed this unmistakable style to the overarching influence of her eastern ancestry, as well as the diverse cultural climate of her upbringing in Queens, New York.
Beginning in 2001, Nadia’s lush vocal style would take the world by storm, becoming a globally recognized trademark in the dance music industry, and keeping her in nonstop demand by the hottest innovative DJ’s worldwide. Recent and notable collaborations include: Schiller, Sultan & Ned Shepard, Chris Reece, Tocadisco, Serge Devant and Starkillers. In the mean time, Nadia’s recent team up with Armin Van Buuren, (ranked the # 1 DJ in the world for 4 consecutive years), has been generating a white-hot buzz. Jointly, Nadia and Armin shaped the brand-new dance track: “Feels So Good” and are currently carrying out a rigorous tour schedule on the "Armin Only Mirage" tour. “Armin Only” is an entirely sold-out world tour, filling arenas with tens of thousands of fans nightly.
Nadia Ali has continually proven her value with a growing list of global hits and chart-toppers that has expanded progressively over the years. These include: “Rapture”, “At The End”, “Kiss You”, and a #1 US Billboard Dance Chart hit with “Is It Love” in 2006. Nadia’s solo album “Embers” was released in 2009 and “Fantasy” soon followed, serving as a prologue to “Queen of Clubs Trilogy: Best of Nadia Ali Remixed”. In 2010, Nadia was nominated for Best Progressive/Tech House Track for “Love Story” at the International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference. She then neatly closed out the year 2010 with a Grammy nomination for her song “Fantasy”, under the “Best Re-mixed Recording” category. While Nadia has cultivated a score of industry accolades, 2010 marked the first occasion in which her work would receive the great honor and validation of a Grammy Nomination. If we are to learn anything from the pattern developing here, it could quite possibly be that Nadia Ali simply possesses both the clever intellect and raw talent required to amass this kind of staying power… and that this past decade has only been the beginning.
STARKILLERS
Formerly known as Nick Terranova, Las Vegas talent Starkillers has been cutting a swathe through the bolshier end of the global house music scene over the last few years with his tough-edged, eclectic sound. Blending big hooks and riffs, soaring vocals, thumping beats and mind-bending effects trickery, his sound is the perfect blend of high-octane, fierce energy and accessible appeal. It’s truly at home amidst the contemporary sound of cutting-edge dance music.
It’s not about subtlety or tradition; instead its a question of pushing technology and sound to their limits, and creating in-your-face tracks with plenty of charisma and attitude. There’s nothing mundane going on here. Pitch bending leads, rugged bass, mind-warping FX, huge builds and drops; everything in a Starkillers track is designed for maximum impact on the dancefloor, and his potent blend of electro house groove and sharp trance-laced breakdowns has seen his records signed to huge labels including Doorn, Ultra and Spinnin.
He’s succeeded without the hyperbole that surrounds so many other artists, his popularity speaking for itself with two of Beatport’s Top 25 biggest-sellers of 2009 (including a Number 1 during the same year with his remix of Armand Van Helden’s classic The Funk Phenomenon), and more sales smashes over the last two years. Then there’s his Essential New Tune accolade from Pete Tong and an IDMA Award nomination for his anthem Discoteka, and acclaimed remixes for some of the biggest names in the world – including Robbie Rivera, Paul van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Jerome Isma-Ae and iiO. More recently his track with the stunning Nadia Ali and 303lovers’ Alex Kenji, Pressure, has received huge support from DJs across the scene and smashed Beatport’s sales charts once again.
He’s a producer with integrity though, so don’t expect to see him producing the latest cheesy chart smash for the newest flash-in-the-pan R&B singer any time soon. If his records cross over, then great; but it’s not something he’s actively trying for. “I really don’t try to make commercial records. If I work with vocals, I try to do what sounds cool. If it come a little more commercial then alright, if it’s darker then cool – but I don’t stress about it. Obviously being more commercial can get you further, but I definitely don’t forget where I come from…the underground.”
