Fatima Napo was born on January 14, 1979 in Bandiagara, Mali. She is a German rapper and performs under the stage name Young Deenay. Her musical genre is hip-hop and rap. As a teenager, she lived in Germany for a time and discovered her enthusiasm for rap music there. She attends a grammar school in Arnsberg. She later studied psychology at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. At the end of the 1990s, Fatima Napo signed a record deal with WEA Records, a Warner Music Germany label, at the age of 18. In 1997, she released her debut single "Walk On By". The song develops into her greatest success. The single reached number 5 in the German single charts. In Austria, the song also reached No. 5, and in Switzerland it climbed to No. 9. "Walk On By" remained in the charts for several weeks and shaped the German pop and hip-hop scene of the late 1990s. Their second single "Wannabe Your Lover" is released in 1998. The song introduces the singer Sasha, who is involved as a backing singer at this time, to a larger audience for the first time. Also in 1998, Young Deenay appears as a rap guest on Sasha's single "I'm Still Waitin'". The song becomes an international success and reaches the Top 20 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In June 1998, Young Deenay releases her studio album Birth (1998). The album reaches number 40 in the German album charts. Other singles from this phase include "I Want 2 Be Your Man" (1998), which also reached the German singles charts. Despite the early success, the breakthrough did not last. Her active career as a rapper came to an end at the end of the 1990s.
