French reggae veteran Nuttea releases “Tribulations”

To mark the release of his 6th album, Tribulations, celebrating his 30 years career, Nuttea took part in a showcase and signing session in Paris on October 25. Those who were not lucky enough to be there at this first event will be able to attend the concert scheduled for December 6 at La Place, in the French capital.

Tribulations is a twelve-track album with positive lyrics in French, sometimes sprinkled with English words; it’s the duet, “Égaux”, and a video clip shot in Kingston with Jamaican Kabaka Pyramid, winner of the Grammy award for “Best Reggae Album 2023”; it’s a cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t no Sunshine” (1971); and it’s also collaborations with various artists such as Chilla, Beenie Man, King Kong, LMK and Pinchers.

Olivier Lara (Nuttea’s real name), the French reggae veteran, has already sold 3 million albums during his long career and attracted hundreds of thousands of fans in France and abroad. The singer and toaster made his debut in the late 1980s with the High Fight International sound system, which also included well-known reggae figures such as Tonton David, Polino and Don Lickshot.

In 1992, Nuttea made a name for himself as a solo artist on the Rapattitude 2 compilation with the track “Un Deejay Parmi Des Millions De Deejays”, then he released the following year Paris Kingston Paris, a debut album which took him to Jamaica, where he collaborated with the producer duo Steely & Cleavie. He recorded several tracks with members of the Marseilles rap band IAM, including “Un Cri Court Dans La Nuit” on their album L’École Du Micro D’Argent.

In 1997, Nuttea released his second solo album, Retour aux Sources, on which he covered Bob Marley’s “Natural Mystic”.

In 2000, his third album, Un Signe du Temps, a mix of dancehall and melodic hits, was commercially successful. That same year, he took part in the soundtrack to the French film Taxi 2 as part of the One Shot collective. Success continued and Nuttea performed concerts and he was invited to give radio and TV interviews.

In 2004, Nuttea released Urban Voodoo, his fourth solo album, a mixture of rap and reggae, produced by Jamaican Handel Tucker. While critics praised this ambitious work, the general public shunned it. Guadeloupean artist, who has been living in France since he was 6 years old, decided to take a break after leaving his record label, and returned to singing in sound systems.

In 2013, nine years later, he recorded and produced his 5th album, Mister Reggae Music.

Today, with his 6th album Tribulations, Nuttea says he is in great physical and mental shape to meets his fans…

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