Emanuel Ntaka (born 12 December 1977) is an Argentine singer, songwriter and activist. He was a member of the pop boyband
Mambrú
Mambrú was a male pop group from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They saw both local and international success from 2002 until 2005 when they disbanded. The group's debut album, released in October 2002, had become a triple platinum record by 2003. Duri ...
, formed in 2002 in the second series of the Argentine reality TV competition ''
Popstars
''Popstars'' is an international reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...
''.
Early life
Ntaka was born on 12 December 1977 in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina. His father was Blues Ntaka (1935–2001), a South African anti-
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
activist and musician. His mother was Antonia Scarpati, an Argentine from
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
. The two met while Ntaka was touring, while in exile, in Italy. Emanuel has two older siblings, both of whom were born in Italy.
He followed his father's footsteps in pursuing a musical career, enrolling at the Escuela Nacional de Música Juan Pedro Esnaola, later following up his professional studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel de Falla.
[ Before reaching success, Ntaka worked as a barman at a salsa bar in Buenos Aires.
]
Musical career
Before 2002, Ntaka formed part of a band by the name of Living Covers. In 2002, he participated in the second series of the Argentine reality TV competition ''Popstars
''Popstars'' is an international reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...
''. The first series, released the year prior, had already resulted in the formation of the successful girl group Bandana
A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative purpos ...
; the second series set out to form an all-male pop group to match Bandana's success. As part of the programme's selection process, Ntaka underwent training in choreography, professional recording and fitness coaching.
Ntaka was one of the five (and the eldest) selected members of what would become Mambrú
Mambrú was a male pop group from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They saw both local and international success from 2002 until 2005 when they disbanded. The group's debut album, released in October 2002, had become a triple platinum record by 2003. Duri ...
. The group's debut album, released in October 2002, had become a triple platinum record by 2003. During the following years, Mambrú became one of the most successful pop acts in Argentina, embarking on a Latin American tour and releasing two more albums: ''Creciendo'' (2003) and ''Mambrú 3'' (2005).[ The group received a number of accolades, including three Gardel Awards and a ]Martín Fierro Award Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austral ...
. They played in every single Argentine province, in a tour that spanned 2004–2005. Their aim was to 'sing to the entire country', and local bands were recruited to work as supporting artists in their various hometowns.
Despite their success, Mambrú separated as a group in August 2005. Milton Amadeo had already split from the group, pursuing a solo career, in 2003.
Following his departure from Mambrú, Ntaka launched his solo career, releasing an album in 2009 by the name of ''No pares'', shifting his influences from pop rock to a more traditional sound informed by African influences. He would go on to launch his own record label, NTK Records. In 2014, he produced the album ''Sonidos negros en Argentina'', released under NTK.
Activism
Since the beginning of his solo career, Ntaka has sought to raise awareness of Afro-Argentine
Afro-Argentines are people in Argentina of primarily Sub-Saharan African descent. The Afro-Argentine population is the result of people being brought over during the transatlantic slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination in the reg ...
music and culture. In 2016, he was appointed as coordinator of the Afro Culture Programme, part of the Directorate of Socio-cultural Programmes at the Argentine ministry of culture. The programme grants financial support and promotes cultural projects developed by Afro-Argentines.
References
External links
Dirección de Programas Socioculturales - Cultura Afro
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntaka, Emanuel
1977 births
Living people
Musicians from Buenos Aires
Afro-Argentine musicians
Argentine people of Italian descent
Argentine people of South African descent
Anti-racism activists
Argentine human rights activists