NAYYAH was born Sonam ‘Sam’ Nayar in Wolverhampton in 1966. His parents had only recently arrived in Britain from Kenya, a result of the uncertainty that Asians faced following the independence of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in the early ‘60s. This would, of course, culminate in Idi Amin’s mass expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972.
Though his formative years were generally happy ones, he was still acutely aware of the prejudice, injustice and intolerance around him, his family, friends and the wider community. No greater example of this was local Conservative MP, Enoch Powell’s, infamous inflammatory and divisive 1968 ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
As a teenager, and now living in nearby Cannock, songwriting became the vehicle to channel his feelings and observations of belonging to an ethnic minority in ‘70s and early ‘80s Britain, and he was drawn to reggae, the music of protest, resistance, reality and intoxicating, incendiary riddims that he had grown up with and which had permeated his subconscious. The music of Bob Marley & The Wailers, Black Uhuru, Ini Kamoze, UK reggae bands Steel Pulse, Aswad, The Naturalites, UB40, and ska/Two-tone bands The Specials, Selector and The Beat, to name a few, fueled the fire burning in his soul.
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For many, the flames of youthful idealism are extinguished over time, but this was not the case for Nayyah. The journey of life had led him Llandudno, North Wales, where he had become the owner of The Escape - a boutique bed & breakfast establishment. But music was still his passion and the dream of recording his own compositions was still very much alive.
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Everything has its time and season, and for Nayyah it came when he was introduced to the charismatic and highly respected classically-trained bass-player, producer and arranger MIKEY ‘Megahbass’ FLETCHER. The pair hit it off instantly and Fletcher immediately saw the potential of the songs. After an intense and productive demo session in Llandudno, the former bass-player and band-leader for Shaggy, who is currently undertaking the same duties for Alborosie, returned to Jamaica to work his magic and turn their ideas into reality.
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The result of their collaboration is the album FIRE IN MY SOUL, a collection of highly-crafted social commentaries inspired by injustice, intolerance and discrimination, and political deceit, manipulation and hypocrisy, drawn from life experiences that only time brings. They are underpinned by authentic old-school-influenced riddims with a contemporary twist, which feature Fletcher and an array of reggae greats, including the legendary Sly Dunbar, Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore, Dean Fraser, Leebert ‘Gibby’ Morrison, Wilburn ‘Squidly’ Cole, Stephen ‘Lenky’ Marsden, Paul Kastick, Shaun Darson, Robert ‘Dubwise’ Browne,  Norris Webb, Carol ‘Bowie’  McLaughlin, Franklyn ‘Bubbler’ Waul, Othneil Lewis, Harry T Powell and Gilly G.

Nayyah’s musical DNA has been shaped by his long-term exposure to, and love of, conscious reggae, and he is acutely aware of the need to celebrate and pay respect to the singers and players of instruments that have gone before. Inspired by them and his own experiences, he seeks to create music that resonates with both the traditional reggae audience and listeners of his own Asian heritage, to empower the disenfranchised, marginalized and victimized.

“Be true to yourself, never give up the fight, and never give up on your dreams”
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