Lady May (born Martha Namundjebo, 20 December 1986) is a Namibian singer. She came to fame in 2004 with the release of her first album ''Kamali'' which won her her first award at the Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. Namundjebo is one of the most popular female singers in Namibia. Her music is also recognized beyond the Namibian border and she has been nominated and won several awards at the

Channel O Music Video Awards Channel O Africa Music Video Awards, once known as Spirit of Africa Music Video Awards, are Pan-African music awards organised by South Africa -based Channel O television channel. The awards were first held in 2003 under the name Reel Music Video A ...

. Lady May's music is a mixture of

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshiv ...

traditional music and western pop. Most of her music is categorized under the

Afro pop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like Music of Africa, African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. M ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

genre. Her early styles were a combination of R&B and hip hop. She was signed to a South African record label, Big Ear Records. Now signed to Namibia's no.1 gospel label D-Naff Records, where she just released a new soul soothing gospel album ''Unbroken'' which has 13 great songs, since she is born again Christian now. Lady May was Namibia's celebrity housemate for the seventh season of ''

Big Brother Africa ''Big Brother Africa'' is the African version of the international reality television franchise ''Big Brother'' created by producer John de Mol in 1997. The show was first aired in 2003 for one season on M-Net and broadcast to audiences in 42 ...

'', where she came out as runner-up.

Early life

Martha was born in

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from exiled parents at Calulo, a small village near

Cuanza Sul Cuanza Sul Province ("South Cuanza"; Umbundu: Kwanza Kombuelo Volupale) is a province of Angola. It has an area of and a population of 1,881,873. Sumbe is the capital of the province. Don founded the province in 1769 as Novo Redondo. Histo ...

. Just before Namibia's independence she returned with her parents and settled in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

and in 1994 she moved to Windhoek City.

Music career

Lady May started to sing from the age of six, during her teenage years she started performing at school concerts. She recorded her first song "Lady for Life" with the help of producer Kanibal in 2004 which won her an award for Best Female Artist at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. In 2005 Martha released her debut album titled ''Kamali'' which means little Martha in her native language

. Her second album ''Come And Get Me'' was released in 2006, it was a change in style as she was moving into the afro pop genre. The album included 3 hit songs "Come and Get Me", "Bubblgum" and the popular "Chokola" whose video received a lot of play on

Channel O Channel O is a South African-based music channel which first started transmission in 1997. Its main concept is African music in Africa and the diaspora. Channel O can be accessed via DStv, a satellite pay TV service for pan-African households. ...

and MTVBase Africa. The video was shot in Namibia in two locations by

Tim Huebschle Tim Huebschle is a Namibian film director and screenwriter. After completing his high school in Windhoek, Tim Huebschle relocated to Cape Town and completed a Bachelor of Arts in English & German Literature at the University of Cape Town. During ...

as part of an MTVBase Africa initiative. The video also charted on the channel and won the award for Best Dance Video at the 2008

. In 2008 Martha performed at the Big Brother Africa 3 eviction show in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa. In 2009 Lady May teamed up with

DJ Kboz A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

's label Turntable King Productions and music management company Great Wings Promotions to produce and release her third album, Pink Chocolate. She was later featured on a hit song titled "Dana (Namibia Get Crazy)" by South African DJ/musician Bojo Mujo. This song propelled Bojo Mujo's album ''Session 6'' to sell more than 50 000 copies between Namibia and South Africa. Lady May and fellow Namibian singer

TeQuila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...

would later receive a platinum awards for their appearance on the album as 50 000 copies in South Africa represent a platinum plaque. In December 2009, Lady May was invited by a Germany based NGO called AfricAvenir to perform at

Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of the World's Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and so ...

in Berlin. In January 2011, Lady May signed to Big Ear Records in South Africa she released an album "I AM:African Goddess" which was executive produced by M-Poser Boss. She went to make history as the first Namibian to be released in South Africa and played on South African radios. On 4 June 2011 May received the

Namibian Annual Music Awards The Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMA) ceremony was the biggest awards ceremony in Namibia. It was established in 2011 by MTC Namibia and the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). They would award a NAMA trophy to musicians in recognition ...

in the category "Best House Music", however, after verbally attacking the audience she was sent out of the hall and had to give back the award. She apologized through a press conference on 7 June 2011.Lady May says sorry, The Namibian, 7 June 2011
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Albums

*2005: ''Kamaali'' *2006: ''Come And Get Me'' *2009: ''Pink Chocolate *2010: ''Tiger Ambitions'' *2011: ''I AM: African Goddess'' (Big Ear Records, South Africa) *2013: ''Crazy Desires'' (Crazy Lady May Records) *2019: ''Unbroken'' (D-Naff Records)

References

Notes

Lady May on Faluma Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady May 21st-century Namibian women singers Living people Musicians from Windhoek Contemporary R&B singers 1986 births