LOS ANGELES-BASED singer-songwriter and producer Nicole Zefanya has just released her 2019 EP, wanna take this downtown?, ahead of her anticipated debut album Moonchild, which is slated to come out later this year.
The four-track EP was totally unplanned, said the 20-year-old 88rising artiste who grew up in Indonesia, adding that it happened organically.
Professionally known as Niki, her over 2.4 million listeners on Spotify might have noticed a slight shift in wanna take this downtown? which sonically leans more towards pop compared to last year’s EP Zephyr.
According to the Vintage singer in an interview with theSun hours before her flight to Jakarta earlier this month, she was inspired to explore the “relatively new” genre after listening “to a lot of underground pop artistes” such as Alec Benjamin, Alexander 23, Lennon Stella, and British singer-songwriter Maisie Peters – who had a hand in Niki’s catchy single lowkey.
Niki said: “I really gained an appreciation for pop writing and just how structured it is, how catchy everything is, and so I just wanted to let myself be inspired in that way and just not abide [by] any genres.
“It’s been really freeing this year because I just realised that, you know what, I can make whatever I want and it’s still Niki. It doesn’t make me any less Niki. It’s just a different side of me, you know.”
The EP certainly sounds like Niki, and the single, lowkey, from the EP is a chill banger too. The visualiser for the song on YouTube is mesmerising, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing the hook randomly throughout your day(s).
The single is currently at the top of her page on the music streaming platform.
According to Niki, the song was written and produced in 2018 but was set aside until she and her “very good [online] friend” Peters met up in real life. “I wasn’t in love with it.”
While friends for the last four years, Niki and Peters never met until they sat down in the studio together when the latter visited LA in February.
“I was like, wait, I have a song from 2018 that I feel can be even better. Could you help me rewrite it?” recalled Niki. “That’s how lowkey was born.
“It’s kind of a weird one ’cause technically, it was born in 2018 but it got pushed back into the womb and then reborn again in 2019.”
Niki is a night owl who enjoys working after dark because of an “unexplainable sense of tranquillity and serenity at night” – the EP was coincidentally all done at night too – where on top of producing her own beats, the R&B singer also enjoys wordplay in her songwriting.
“That’s why I write songs,” she began. “It’s because I find a lot of gratification when lyrics are clever and witty. I was absolutely like a linguistic-oriented person. I really love languages. I love accents ...
“I was a huge reader in high school and I think that really just affected the way I write ... I really love wordplay. It’s what makes songwriting fun.”
Moving to the States for university in 2017 with “no plans of being signed or pursuing music”, that same year saw her join mass media company 88rising. “It was kind of just a happy coincidence.”
She said that “it’s been an absolute blast” since joining the collective.
“Everybody’s so like-minded and waiting to change culture and move things forward for Asians in general. It’s been a privilege to be a part of that experience.”
Besides developing her artistry and “how I view music and the music-making process” through people she’s met since 88rising, Niki admitted that her creative process has benefited and grown from that.
However, she emphasised that “I generally am still an [all-in-all], through-and-through bedroom kid”.
“Obviously, it’s changed now. I go to studios and I go to other people’s houses to make music but still, my favourite place – I think forever, even when I’m 80 – will be my bedroom just by myself.”
The one thing that Niki thinks everybody should try at least once in their lives?
“Once in their lives, go on a date with somebody and just like, pretend to be a totally different person and never see them again,” said a carefree Niki with a cheeky laugh.
