Nyanda Janelle Thorbourne, better known by her stage name/mononym Nyanda, is a

Jamaican-American Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican commu ...

recording artist and songwriter from

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. Nyanda is a member of the R&B/reggae duo

Brick & Lace Brick & Lace are a Jamaican-American dancehall/R&B (or reggae fusion) musical duo consisting of sisters Nyanda and Nailah Thorbourne. According to '' Billboard'', their name reflects the tough and the soft sides of femininity. Brick & Lace ...

whose debut album, ''

Love Is Wicked ''Love Is Wicked'' is the only studio album by Brick & Lace. It had an initial release date of August 21, 2007, then it got moved to December 4, 2007, but then was pushed back further to 2008. It was eventually released in the United Kingdom, UK ...

'', was released through Geffen /

Kon Live KonLive Distribution (or simply KonLive) was a record label founded by R&B singer Akon. The label served as a joint-venture deal between Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records. Notable artists briefly signed to the label include Lady Gaga, Kardina ...

in 2007 and featured the chart-topping single "

". In February 2013, Nyanda released her first promotional single, "Trouble", after announcing that she would be pursuing a solo career in music. Her first official single, "

Slippery When Wet ''Slippery When Wet'' is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, with recording sessi ...

", was released in September 2013.

Early life

Nyanda Thorbourne was born to an African American mother and a Jamaican father in Kingston, Jamaica. She has 3 sisters, Tasha, Nailah and Candace Thorbourne. Nyanda went to Campion College High School during which time her group

was formed. After graduating High School Nyanda studied Marketing at

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College ...

and then Advertising & Theater at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. The name "Nyanda" is a Swahili word which means "plains".

Career

Brick and Lace (2006–2012)

Nyanda's career in music started as a member of the pop/reggae group

. In 2006

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...

signed the group to

Konvict Muzik Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon.Melvin Brown: Konvict Business ...

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

and released their debut album, ''

'' in 2007. The album spawned four charting singles – "Never Never", "Get That Clear", "Bad to di Bone" and their biggest hit, "

", which was listed for 97 weeks in 7 different charts.

Solo career (2013–present)

February 2013 marked the launch of Nyanda's career as a solo artist with the release of her promotional single, "Trouble". Produced by Black Lion, "Trouble" is a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

's multi-platinum single "

I Knew You Were Trouble "I Knew You Were Trouble" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, from her fourth studio album ''Red'' (2012). She wrote the song along with the track's producers, Max Martin and Shellback. A dance-pop, pop rock, and teen pop song ...

" which fuses

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

and pop music. "Trouble" entered UK

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

's Top 30

Urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

Club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

in Week 7 (2013) and remained in the charts for 7 Weeks, peaking at No. 15. Nyanda's first official single, "

", was initially released as a free download through

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

on 8 March 2013. "Slippery When Wet" entered UK Music Week's Urban Club Charts in Week 27 (2013) and remained in the Top 30 for 5 weeks, peaking at No. 13. It was licensed and officially released later in the year by Cloud 9 (

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

), Magic Records (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

) and Tropic Electric / InGrooves (Rest of the World). "Slippery When Wet" Won the Award for ''Best Reggae Song'' at the 2014 Lipstick Radio's Indie Music Awards. In August 2013, Nyanda released the electro fueled house track, "Cool & Deadly" with South African DJs

Euphonik DJ Themba, also known as Euphonik (born 6 December 1983), is a South African DJ, music producer, and radio presenter. He is known mostly for playing house music under the alias Euphonik. Early life Nkosi was born in Mpumalanga, South Africa in ...

and Fresh. "Cool & Deadly" was considered a South African Summer Anthem in 2013 as it climbed to No. 28 on South Africa Airplay Charts and reached No. 1 on 5FM's Top 40. The music video for "Cool & Deadly" was done documentary style, with all footage being taken from Split Seconds, a 5-part TV series 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. T ...

showcasing the fast-paced look at Fresh and

in Miami during 2013's Winter Music Conference.

Bloodline

In 2010, Nyanda and her sisters formed the songwriting team Bloodline. They have written songs for

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

Leah LaBelle Leah LaBelle Vladowski (September 8, 1986 – January 31, 2018) was an American singer. She rose to prominence in 2004 as a contestant on the third season of ''American Idol'', placing twelfth in the season finals. In 2007, LaBelle b ...

and

Arash Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian mythology. According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own ...

. In 2012, she co-wrote the gold-certified, chart topping single " Follow the Leader" by

Wisin & Yandel Wisin & Yandel is a Puerto Rican reggaeton duo consisting of Wisin and Yandel. They started their career in the late 1990s and have been together since, winning several awards including a Grammy Award in 2009. They became the first and the only ...

featuring

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Philanthropy

Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU)

In February 2014, Nyanda was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Reach A Hand Uganda.

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Non-singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Songwriting credits

Music videos

References

External links

* {{authority control 1978 births Living people Jamaican rappers Jamaican people of English descent Jamaican people of Jewish descent Reggae fusion artists Ragga musicians Jamaican reggae singers 21st-century Jamaican women singers Dancehall musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica American women singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Florida 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers