Nihat Iman was born in Duisburg in 1999 and received lessons on the Turkish long-necked lute baglama from the age of 8 from his father, who is a passionate baglama player himself. He soon enrolled the talented pupil at the Duisburg Music and Art School, where he was taught by the well-known baglama teacher Yusuf Caner. He encouraged Nihat Imam's passionate playing and paved the way for him to attend workshops with other baglama virtuosos such as Kemal Dinc. This allowed him to expand his musical and technical skills. In 2015, Nihat Iman won first prize at the national "Jugend Musiziert" competition in Hamburg. In 2021, he completed his bachelor's degree in world music at the Pop Akademie Mannheim. He is currently continuing his studies for a Master of Arts in Music Education at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. At the end of 2020, he founded the ArtAkademie e.V. together with cultural practitioners and activists.