LONDON was the most musically diverse city in the world during the 1970’s. Punk rock, heavy metal and roots-reggae made the British capital a hotbed of rebellion.
Hannah Harris grew up in the United Kingdom during that period of angst, a time of challenges for the country’s West Indian population.
Though a practising lawyer since the 1990s, she said there has always been a burning desire to make music.
“I’ve always been into music but I never recorded anything until three years ago. I believe a lot in patience and I’m satisfied where I’m at right now,” said Harris, who is known as Empress Nannah Nana.
Relocating to Jamaica eight years ago, she has worked as a human rights lawyer and advocate. She released her first song, African Child, in 2013 on her Isa Fyah Production label.
Recently, she recorded Stolen Legacy with Half Pint.
Affiliated with the Caveman studio in east Kingston, Empress Nannah Nana stressed the importance of identity in her music.
“I’m proud of my heritage. My music is cultural, national…it shows my background is Jamaican and Maroon,” she said.
Empress Nanah Nana was born in the Notting Hill Gate area of west London to a father from Sierra Leone and a Jamaican mother with roots in Portland.
She credits the rebel sounds of Bob Marley, Capleton and Sizzla for guiding her career as a civil and criminal lawyer and eventually as an artist.
— HC
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