Beautiful Nubia

Beautiful Nubia is the performing name for Segun Akinlolu, a Nigerian born singer and lead for the Roots Renaissance Band. Beautiful Nubia and the Roots Renaissance Band is Nigeria's foremost contemporary folk and roots music group. Formed and fronted by songwriter and poet Segun Akinlolu (aka Beautiful Nubia), the group's songs and albums have achieved cult status among their loyal and growing fans spread across the world.

Theme

Beautiful Nubia's songs are built on rich folkloric traditions and native wisdom but his message is universal in thrust and theme: value life, respect nature and learn to live in peace with others. The music speaks for the voiceless and champions the dream of a balanced society where individuals are truly free and equal. It preaches love and tolerance but also urges people to stand and defend their rights when trampled upon anywhere in the world.

Early Days

Born in Ibadan in 1968, Segun started writing songs at a very young age. He drew his early influence from the traditional culture which was prevalent in the form of oral poetry, theatre, music and folklore. In 1994, with enough resources to produce a demo, his timing coincided with the final departure of major record labels from Nigeria. In response, he established EniObanke, a music production and marketing company under which his first album was released in 1997. All subsequent recordings have been released on this label and the company recently commenced the first ever folk and roots music festival in Nigeria, the EniObanke Music Festival (EMUfest). In 1998, the artist invited several young musicians in Lagos to form a backing band to which he gave the name ‘The Roots Renaissance Band’. Throughout the years, Beautiful Nubia has remained the songwriter, arranger and bandleader contributing acoustic/rhythm guitar, lead vocals and percussion. The band is still mostly made up of the original members.

Nubia

Nubia is a region along the Nile river located in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. It was one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Northeastern Africa, with a history that can be traced from at least 2000 B.C. onward (through Nubian monuments and artifacts, as well as written records from Egypt and Rome), and was home to one of the African empires. There were a number of large Nubian kingdoms throughout the Postclassical Era, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate, resulting in the Arabization of much of the Nubian population. Nubia was again united within Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century, and within the Kingdom of Egypt from 1899 to 1956.

The name Nubia is derived from that of the Noba people, nomads who settled the area in the 4th century following the collapse of the kingdom of Meroë. The Noba spoke a Nilo-Saharan language, ancestral to Old Nubian. Old Nubian was mostly used in religious texts dating from the 8th and 15th centuries AD. Before the 4th century, and throughout classical antiquity, Nubia was known as Kush, or, in Classical Greek usage, included under the name Ethiopia (Aithiopia).

Nubia (comics)

Nubia is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine published by DC Comics. The original Nubia was created by Robert Kanigher and Don Heck, and debuted in Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #204, (January 1973). The modern character named Nu'Bia was created by Doselle Young and Brian Denham, her first appearance in Wonder Woman Annual (vol. 2) #8 (1999).

Fictional character biography

Nubia

In Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #204, (January 1973), Diana (Wonder Woman) has her memories restored by the Amazons and is soon confronted by an armored female warrior who challenges her to single combat. The two initially wrestle, then face each other with swords. Diana and the intruder seem evenly matched until the intruder knocks the sword from Diana's hands, but then hesitates to kill her. The dark-skinned stranger introduces herself as Nubia, the one true Wonder Woman, and tells Diana that they will meet again someday to decide which of them has the right to the title. Diana's mother, Queen Hippolyta, secretly believes she recognizes Nubia, who returns to her own Floating Island.

SS Nubia

There have been several vessels named Nubia or SS Nubia:

References