On Lagos, Longevity, and a Voice Meeting the Music Halfway

Have you ever asked a friend to recommend  to you an artist with a velvety, feathery, silvery voice?  These were my exact feelings when  listening to Nora for the first time. July being the first song listened to;  started with an euphoric, crescendoing beat , then followed Nora's velvety voice which fits the song title perfectly.

Chidiebere Felicia Anyiam-Osigwe (also known as Nora)  was born on April 26, 2002, in Lagos. Her love for music started forming early, influenced by her parents, even if it didn’t look like something serious yet.

She started singing at the age of 7, and her parents were encouraged in church to support her if this was something she wanted to pursue .

‍"I started singing in church and it blossomed. Our pastor told my parents: 'If this is the career she wants to take, encourage her. Don't try to make her a lawyer or doctor. Let her do it.' So I was really encouraged. I attended Ayo Bankole College of Music and MUSON."

At 13, her devotion to music became so strong that she was getting bullied for singing too much, “I kind of, uh, but it never really stopped me, you know, I just kind of knew that I was talented to do. Entered  a competition, I got to meet ICE , Shout out to ice.” 

Her career really started at 17 after she joined the Eko Hotel Tropical Christmas  in 2019 .
One of the judges said something very simple “get her into the studio” and that was the starting point for her. 

She has collaborated with artists like  Tim Lyre for OMD,

Ronehi and Aylø for July ,

and now her single Chidi’s Heartbreak sits as part of where she currently is, still building, still figuring things out in real time.

She’s also learning how to produce, which she actually enjoys, because it lets her connect to her sound in a more personal way, and the interesting thing is her process always starts the same way, with a beat, not pressure, not trying to make something perfect, just a beat, and then she lets it grow from there, almost like she meets the music halfway instead of forcing it.

She talks about her support system in a way that feels very grounded, especially her mum, who is her best friend, her manager, her confidant, and then her siblings, her friends, and her mentor ICE NWEKE, people who are around her not just for the music but for her as a person, which is something she clearly holds onto.  

“ First of all, I consider myself extremely lucky with the type of family and friends I have .They see me for who I am and just want the best for me. They were there you know in every performance, every show, especially my mom who is my manager and quite thankfully my best friend. 
She is my rock.
She has been not just there for me emotionally, but also physically. 
She would cancel things on my behalf just so we could go for a meeting, just so that I could pursue my dreams. 
You know what I mean? And I’m very  grateful for that. And my sister, my brothers, I feel like me saying my family are my biggest fans. 
The rest of everybody else is just gonna be like, well, I'm here  because that's how much love I have.”.

Her inspirations stretch across different sounds and eras, Tems, Sade, Michael Jackson, and ABBA, and when you think about it, that mix makes sense with the kind of softness and control her voice carries.

She also spoke about being nominated for Leading Vibe Initiative  founded by Tems, and the way she described it didn’t feel rehearsed, it felt very in the moment,

“Honestly, I sent my application on the day of the deadline, I was at my best friend’s house, I used my phone to record, I wasn’t even thinking too much, I just said let me do it and see what happens, boom I got an email saying I got selected”

and then having Tems acknowledge her voice, that part sits quietly but it means a lot, the kind of validation that doesn’t need too much noise around it.

And through all of this, one thing she keeps coming back to is learning to love herself and accept who she is, which sounds simple but clearly isn’t, especially when you think about the different phases she has moved through in the last six years, growing, adjusting, staying with it.

She also mentioned, almost casually, that she does soprano, and it feels like one of those details you don’t fully sit with until later, because when you think about her tone, her range, the way everything is still forming, it starts to feel like you’re watching something take shape in real time, not rushed, not forced, just becoming what it’s meant to be.