Matar Henrikki Samba, better known as Näääk (born 29 March 1983), is a Swedish

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

of Gambian and Finnish ancestry.

Career and early life

Näääk was born and raised in the Stockholm suburb

Rinkeby Rinkeby () is a stadsdel, district in the Rinkeby-Kista borough, Stockholm, Sweden. Rinkeby had 19,349 inhabitants in 2016. The neighbourhood was part of the Million Programme. The Stockholm metro station Rinkeby metro station, Rinkeby was also o ...

to a Finnish mother and a Gambian father. He moved to

Gullmarsplan Gullmarsplan () is a place in Johanneshov, Stockholm. The square there was built at the same time the new city area was developed in the 1940s. The business area around the square was inaugurated in 1946. It was named after Gullmarn, a fjord in t ...

when he started high school and he have been living there ever since. A couple of years after high school (the beginning of 2000), he began to record lyrics that he wrote himself. This hobby continued for five more years, until some producers from the studio Safe House, run by the record label Slang Musik in Stockholm, heard him and wanted him to guest some songs from other Swedish rappers. He continued with his song-writing at the same time as he was the guest rapper of many songs. His Wiley interpretation "Mina Gangsters" ("My Gangsters") is today an underground classic with hundred thousands of views on YouTube. Year 2009, Näääk released his debut album ''Näääk Vem?'' ("Näääk Who?") which he recorded with Safe House Studios during 2008. The debut was nominated for the prize of "This Years Rap Album" on the Swedish radio station

Sveriges Radio P3 P3 (''Sveriges Radio P3'' or ''pe tre'') is a mainstream CHR-formatted station operated by Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization Sveriges Radio. The P in P3 originally stood for Program (''Programme'') but today has no ...

's "Gold Awards", but did not win anything. Many producers contributed to the songs from the album and it ended up as an album with g-funk-inspired beats, melodic loops and a general funky sound. His album reminds of artist such as

Devin the Dude Devin Copeland (born June 4, 1970), better known by his stage name Devin the Dude, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is known for his unique rapping style and his 2002 songs "Lacville '79" and "Doobie Ashtray". Early life Devin Cop ...

and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

. The latest album, ''Mannen utan mask'' ("The man without mask"), was released on 26 September 2012 and was declared as a more mature album, unlike "Näääk Vem?". When ''Näääk Vem?'' was released, the rap duo Näääk & Nimo from Stockholm was formed, who often guest each other's songs and they tour together as a team. ''Jetlag'' and ''Blåser min rök'' ("Blow my smoke") are two singles that Näääk released with Nimo as the guest rapper, which were on the top list on Swedish radio stations for a long time.

Personal life

In an interview in 2010, Näääk said he was single and according to him he did not have any desire of being in a relationship either. But since his younger days, his dream girl has always been

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...

. He claims that he got his name Näääk, which he has been using since 2003, from a friend who tried to spell the word "Negro" in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, but misspelled it and wrote "N-Ä-Ä-Ä-K-E-R-R-I" instead of the right spelling; "N-E-E-K-E-R-I".

Discography

Albums

* ''Näääk Vem?'' (21 October 2009) * ''Mannen utan mask'' (26 September 2012)

Singles

*2007: "Mina Gangsters" *2012: "Jetlag"

Other and featured singles

References

External links

Safe House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naaak Swedish rappers Musicians from Stockholm Swedish-language singers 1983 births Living people Swedish people of Finnish descent Swedish people of Gambian descent