Netta

I am NETTA. I am 30 years old, but I’m really five. I had a very happy childhood in Nigeria up until I was six, but then had a very traumatic move to Israel, understanding that I was the only foreign, chubby, unibrowed kid in the class. African beats and Mediterranean sounds were there before I even knew how to talk, but then Rock, Blues, Soul and R&B hijacked my brain when I was 12 - my heart stopped when I heard Aretha Franklin for the first time. When I make music I always try to channel the chubby girl dancing in front of the mirror thinking she’s Beyoncé, but too embarrassed to speak her dreams out loud, to let anybody see her dance. Fast forward- I tried my luck as a singer in Tel Aviv, my mother loved me but couldn’t pay my rent. I went to a reality show to pay my bills. I accidentally won. And then I accidentally won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. Some people would look at that as a happy ending, but I look at this as a clumsy, weird beginning of me as an independent artist and human being. My art is like a lucid dream, where the music and visuals go together weirdly and perfectly. All I want is for people to hit play on my music and feel like it’s their birthday cake.