Neo Soul lovers, this one’s MADly for you!

In popular culture, Neo Soul is considered a relatively new genre that arose in the 1990s and quickly gained popularity among lovers of pop, jazz and R&B.

Neo Ninj is an up-and-coming dynamic French Neo Soul duo paving their way in the French music scene, hoping to break barriers and go global! Get to know more about how Neo Ninj started and what they hope to achieve in the future.

How would you define yourselves and what do you do?

We are a french neo soul band based in Paris. Alex plays bass and I, Nelly, sing and produce the tracks. We sing in both english and french and try to develop a world full of science fiction, glitch art and old school hip hop.

What pushed you to start Neo Ninj?

I’ve had different bands throughout the years but this time around I was looking for new musicians and new people to start a whole new, different project with. I met Alex at a fusion jazz music festival in Miami and we just started hanging out regularly. When we were both back in Paris, he listened to some of my first songs and liked them right away; after that I happened to hear him play bass at a private event and I liked his style and sound… And that’s how it all started!

Where did the name originate from?

A friend of mine used to call me “Ninj”, short for “lil ninja”, because I’ve always been full of energy and fond of action movies. I thought “Ninj” alone would be short for a band name and I wanted to add something extra to it; “Neo” came up while I was watching The Matrix one and I thought it would fit perfectly!

How has your experience as Neo Ninj been so far and what’s your take on the French music scene?

We’ve been blessed to be living in a city that is so diverse and that is home to so much incredible local talent. We’ve been having lots and lots of fun so far and it doesn’t stop there; we’re trying to collaborate with artists from different fields, mainly designers and other musicians to produce impactful and beautiful pieces.The french music scene is really vast and interesting, but we also listen to a lot of ‘western/american’ music mainly due to the weight of their impact in neo soul/RnB music!

What are your future plans?

We are currently working on our first EP and we’re releasing a new music video very soon. We’re also aiming  to shoot new music videos, building a trustful team to work with and maybe starting a label here in Paris (or somewhere else!)