Ninet Tayeb
Nati Ninet Tayeb, commonly known only as Ninet, is an Israeli musician, singer-songwriter, composer, DJ, model and actress.
She is considered among the most famous people in the Israeli entertainment industry, and was labeled "one of the hottest new artists to break into the United States."
Ninet has released four successful albums in Israel, and has twice won Israel's Favorite Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards. She has also worked with producer Mike Crossey, and artists such as Steven Wilson, Gary Lucas, Cyndi Lauper, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Dead Daisies.
Alongside her musical career, Ninet has enjoyed a successful acting career, performing in movies, scripted series, and the theatre.
One of her first roles in theatre was Wendla in the Israeli production of Spring Awakening.
After achieving almost every accolade available to her in her homeland, Ninet set her sights on the international stage, looking to showcase her music to larger audiences worldwide.
Ninet finished her first high-profile international tour in the U.S, Canada, and Europe, in 2016. The tour featured songs from her recent release. It was her 5th album and the first to be released and promoted in the U.S. As part of her tour, Ninet was selected to perform at SXSW in March 2016. She was also as a featured guest vocalist on Steven Wilson's tour, who after their successful collaborations in the past, invited her to join him for several performances.
The 2016 tour was the result of Ninet's short visit to the U.S in 2015, which created an extensive 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 the critics stated that "having seen Ninet perform … it’s safe to say that the entire audience was fixated and almost hypnotized by her presence." 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 2016 tour, Ninet released two new singles from her forthcoming album – "Paper Parachute" and "Child". The two "promise an album worth waiting for", and were described as ones in which Ninet's "haunting vocals are backed by clever production work and energy fulfilling beats".
Paper Parachute, Tayeb's fifth album, came out on 3 February 2017. During the middle and the end of 2016 Tayeb released singles Superstar and Subservient. In 2018 Ninet had a role in the Israeli TV series, When Heroes Fly.
Tayeb was also the singing voice for Mary Poppins in the Hebrew dub of the Disney movie. and she was the singing voice of Tiana in the Hebrew dub for The Princess And The Frog.
Early life
Ninet was born and raised in Kiryat Gat, Israel, to Maghrebi Jewish parents. Her father Yosef Tayeb is Tunisian Jewish and was born in Tunisia, her mother Marcelle is Moroccan Jewish and was born in Morocco. Her parents met in Israel. She is the third of five siblings and was nicknamed "Nina" at a very young age by her family and friends. Ninet served as a soldier in the Combat Engineering Corps of the Israel Defense Forces.Ninet was brought up around music with performances in small events as a teenager. She was mainly influenced by artists such as Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Oasis.
Career
Early work
''Barefoot'' and Acting
Fame was immediate for 20 years old Ninet, and she started to collaborate and perform 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" on September 7, 2006. It was certified Platinum in less than 24 hours, having charted five #1 singles on the 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, was intended to capitalize on Ninet's unprecedented popularity and lasted for four entire seasons.
Musical transformation
''Communicative''
On November 17, 2009, Ninet released her second album, "Communicative",. 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, was a musical shift. Its release was a turning point regarding Ninet's public image and musical tendencies, as she was had thrown objects at her during its launch performance. Ninet describes this incident as a professional watershed. The artist who used to fill out major venues, found herself performing in front of significantly smaller audiences, sometimes fewer than 20 people.
Her exploration of musical influences began to bear fruit as Communicative was praised by critics and fans, and was considered to be one of the most talked about albums of recent years. A new type of audience began to attend her performances, which gradually started to grow and became more frequent.
''Sympathetic Nervous System''
Ninet released her third album, "Sympathetic Nervous System", on May 30, 2012. SNS received positive reviews and is considered one of Ninet's best albums.The album was composed and written by Ninet in English, produced by Mike Crossey, and recorded at the Motor Museum Studio in Liverpool. In SNS Ninet continued to establish herself as an indie-rock singer-songwriter, twice winning Israel's Favorite Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Ninet started to perform as a DJ at events and festivals in and outside of Israel.
''All the Animals knew''
On May 3, 2013, Ninet released her fourth album, "All the Animals Knew". 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 Mizrahi and Idan Rabinovici, members of Israeli indie-rock band "Acollective".Paper Parachute
In 2015 Ninet released the singles "Paper Parachute" and "Child". In 2016 she released the singles "Superstar" and "Subservient". She moved from Israel to Los Angeles in the United States, where she began to live in July 2016. Tayeb slowly began to appear in the United States. Close to issue fifth album "Paper Parachute" on February 3, 2017 it will begin performances in the US column.;Other songs
In June 2015 she released a single called "What Happened" in Hebrew. The song was created by Ninet and produced by her husband Yossi Mizrahi. The song criticizes sexual attacks committed by people of high social status and their subsequent lack of appropriate punishment, and the system that ultimately blames the victims for daring to speak out.
On January 9, 2018, a new music video was released in Hebrew called "Hero", written by Ninet and composed by Israeli artist Dudu Tassa. The music video was filmed in the United States. In November 2018 she released her single "Self Destructive Mind".
In December 2018, as part of the annual Hannukah celebrations, she performed with a variety of Israeli artists in a show called Pop Up Music in Tel Aviv, Israel.
International collaborations
- Steven Wilson – Ninet sang on two tracks on Steven Wilson's 2015 album, Hand. Cannot. Erase.. He described Ninet as "inspiring" and "a fantastic singer" who has an "amazing voice" and is "very easy to work with". Ninet also performed alongside Wilson at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2015 and at Belasco Theater in LA November 2016. Ninet was again featured on a release by Wilson on "4½" on the new version of "Don't Hate Me", originally recorded by Wilson's other band Porcupine Tree on the album Stupid Dream. This version is sung as a duet between Wilson and Tayeb. That same year, Ninet was featured again on Wilson's tour, with appearances in both Europe and North America. In May 2017, Wilson released his single "Pariah" online, featuring vocals by Ninet. Ninet provides vocals for two other tracks on Wilson's album To the Bone, as well as backing vocals on three other tracks. Tayeb performed with Wilson once more at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2018 as part of his Home Invasion concert series, and she is featured on several tracks on the recording of that concert, which was released on November 2, 2018.
- Gary Lucas – After meeting with Jeff Buckley's guitarist and songwriter, 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 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".
- Cyndi Lauper – Ninet was the opening act for 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.
Personal life
In 2014, Tayeb married Israeli music producer and guitarist Joseph E-Shine Mizrachi in Tel Aviv, after a year together. In 2015, their daughter Emilia Sarah Mizrachi was born. In 2016 they relocated to Los Angeles where she has written the follow-up album to Paper Parachute.
Discography
- 2006 – Barefoot
- 2009 – Communicative
- 2012 – Sympathetic Nervous System
- 2013 – All the Animals Knew
- 2017 – Paper Parachute
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 – 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 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 Tasa's grandfather and great uncle, the Al-Kuwaiti Brothers, who were Jewish-Iraqi musicians famous in Israel and throughout the Arab world.
- 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 famous collaboration is a cover of Gnarls Barkley's hit "Crazy", as well as Radiohead's "High and Dry", Annie Lennox's "I Put a Spell On You" and The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face".
- In 2011, Ninet collaborated with Israeli singer-songwriter, 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-songwriter, Yali Sobol.
- In the annual musical project "Hebrew Labor" of 2008, 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.