Nadja Benaissa - Early Life

Early Life

Benaissa is the second child born to a Moroccan father, Muhamed Benaissa, and a mother of mixed Serbian and German ethnicity with German citizenship, Sabina. Raised alongside her three years older brother Amin, she spent much of her childhood in Langen, Hesse, where her parents worked in the catering business, and she attended the Geschwister-Scholl-Schule.

At the age of nine, Benaissa began playing instruments, learning the piano and the flute. Her early musical interest grew after having auditioned and won a role in the school stage musical Tabaluga during her first year at the Dreieich-Schule-Langen. In her early teenage years, she began writing songs, and at the age of 13 Benaissa started performing in several cover bands within the Frankfurt am Main area, eventually winning the second place at Jugend musiziert, a supraregional music contest for youths.

On 25 October 1999, at the age of 17, Benaissa gave birth to her daughter Leila Jamila, an event which she describes as "the proudest moment of life". Although Benaissa and her boyfriend ended their relationship, Benaissa began attending evening classes in pursuit of her Realschulabschluss school certificate.