The story of NANÉE
I am NANÉE – singer-songwriter and CMN-owner from Hamburg / Germany.
CMN is a rare pigment disorder called “Congenital Melanocytic Naevi”. Today I have finally arrived at myself, my body and what I love – music. But it was a long way. My genetic defect CMN leads to pigment cells of my skin that are not evenly distributed over the whole body, but form a living pattern with hundreds of birthmarks of all sizes. As a teenager this meant that I was often stared at, bullied and marginalized. I felt torn between the desire to live my music and the desire to be invisible in order to escape the stares. Which was not easy with a height of 1.85 m. 😉
The doctors at that time were, positively formulated, clueless and told my parents that there were no more than 7 people in the world with this genetic defect and that my parents should take good care of me, because children like me often do not get older than 2 years, or (as a max) reaching puberty – because of the increased risk of skin cancer. I don’t want to imagine how horrible this statement must have been for my parents!
Today I know that CMN is not as rare as doctors told us. After all, 1 in 20,000 babies are born with CMN. With almost 8 billion people, that means about 4,000 babies (instead of 7 😉).
If you look different from the norm as a child, you are often excluded, teased and bullied. Often simply out of ignorance and insecurity of others. Children who ask with childlike curiosity: “Mama, what’s that woman got on her neck?“ are pullled away shamefully. But I prefer to be asked open and directly why I look different. That’s how we could help others to understand and change the world a bit, so at some point in the future there would be no whispers behind closed doors, but pigment disorder simply seen as part of this great colourful world.
In the end, music was and is my most important catalyst to become who I am today. A metamorphosis from a shy teenager who played keyboard in the school band with soft knees – and left the band because I couldn’t bear to be in the center of attention, to someone who wants to touch, encourage and inspire people with her music and history.
Believe in yourself! Do your thing! and go your way! For me, these are encouraging words to make your dreams come true. Dreams of a world in which everyone is accepted as he/she is. No matter how we came into the world. In my songs I sing about it. I sing about body positivity, about the courage to accept yourself as you are.
Because in a world in which it still all too often depends on outward appearances, such as even skin and perfect proportions, especially those who fall out of the beauty grid and do not meet the norm. Those who are too big, too small, too thick, too thin, or, like me, born with a rare genetic defect. We are all perfect the way, we are!
That’s why we should never forget: “Be proud of who you are and not ashamed of how others see you.” ( unknown)