Winta: First
MIC's Listen to Norway series continues with Winta's 'First'
With artists such as Beoncé Knowles, Alicia Keys and many others R’n’B is one of the dominating popular musical genres of the day. Strangely Europe has hitherto failed to produce an artist to rival these American megastars, and as for the case of Norway, we’ve long failed to produce any R’n’B artists at all. The latter predicament is already a bygone, and chances are the artist who came to change it will also remedy the problem of the missing European protagonist in the world of rhythm and blues. Because with Norwegian/Eritrean 20-year-old Winta there has appeared on the scene an artist incorporating all the magical traits to constitute a new queen of R’n’B. Her debut album ‘First’ has left many a critic breathless, and ended once and for all the misconception that Norway could not spawn music with this kind of soul. As for reception outside of Norway, the notoriously harsh British music media has admitted that in Winta it is impossible not to acknowledge star qualities reminiscent of the mentioned Beyoncé Knowles as well as the musicality of Winta’s own inspirations Mary J. Blige and Aallyah.
