Nikki Ninja is known for her rap songs for children, as well as for her educational hip-hop workshops in schools and therapeutic centres. Her approach encourages creativity, personal expression and openness to new artistic forms of communication. For the musical creation, she regularly collaborates with jazz musician Pol Belardi.
Through this project, the Minett UNESCO Biosphere wanted to show that the biosphere reserve is not only a natural space. It is also a lived territory, a place of memory, culture and learning. The aim was to give children the opportunity to express their own view of the Minett and to actively participate in the creation of a song inspired by their region.
Two Cycle 3 Classes Took Part in the Creative Process
A call for participation was launched among Cycle 3 classes in the Minett region. Two particularly motivated classes were selected. They had shown their enthusiasm by sending in videos of rap songs they had already created together in class.
The two educational field trips took place in April in two emblematic nature reserves of the region: Lallénger Bierg in Schifflange and Giele Botter in Differdange. Both sites are located in former open-cast mining areas and reflect the great diversity of Minett landscapes: rock faces, ponds, pioneer forests, dry grasslands, slag residues, former mine entrances and impressive views over nearby residential areas.
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© Minett UNESCO Biosphere
The pupils were accompanied by several experts and artists: Robert Weis, geologist at the Naturmusée, Yannick Kieffer, historian of the City of Esch-sur-Alzette, Jan Herr, biologist at the Nature and Forest Agency, musician Pol Belardi, artist Nicole Bausch / Nikki Ninja, and Lucie Majerus from the Minett UNESCO Biosphere team.
Each field trip began with a circle of rhythm and rhymes to get to know one another. Nikki Ninja asked the children about their favourite music and invited them to invent rhymes around selected words. She then explained their mission: to observe, listen and collect words, sounds and impressions that could later inspire the song.
The discovery walk through nature then began. At various points of interest, the experts shared their knowledge about the special features of the Minett, its industrial history, geology and biodiversity. Whenever a word or sound seemed particularly interesting, Nikki Ninja and the children shouted it out to add it to their collection. This living material, gathered directly in the field, later fed into the lyrics and musical composition.
A Song Between Nature, Industrial Heritage and Contemporary Creativity
Between May and June, Nicole Bausch wrote the lyrics, while Pol Belardi composed the music. The song brings together nature, contemporary creation and regional cultural heritage.
In the lyrics, Nicole imagined Nikki Ninja’s grandfather as a “Minettsdapp”, a former mine worker. He keeps telling the younger generation: “My generation worked for yours.” Through this character, the song tells the story of how the red lands of the Minett, once shaped by industrial exploitation, have been transformed into biodiverse habitats.
Pol Belardi integrated sounds from his own sound library, recorded in the nature reserves of southern Luxembourg. He also used a sample of the “Biergoarbechterlidd”, taken from an arrangement for orchestra and choir that he wrote in 2022 for the musical “Den Neie Mineur”.
This musical, based on a text by Roger Seimetz and music by Sandro Bucciarelli and Pol Belardi, creates a strong link between the industrial history of the Minett and the voices of a new generation. The song also includes the call of the woodlark, an emblematic bird species of the biosphere’s protected areas.
First Performance at the Schluechthaus
The song was performed for the first time on Sunday, 5 July, during a Nikki Ninja concert at the Schluechthaus in Hollerich.
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© Minett UNESCO Biosphere
This project has created an original and lasting communication tool: a rap song about the red lands, the industrial history of the Minett, nature reclaiming its place, and the region’s international recognition as a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2020.
Through the character of the Minettsdapp, young audiences discover the Minett UNESCO Biosphere through music, in a language that feels close to them and can easily be shared. The song will be available on Nikki Ninja’s Spotify channel and may become part of her future concert setlists. In this way, the message of the biosphere will continue to live on beyond the moment of its release.
A Creative Way to Pass on the Minett
With this project, the Minett UNESCO Biosphere highlights a participatory approach to awareness-raising: starting from the territory, giving children a voice, combining scientific, historical and artistic knowledge, and transforming this experience into a musical creation.
The song is therefore more than just a piece of music. It is a bridge between past and future, between industrial heritage and biodiversity, between regional memory and contemporary expression.
It shows that the Minett can be told differently: through children’s words, the sounds of nature, hip-hop rhythms and a shared story to be passed on to future generations.