Reggae singer, rapper and DJ Natasja passed away in a tragic car accident in Jamaica June 24, 2007. In Jamaica, Natasja became something of a sensation in 2006 when she won the 'Irie FM Big Break Contest' as the first non-Jamaican to so do, in a field of 700 competitors and 12 finalists. Recently, she also entered reggae's definitive first division when she recorded a couple of numbers with reggae legends Sly & Robbie. 2006 was also the year in which 32-year-old Natasja Saad gained a dramatic breakthrough on the Danish music scene: up to then she had released a number of singles and had been adding rap and vocals to other people's songs for 15 years without this leading to anything substantial, so for a number of years she retired entirely from the music scene and travelled to Jamaica, where she had ambitions to become a racehorse jockey. Then, one dark winter's day in January 2005, when she recently lost her dog, was tired of the arduous equestrian training and had been unfairly dismissed from a job training programme, she took a decision: from now on it would be music or nothing. Natasja set out to make an album under her own name. Her debut album 'Release' reached the shops in November 2005, and her style of dancehall, with clear elements of reggae and hip-hop, was given a warm reception on radio stations around the world, and won her a Danish World Awards prize for Album of the Year. Natasja was very young – barely into her teens – when, under the stage name Little T, she and a girlfriend created a stir on the Copenhagen underground scene in the 1990s as the duo No Name Requested.  "I think a lot of people back then felt I was good at rap, but I gave up too quickly. Releasing my debut album has been like a rebirth – now I feel like I have another ten albums in me," said Natasja to the periodical Djembe, when the magazine made the tale of her life their cover story in January 2006. She has been crazy about reggae music since she was eight years old, and at a very early age she was helping to make reggae radio programmes. In the 1990s she received some help to gain a musical foothold from Supa Mikes, who a decade later – in 2006 – was honoured with a special prize at the Danish World Awards for his work to promote reggae music in Denmark. While working on her debut album she also received particular help from Danish reggae musician DJ Pharfar, who helped with the production. Natasja's father lives in the Sudan – the country where Arabia meets Africa. "The music there is fantastic," says Natasja, indicating that her next album will also be drawing inspiration from those quarters. "I am torn in three different directions. I'd like to live in Jamaica and have a career there that could introduce me to the rest of the world. But I also want to be in Denmark, where my mother lives. I was born here, and this is where I belong. I'd really like to have a house on the Coast Road and a horse in Klampenborg. But if I had that, I would also feel I was neglecting my father and the Sudan, and the Sudanese sense of family and traditions. You can't be everywhere at once! I wish I could divide my life between summer in Denmark, autumn in Jamaica and spring in the Sudan."  By Mik Aidt This article was produced in co-operation with the periodical Djembe:  www.djembe.dk

Natasja was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1974. Passed away in Jamaica June 24, 2007. Debut album: Release (2005) Web: www.myspace.com/tasjamusic Booking: www.showstoppersentertainment.dk Contact & Management: www.musicall.dk