Nina Chuba stripped Femminello back for a live Vevo session, and even in a quieter, closer setting the performance is packed with vocal technique worth studying.
This is German rap and melodic pop sitting side by side, so the verses lean into speech on pitch while the hooks open up into something more sung.
If you have ever wondered how a singer keeps every word intelligible at low volume, climbs higher without pushing, or shifts the colour of the voice without changing the note, this performance is a brilliant place to learn.
Here is what is happening in Femminello and how you can start building the same skills into your own voice.
The Thicker Vocal Fold With Air Coming Through
The first thing you hear in the verses is a chest voice quality with a thicker vocal fold and a deliberate flow of breath coming through the sound. In simple terms the vocal folds stay a little more open, so air passes between them and gives the tone that breathy, conversational weight.
This is a stylistic choice rather than a fault, and it is a big part of why the verses feel relaxed and grounded. Plenty of singers ask whether this kind of airy, thick chest sound is achievable on purpose, and the answer is yes.
It is a controlled balance of breath and fold thickness, not just a happy accident, and Nina Chuba uses it as the foundation for the whole verse.
Constriction and Pressure From Above the Folds
Sitting on top of that thicker chest tone is a touch of constriction. This is the area just above the vocal folds, sometimes described as the false vocal folds, being gently brought down toward the true folds.
That added pressure from above is part of what gives the sound its slightly compressed, characterful edge in Femminello. The important word here is gentle.
A small amount of this pressure adds attitude and texture, but pushing it too far creates tension and tires the voice quickly, so it is something to explore lightly and with awareness.
Vocal Fold Closure Through the Hook
As the song moves from verse into the pre-hook and hook, you can hear more vocal fold closure arriving in the tone. Closure simply means the folds are coming together more completely, which trims back the breathiness and gives the voice a clearer, more connected ring.
This is one of the clearest contrasts in the performance. The verse sits in that thicker, airier place, and then Nina Chuba brings the folds together more firmly to lift the chorus into something brighter and more carrying.
Learning to dial closure up and down at will is one of the most useful skills a singer can develop, and Femminello is a tidy example of it in action.
Thyroid Tilt for Climbing the Range
To reach the higher notes in the hook, Nina Chuba adds more thyroid tilt. The thyroid cartilage tilts forward, stretching and thinning the vocal folds so that higher pitches become available without shouting them out.
You can hear the tone change as she climbs, becoming a little sweeter and more sung rather than spoken. The combination is what makes the lift feel easy.
More closure and more tilt arrive together, so the voice gets further up the range while staying connected rather than thinning out into a weak or strained sound.
Darkening the Tone With the Lips and Tongue
One of the most distinctive features of Femminello is the darkened colour of certain phrases. A lot of this comes from the mouth.
Bringing the lips forward, almost rounding them, lengthens the vocal tract and pulls the tone into a darker, warmer space. The tongue plays its part too, and dropping or repositioning it shifts the colour even further.
This is a wonderful trick to understand because it lets you reshape the character of a line without touching the pitch at all. You are simply changing the space the sound travels through.
Changing Timbre Without Changing Pitch
Because so much of the verse is essentially speech on pitch, which is the heart of what rap is, the challenge becomes keeping the words moving and interesting while staying on a relatively narrow band of notes.
That is genuinely difficult. Changing the timbre, the actual colour and texture of the voice, without changing the pitch is an advanced skill, and it is mostly done through mouth position.
The juxtaposition between the darker, talkier verse and the brighter, more open hook in Femminello is a clear demonstration of how much variety you can create through shape alone.
Microphone Technique and Economy of Movement
Watching Nina Chuba up close, you notice how she works the microphone. She sits right against it and sings directly into it rather than across it, which matters enormously when the dynamics are this intimate.
Close, well aimed microphone use lets a singer use far less physical effort and still be heard clearly.
That economy of movement in the mouth and jaw is not laziness, it is efficiency, and it is built on real muscular strength and coordination.
If you want to develop the kind of clarity and control on display here, a few habits help:
- Aim the sound into the microphone rather than over the top of it, and keep a consistent distance.
- Build strength in the tongue, lips, cheeks, jaw and surrounding neck muscles so small movements do more work.
- Practise economy. The smaller and more precise the movement, the easier it is to stay intelligible at any volume.
Singing Quietly Without Losing a Word
A standout quality of this Femminello performance is how quietly Nina Chuba sings while still making every word land.
Quiet singing is far harder than it looks, because there is less air and less volume to carry the consonants, so the articulation has to be precise. This is where all that mouth, tongue and jaw conditioning pays off.
Strong, well trained articulators let you drop the volume right down and still be understood completely, which is exactly what keeps this gentle delivery so engaging instead of mumbled.
Balancing Breath and Closure to Stay in Tune
Here is a subtle but crucial point. As the line rises and more thyroid tilt comes in, the folds are closing more, so you also want to pull back on the breath rather than push harder.
The instinct when reaching for higher notes is to add air and pressure, but over pressurising at the top tends to shove those notes sharp and out of tune.
Nina Chuba eases off the breath as she ascends, which keeps the higher phrases accurate and controlled. Think of it as trading air for closure as you climb:
- Going higher, let the folds close more and let the breath quieten down rather than blow harder.
- If a high note feels like it is being forced out, that is usually a sign you are over pressurising.
- Aim for the lightest amount of air that still keeps the tone connected and ringing.
Accent, Tongue Position and Colour
There is also a noticeable darkening of the accent in places, and this is partly a stylistic feature of this kind of German rap and partly another product of mouth and tongue position.
Bringing the lips forward and shifting the tongue does not only change the musical colour, it can subtly shade the accent and delivery too.
It is a reminder that the same mechanical choices that shape your tone also shape the character and personality of how you speak the words, which is a big part of what makes a performance feel distinctive.
Performance Energy and Staying Engaged
Beyond the mechanics, what makes Femminello compelling is the performance itself.
The song is fairly repetitive, which makes it surprisingly hard to stay engaged the whole way through, yet Nina Chuba holds attention from start to finish through her connection with the camera and the way she uses the energy of her body.
Her facial expressions and the way she articulates each word keep you locked in, even if you do not speak a word of German. Vocal technique is universal, and so is committed, present performance.
The sounds get you part of the way, but the energy and intention are what carry an audience along with you.
Making These Techniques Your Own
The beauty of breaking down a performance like this is realising that none of it is magic.
Every choice in Femminello, from the thick airy chest of the verses to the closed, tilted lift of the hook, comes down to coordinating breath, fold closure, thyroid tilt and mouth shape.
You do not need to copy Nina Chuba note for note to benefit. The goal is to understand the ingredients so you can reach for them in your own songs, in your own voice and in whatever language you sing in.
Start gently, build the strength in your articulators, and explore one element at a time until each becomes a tool you can pick up at will.
If you want to learn more about how you can learn to implement these singing techniques into your own voice, let’s sit down for a chat and discuss if the vocal academy is the right fit for you. You can join us here.