FADER Mix: Nidia Minaj

Portuguese producer Nidia Minaj only just turned 19, but she's been tearing up dancefloors since long before she could legally go clubbing. She started out in high school as part of an all-girl kuduro group—kuduro being an uptempo form of Angolan dance music—called Kaninas Squad, who both danced and wrote their own tracks. Throwing herself into obsessively producing Afro-electronic music after school hours, Nidia (who chose her artist name as an homage to her favorite rapper) soon emerged as an innovative beatmaker in her own right, leading to releases and parties with Lisbon's hottest independent label Principe.

Right now, Nidia is honing her skill for quick-stepping rhythms that are impossible not to dance to, as well as experimenting with a more gnarly distorted sound. Get hyped with her FADER Mix below, and catch her in London this Friday with NTS Radio DJ DEBONAIR at The Victoria in Dalston.

Where are you right now? Please describe your surroundings.

I'm in my living room awaiting my soap opera to begin on tv, accompanied by my mother and my uncle. I live in a house with a garden, very isolated.

Tell us a bit about this mix. What are you hoping people will do while listening to it?

I'd like for people to do whatever they feel like while listening to it.

What was the best party you played in 2015?

It was at Bons Sons in Cem Soldos, I was hanging out with my partners DJ Nigga Fox and DJ Firmeza and also with my childhood friend that used to be part of Kaninas Squad. I loved it, it was beautiful.

What are you looking forward to in 2016?

Playing shows. Get another record out.

And finally, what's your favorite dish to cook and how do you make it?

I have a few. Maybe caldo de mancarra, a typical dish of [West African country] Guiné-Bissau.