Ninet Tayeb, aka Ninet (born October 21, 1983, in
Israel) is an Israeli musician, singer-song writer, composer, D.J, and an
actress.
She is considered
to be the most famous person in the Israeli entertainment business (a title
she's held for almost a decade now), and
was labeled "one of the hottest new artists to break into the United
States."
Ninet has
released four successful albums in Israel (one of them in English), and has
twice won Israel's Favorite Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards. She has also
worked with producer Mike Crossey (who produced her third album, Sympathetic
Nervous System), and artists such as Steven
Wilson (Ninet performs on his solo albums,Hand. Cannot. Erase. and 4 ½), Gary Lucas, Cyndi
Lauper, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The
Dead Daisies.
Alongside her
musical career, Ninet enjoyed a successful acting career, performing both in
movies and the theatre. She currently lives in Tel Aviv and
is married to music producer and guitarist Yossi Mizrachi.
After achieving
almost everything that her local scene can offer, Ninet has set her sights on
the international stage, looking to impact her music to larger audiences
worldwide. Nowadays,
with multiple projects under her belt, she is "poised to have a major
breakthrough in the U.S with her American debut album coming out the latter
part of 2016."
Ninet is expected
to begin her first high-profile international tour in the U.S, Canada (Toronto
& Montreal), and Europe, at early 2016. The tour will feature songs from
her upcoming release. It will be her 5th album, and the first to be released
and promoted in the U.S. As part of her tour, Ninet has already been selected
to perform at SXSWin
March. She
is also planned to tour as a featured guest vocalist on Steven
Wilson's tour, whom after their successful collaborations in the past,
invited her to join him for several performances.
The upcoming 2016
tour is the result of Ninet's recent and short visit to the U.S in 2015, which
created an intensive buzz and high demand for this "infectious female
artist".
During her time
in the U.S, Ninet performed several concerts in New York
City, which were praised by the critics. One of them, who attended one of
her shows, proudly stated that "having seen Ninet perform … it’s safe to
say that the entire audience was fixated and almost hypnotized by her
presence."[12] Others
claimed that "her bold renditions of songs like 'Crazy' and her original
releases have showcased the range in which she approaches music and thus
identifies with at least some part of all of us."
In preparation
for her upcoming tour, Ninet released two new singles from her forthcoming
album – "Paper Parachute" and "Child". The
two "promise an album worth waiting for", and
were ultimately declared as ones in which Ninet's "haunting vocals are
backed by clever production work and energy fulfilling beats".
Biography
Early life
Ninet was born
and raised in Kiryat Gat, which is located in southern Israel. She is
the third in line among five siblings. She was nicknamed "Nina" at a
very young age by her family and friends.
Ninet was brought
up around music, as performing in small events as a teenager was a routine for
her. She was mainly influenced by artists such as Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Pearl Jam,
and Oasis.
Although she was still anonymous in national terms, Ninet was locally known and
was expected to pursue a successful career thanks to her unique voice and
personality. Her breakthrough to the Israeli consciousness was in 2003 due to
her "Israeli Idol" (Kokhav Nolad) first prize winning – something
which Ninet has tried to distance herself from ever since.
Career
Beginning
Barefoot and Acting
Fame was
immediate for 20 years old Ninet, who found herself collaborating and
performing with Israel's most popular artists. She became a known figure in
Israel and was the subject of dozens of articles and stories.
Ninet released
her debut album, "Barefoot" (Yechefa, Hebrew: יחפה) on September 7, 2006. It was certified
Platinum in less than 24 hours, having charted five #1 singles on national
radio. Barefoot was released by Helicon and
was produced and mainly composed and written by the Israeli Rock musician Aviv
Geffen.
Ninet's acting
career took rise as well, as she starred in a successful TV series based on her
own life story. The show, "Hashir Shelanu" ("Our Song"),
was intended to capitalize on Ninet's unprecedented popularity and lasted for
four entire seasons. It still holds the Israeli record for having the largest
amount of chapters of all times.
Musical
Transformation and Journey
The decision
Despite her
success, things were far from perfect for Ninet. Loyal to her inner truth, she
was seeking for a new path, far away from the Israeli mainstream. Ninet wanted
to express what she wanted – not what she was expected from. She then decided
to neglect the materials who brought her fame and started an internal soul
search within the musical inspirations she felt truly connected to, such as Jeff
Buckley, P.J. Harvey,Arctic
Monkeys, and Jack White. The harsh public reactions, on the other
hand, were almost impossible to bare.
During her
musical journey, Ninet was tapped to co-star in what turned out to be an
electrifying performance, in her first international major motion film,
"The Assassin Next Door” (Kirot). She
starred the movie alongside James Bond girl, Olga
Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace). Ninet was also nominated in the Israeli
Theatre Awards for Best Female Actress of 2010 within the Hebrew version of Spring Awakening.
Communicative
On November 17,
2009, Ninet released her second album, "Communicative",
(Comunicativi, Hebrew: קומוניקטיבי). She wrote all the lyrics in the album, composed most of it, and produced
the album with Rockfour.
Communicative, above all of Ninet's album, is
considered by many as the album which represents her musical shift. Its release
is widely remembered as a turning point regarding Ninet's public image and
musical tendencies, as she was literally thrown objects at during its launch
performance. Ninet describes this incident as a professional watershed until
this very day. The
artist who used to fill out major venues, suddenly found herself performing in
front of significantly small amount of audience, sometimes 20 people and less.
These devastating
reactions, however, motivated Ninet – still the most famous person in the
Israeli entertainment business – to find her most authentic expression even
more. Step by step, gig by gig, things started to get together, and combined a
coherent set of musical profile.
The burrow into
her musical influences' materials began to bear fruit as Communicative was
eventually praised by critics and fans alike, and was considered to be one of
the most talked about albums of recent years then. A
new type of audience began to show up in her performances, which gradually
started to grow and became more frequent. Old fans returned to their "old
musical love" as well.
Sympathetic
Nervous System
As part of her
inner journey, and now much more musically ripped, Ninet released her third
album, "Sympathetic Nervous System" (SNS), on May 30, 2012.
SNS received some overwhelming reviews and is considered one of Ninet's best
albums.
The album was
entirely composed and written by Ninet in English, and was produced by Mike
Crossey while being recorded at the Motor
Museum Studio in Liverpool. In SNS Ninet continued establishing
herself as an indie-rock singer-songwriter, as she won Israel's Favorite Act in MTV Europe Music Awards. Twice.
Alongside her
musical growth, Ninet started to perform as a D.J in exclusive events and
festivals, and is now highly requested in different events in and outside of
Israel.
All the
Animals knew
On May 3, 2013,
Ninet released her fourth album, "All the Animals Knew"
("Kol Ha-Chayot Yad'u", Hebrew: כל החיות ידעו).
After the last album was all in English, this time Ninet went back to writing
in Hebrew. She wrote and composed all of the songs in the album, except for 2
songs written by Israeli poet, Dori Manor. The album was produced by Yossi
Mizrachi (whom Ninet married later on) and Idan Rabinovici, members of Israeli
indie-rock band "A Collective".
International
Collaborations
Ninet's career is
characterized with interesting and diverse collaborations.
- Steven
Wilson – Wilson hosted Ninet for three tracks in his latest
album, "Hand. Cannot. Erase.". He
described Ninet as "inspiring"; "a fantastic singer"
which has an "amazing voice" and is "very easy to work
with". Ninet
also performed alongside Wilson in the Royal Albert Hall in September 2015.
- Gary
Lucas – after meeting with Jeff
Buckley's guitarist and song writer, Gary Lucas, the latter invited Ninet
to record a song which he co-wrote with Buckley but was never recorded.
Ninet performed alongside Lucas in a tribute show in memory of Buckley in
Paris. Lucas summarized his work with Ninet saying that "Ninet is one
of the best singers I've ever worked with. I think she's absolutely
incredible, stunning, has a magnificence stage presence, and a terrific
energy".
- Cindy
Lauper – Ninet was the opening act for the iconic singer Cindy
Lauper in her memorable concert in Israel in 2014, and performed a vocal
duet of True Colors with Lauper during
that concert.
- The Jesus and Mary Chain – On
October 2012, Ninet was a surprise guest in the Indie legends Jesus and
Mary Chain performance in Tel Aviv.
- The Dead Daisies – In December 2013,
Ninet performed with the Australian rock n roll super-group, The Dead
Daisies, as part of their tour in Tel Aviv, Israel.
- Robbie Williams – Ninet was the opening
act for Robbie Williams during his 2015 performance in Tel Aviv.
Discography
• 2006 – Barefoot
• 2009 – Communicative
• 2012 – Sympathetic
Nervous System
• 2013 – All
the Animals Knew
Awards and
Nominations
• Sounds and
Voices – First Place, 2001.
• Kokhav Nolad –
First place, 2003.
• Golden Screen
Awards – won Best Actress in A Daily Drama, 2005.
• Pnai Plus
Magazine – The Beautiful "Right People" project – First place, 2005.
• Shir Nolad –
First place, 2006.
• The Israeli
Music Channel Awards – won Singer Of the Year award, 2007.
• Jerusalem Radio
– Singer Of The Year, 2007.
• People Of The
Year – nominated for Person Of The Year In Musics in 2006 and 2009.
• Song of The
Decade project (Channel 24 and Galgalatz) –
Singer of the decade nomination.
• MTV Europe
Music Awards – Won Israel's favorite act, 2009.
• MTV Europe
Music Awards – Won Israel's favorite act, 2012.
Other Musical Projects
• In 2015, Ninet
was hosted in the second album of "Dudu Tasa & The Kuwaitis",
where she performed a song in Arabic. "Dudu Tasa & The Kuwaitis"
is a special project led by Israeli musician Dudu Tasa, which relives the songs
of the old Iraqi sensation, "The Kuwaitis".
• In 2014, Ninet
was hosted in Shlomi Shaban's album "Wakening exercise".
• From 2011 and
on, Ninet performed and collaborated several times with the Israeli-American
Puppeteers band, Red Band. Their most know project is the cover for Gnarls
Barkley's world known hit "Crazy".
• In 2011, Ninet
collaborated with Israeli singer-song writer, Gilad Cahana, within the album
"The Walking Man 2". The album was entirely written in English. Ninet
performed the songs of the album alongside Cahana.
• In 2010, Ninet
took part in the original project "30+", led by the musicians Elad
Cohen and Sagi Tzoref, where she performed a duet with Israeli singer-song
writer, Yali Sobol.
• In the annual
musical project "Hebrew Labor" of 2008 (new versions of Israeli
classics), Ninet recorded Ilan Virtzberg's song to late poet Yona Wallach
lyrics, "I Couldn't Do Anything With This".
• In memory of
Israeli music legend, late Ofra Haza,
Ninet recorded, along with Ivri Lider, a pop rock version of Haza's song
"This Pain". The duet became a hit in Israel in 2007.
• Throughout the
years, Ninet was invited to perform in tribute concerts dedicated to several
artists, such as Meir Ariel, Inbal Perlmutter, Elliott Smith, etc.
Website: ninetayeb.com
.jpg)
