Nicki Nicole by Lily Major for French Fries 02 The Dreamers issue
Interview by Lily Major / lilymajor
Photography: Natalia Petri / natipetri
Jessica Praznik / jesspraznik
“I’m staying at home and missing my family,” Nicki Nicole / nicki.nicole, the Argentinian teen inspiring a modern take on trap music tells us, “nevertheless, I’m adapting to the digital ways.” Sitting approximately 7,000 miles from where I am sat, Nicki Nicole speaks with us on the day of her latest release, “Colocao”, and approximately two months after the world went into complete shutdown. She has spent the last few quiet months finishing up songs and recording new material in preparation for when life resumes as normal, as well as bingeing on a lot of music from A$AP Rocky, Eazy-E, 2Pac, Isaiah Rashad and Roddy Rich – a pace of life much slower than she is used to. At just 20 years old, she wasted no time cementing her name within the hip hop scene, ranking #1 in Argentina’s Top 50 on Spotify. Her debut album Recuerdos, the 11-track amalgamation of trap, R&B and Pop, dropped with a bang in 2019 and amplified her global visibility, with a sophomore follow up planned for next year.
Powered by a versatile sound, authentic lyricism and a girl-next-door likeability, the explosive Argentinian artist has now built up a following of over 6.4 million followers on Instagram and 7.7 million Spotify listeners, and since connecting earlier this year, her single “Colocao” has reached 150M streams worldwide, she has released two more internationally buzzing tracks “Mamichula” and “Mala Vida”, and she has secured the nomination for ‘Best New Artist’ at the Latin Grammys airing this week. We can’t wait to see where her music takes her next. So, brought to you from across the pond, this is Nicki Nicole.
Walk us through your daily quarantine routine. What have you been binging?
More than anything, I’ve been recording some things I had to finish. I’ve been listening to a lot of music, mostly hip hop from the 90s. I am listening to many beats from Dr. Dre and getting inspired, I really like it. I feel like, in part, this is the direction that I want the new project to be based on. I’ve been discovering many young artists that I also really like, talking with them, connecting, and that’s basically it… a quarantine based in music.
How are you managing to stay connected? Have you become more active on social media?
I’m way more active now on social media. I’m looking for a digital escape to forget for a little while that we’re in quarantine. Fortunately for my fans, and me, I’m much more connected with them. We can talk. I actually made a group with some of them and I’m always reading their messages, and things like that have helped me. Other than that, a lot of social media.
We want to talk about “Colocao,” the first single to arrive since your debut EP Recuerdos. How are you coping with the sudden changes in your promotional schedule?
More than anything, it is a bit difficult to go from normal interviews to digital interviews. But it is what it is, and luckily, I can adapt. It has also affected me in that I really want to play shows and it’s very difficult digitally, because sometimes I don’t have everything necessary to perform the way I want, because I play live with a band. Nevertheless, adapting to the digital ways.
Let’s go back in time and talk about the making of the track. How was the writing and recording process for you?
Basically, one day I went to Bizarrap’s to create songs with nothing in mind. He put a beat on that was incredible – part of it eventually became Colocao – and I started freestyling and then at some point I laid down the chorus, complete the way it is, and he said “that was incredible” and we left it there. We finished up the song, but we left it there. That was it for a while, just another one of the songs that I have saved to ‘one day’ release, but I started listening to it again, and the chorus kept getting stuck in my head, every day more and more. It’s not normal that I get one of my own songs stuck in my head like that, and I had to keep going back to hear the chorus over and over again. I showed it to my friends and the same thing happened to them. Time passed and when I wanted to go back to this song, the quarantine started. I have a studio at home, so I recorded it from there, and it was ok, but one of the producers I work with sent over better equipment to record it, and finally that’s how “Colocao” was created.
Do you think your sound has evolved since Recuerdos?
My sound has evolved a lot in terms of flows and lyrics and details. I hope I have the opportunity to show everyone in the next songs, so you can see what I’m talking about. It was great to release “Colocao” and for people to continue seeing how my sound will evolve.
What have you learnt about yourself, or your music, over the past year?
I’ve learned a little bit of piano! I’m still working on it, but I’m giving it a go. I don’t play any actual instruments, but I know I can learn. I’ve learned more about flows and I learned how to use autotune (it’s not as easy as it looks), and I’ve learned a lot about shows, stage performance, and interacting with the crowds. The understanding that people at these shows aren’t just watching, they’re feeling, and they don’t see you like you see yourself; they look up to you, and you have to learn how to respect that. People put you on a pedestal.
You’ve been a part of some great collaborations so far, namely Cazzu and DUKI, but who would you love to collaborate with in the future?
Thinking about it, I truly hope that in the future Dr. Dre is on a beat. I see it far away, but I see it being real. I would like very, very, very, very, very much to work with Travis Scott one day, even if it's a sample or something. Making a song together might be too crazy, but to work with him in some way would be the mark I made it. In a different direction, musically I gravitate to Harry Styles. I know that he has nothing to do with the other guys I mentioned, but I really look up to him. It would be a dream to work with him.
What other artists are you listening to right now? Give us a glimpse inside your Spotify playlists.
I am listening to a lot of A$AP Rocky, Eazy-E, 2Pac, Isaiah Rashad, Roddy Rich, and playlists of mine. I am listening to a playlist called ‘I Love My 90s Hip Hop’, Nas, Post Malone, and I'm listening to BUTAKAS, an EP by Bhavi. I really like it. I think that music is a salvation in all of this for everyone, not only for me. It takes us out of our reality and instantly lets us enter a different mood. It helps us in some way to get through this, to forget for a bit what’s going on outside.
What is the first thing you will do when life resumes as normal?
When everything is safe, I want to see my family, I want to be with them, I want to be sure that they are well. I haven't seen them in a long time. Then I want to give a show, the show. I want to spend more time with my fans and I miss giving shows a lot, I miss being with my fans and getting to know them better. That’s what I’ll do first.
And finally, what is Nicki Nicole’s dream?
My biggest dream was to make music and give people what I have given them, and it’s honestly what I'm doing now. Another dream of mine is to make everyone around me happy, and I do my best every day to make that happen.
