Afrikan Simba

Afrikan Simba is the man who came to this world and was originally called Nivai Nduka. This was the name given to him by his family and his parents. Nivai, short for lnimevai, means ‘my name shall never perish and Nduka, his family name, means ‘life is best” or ‘nothing is greater than life’. His roots are in the Sub-Saharan region of West Africa in lsua a small village in Joinkrama Town, Engenni District, Rivers State, Nigeria and he grew up in North East London, England in the UK. He originates from the land of the drum.

He developed his interests in performing at an early age. His first performance that he can remember was in a primary school nativity play. He could have been as young as five at the time, when he played one of the three kings of the East bearing a gift on his visit to the Christ on his birth. His interests in performing developed as he continued with school plays, joined the choir and then later joined the steel band as a drummer. His most memorable performance with the band was at the Commonwealth Institute in London.

His father was a music lover and he listened to all types of music from High-Life, Ju-Ju and other deep African beats to Country and Western and Reggae Music. Simba listened and enjoyed all of these, but he fell in love with Reggae Music. There was something about it that was typically African, but related more to the Western Hemisphere of the world that he was rapidly growing up and developing in.