Die meisje van Brussel
Lisette Ma Neza | BE
Lisette Ma Neza (aka @diemeisjevanbrussel) is a slam poet, filmmaker and musician. In Die meisje van Brussel she talks about her quest for answers to the big questions of this generation: who are you, and where do you come from? Are you African or European? What does it mean to be a woman? What is love? What do we do when the police run over young people from North Africa in Brussels? Are we silent, or do we write poetry? Lisette Ma Neza is known for her sharp pen, soft voice and Slam Poetry performances. Her performances balance between painfully direct and amorous naivety, and they often grab the audience by the throat.
Lisette has her own language and shares her view of our world through song, music and film. Several musicians accompany Lisette and help her shape her tongue:
Michelle Samba tells in harmony, melody and percussion.
Peter Somuah cries and laughs with his trumpet.
Shak Shakito exposes his heart with his guitar.
Neil Akenzua will let you in with his keys.
Everyone has a story to tell. If we don't tell it ourselves, others will tell it for us. It is important - perhaps now more than ever - to speak up. Speaking up is what happens in Die meisje van Brussel.
In 2017, Lisette became the first woman, the first person of colour and the first Dutch-speaking Belgian Slam Poetry champion. In 2018 and 2019, she travelled abroad with her performance and became Vice European Slam Poetry champion in Paris and Vice World champion in Rio de Janeiro. Nowadays, she travels worldwide with her music and poetry, only to return home, back to the Netherlands.
concept, play and text Lisette Ma Neza
piano Neil Akenzua
guitar Orville Breeveld
percussion Michelle Samba
trumpet Peter Somuah