Nazan Öncel

Nazan Öncel (Born 1956, Izmir) is one of the most famous and influential artists of the pop scene in Turkey. Over the years she has written and composed songs for many younger artists including Tarkan, Emel, İbrahim Tatlıses, Sibel Can, Özcan Deniz, and Gülşen. She has also continued to make her own albums without taking a break. Some of her compositions have become huge hits, most notably Tarkan's "Hüp" and, along with the success of her latest album, Nazan Öncel has earned a respected place in the pop culture of Turkey.

Aside from her earliest releases--which are very rare today--she has 6 major albums dating from 1992 to 2004. However, despite scoring some major hits from time to time, she's never been widely popular. It wasn't until her latest album (Yan Yana Fotoğraf Çektirelim - Let's have our photo taken side by side, 2004) that she started being truly recognized by the public. This semi-fame and select audience are surely connected to her reclusiveness as an artist and her alternative identity in the pop scene.

Except the first two albums, which are identical in structure and style, none of her albums has an obvious musical style. She has tried rock as well as classical turkish music with modern elements. These musical experiments and her unique lyrics have earned her a respecting, open-minded audience over the years.

Two of her songs from the album Demir Leblebi (The Iron Chickpea, 1999) have been banned due to the language used and the subject. One of the songs was an autobiographical confession of being abused by her father when she was a child.

Nazan Öncel is known for her unique lyrics more than anything else. She's known to use plain, everyday language instead of the "high-class" turkish that is used by other artists. Her lyrics, despite always being about emotions or relationships, are never too romantic or too politically correct. Almost all, if not all, her lyrics are known to be bitter except the songs she has prepared for other artists, which is one of the identifiers of her style.
Lately she has been "softening" the bitter quality of her songs by merry and wildly colourful tunes.

Nazan Öncel has just finished recording her 7th "7'n Bitirdin" which has 12 new songs on it. According to her official website, it was supposed to come out in early July, 2006. Fans are still waiting for the news of its release.