Early life

N?diya was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, to a large Algerian family, with three brothers and two sisters. In 1989 she became the French champion of the 800 metres (her brother Kader was also champion of the world in French boxing).

When she was 20, she left her family and her athletics to move to Paris and take her chances there. She was first noticed on the show Graine de Star and recorded a single in 1997. She decided to stop and have a child: Yanis.

2001-2003: Early commercial success

She then performed a duo with Stomy Bugsy in 2001 under the title “Aucun Dieu ne pourra me pardonner” (No God Will Ever Forgive Me). The single “J’ai confiance en toi” (I Trust You), released in February 2001, became the first single that charted in the French Singles Chart, peaked at #38 in France and stayed in the chart for 13 weeks. The second single slated from the album did perform better than the first one. “Chaque fois” (Everytime) was released in August 2001 and peaked at #27 in the French Top 100 Singles, remaining in the chart for 18 weeks, five more than the first single. After the success of both singles, N?diya recorded a full studio album that became “Changer les choses” (Change the Things). Though the singles became reasonable hits, the album wasn’t very popular in France, not charting at all in the French Top 200 Albums. She was nominated for the Victoires de la musique in 2002.

2004-2005: Career development

In February 2004, N?diya recorded another song, this became “Parle-moi” (Talk to Me), a song about family problems and contact with her parents. The song became her first big hit in France, debuting in the chart at #79 and making an amazingly big jump to number two in its second week within the singles chart. The song still remains N?diya’s biggest hit in France, staying in the chart for 24 weeks. “Parle-moi” also became her first single that charted in Switzerland, peaking at #11 in its fifth week in the Swiss Singles Top 100.In Poland this single became the Hit Of The Summer 2004.Her second full French studio album was also recorded, 16/9 was released in June 2004. The album stayed in the chart for 93 non-consecutive weeks in the French album chart, with her highest peak being number six. Her (then) 5-year-old son also accompanied her on one song featured on the album (”Quand vient la nuit”).

“Et c’est parti…”, the second single, became her first international hit, charting in several other European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands. The music video to the song shows N?diya performing the song and boxing in a boxing ring. The single and video both feature Smartzee, a French rapper, and peaked at number five in France and number twenty-one in Switzerland. “Si loin de vous” was officially the last single off the 16/9 album, with “Signes” just being a download only single. “Si loin de vous” (When Far from You), released in December 2004, was the last single off the album that charted in France (#6) and Switzerland (#27). The song is a military song, as this is shown in its videoclip. Though there is a music video for “Signes” (Signs), its function is only for promoting the album. In 2005, the 16/9 album also received the Victoires de la musique award for rap/hip-hop/R&B album of the year.
N?diya performing on stage.
N?diya performing on stage.

According to her official website, in France she has sold over 500,000 copies of 16/9, 750,000 singles and 300,000 copies of her platinum-certified “L’histoire en 16/9″ (”The history to 16/9″) DVD, which features the 3 music video’s (to Parle-moi, Et c’est parti… and Si loin de vous), the making of the videos, interviews, photos and a bonus CD with remixed songs.

2006: N?diya

In February 2006, N?diya returned with her “Tous ces mots” (”All these words”) single, her second song that features Smartzee. The song peaked at number two in the French Singles Chart and at twenty-five in the Swiss Singles Top 100. Following the success of “Tous ces mots”, her self-titled third studio album N?diya was released on June 5 in both France as. N?diya stated the album would have more rock influence than her previous two albums. SNEP recently revealed the best-selling singles during the first quarter of 2006 (from January 1 - March 31, 2006). Despite being released four weeks before the first quarter of 2006 ended, “Tous ces mots” managed to peak at number thirteen in the list. The second single with the applicable title “Roc”, was released two weeks after the album’s release date, on June 19. The music video to the song shows N?diya performing the song in a big stadium. The song follows “Tous ces mots” by debuting and peaking at number two (for four consecutive weeks) in France. It has also became N?diya’s longest single running in the top ten, being eleven weeks in the chart and still in the top 5. In Switzerland, the single is less successful, debuting at number thirty and peaking one ahead at twenty-nine in its following week. As the third single off the album, “Amies-ennemies” was released on October 31, reaching the number four (#4) position in the French singles chart. The song samples a Chopin song and stayed in the French top ten for 11 weeks, only two weeks less than previous single “Roc.”

In October 2006, N?diya denied having an affair with soccer player Zinedine Zidane. She said “we saw each other only once and then nothing else happened.”

N?diya was supposed to start her first tour in November 2006, but due a yet unknown reason, the performances between November 3 and December 9 were cancelled. The web site who also posted this, ChartsInFrance.net, reveils that the tour is delayed to begin in 2007. Later, the official website announced the tour was delayed to 2008.

2007-present: La Source

N?diya started recording a new album after the release of “Amies-ennemies”. It turned out to be a Greatest Hits, called La Source. The album’s lead single is “Vivre ou Survivre”. It is unknown if there will be more singles released from the album, as there is a news announcement on the official website that N?diya will release a new studio album on December 1, 2008. Upon release of “Vivre ou Survivre”, the official website mentioned the tour, to start on March 8, finishing with the grand finale and last concert on May 31, 2008, held in the ‘Palais des Sports’ (Sports Palace) in Paris.

On April 22nd, N?diya entered the French Singles Chart peaking at number one with her duet with Enrique Iglesias “Tired of Being Sorry (Laisse le destin l’emporter)”. The song is her first #1 single in the French charts, as three previous singles only reached the second position. This single has not left its dominative top-position for 11 consecutive weeks., before falling at #2, keeping the second place for 6 consecutive weeks.