Niki (singer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Niki
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Niki performing at the 2023 Head in the Clouds Festival New York
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Nicole Zefanya
24 January 1999 Jakarta, Indonesia
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| Origin | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Genres | Pop, R&B, Indie folk |
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| Years active | 2017–present |
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Nicole Zefanya (born 24 January 1999), known professionally as Niki (stylized in all caps), is an Indonesian singer-songwriter. She is currently based in the United States and signed with the record label 88rising. She has released two full-length studio albums, Moonchild (2020) and Nicole (2022). Her debut headlining concert tour, Nicole World Tour (2022–2023), visited over 40 cities across North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
A multi-instrumentalist, Niki wrote or co-wrote her own songs. She is the most popular Indonesian female artist on Spotify with over 2.5 billion streams. She has seven songs with over 100 million streams on the platform, including "Lowkey" and "Every Summertime". In 2020, Niki was listed among Forbes magazine's list of 30 Under 30 Asia.
Contents
Early life
Niki was born on 24 January 1999 and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. At nine years old, Niki taught herself how to play the guitar. At 13, she began writing original music. Although her music is partially influenced by her mother, who exposed Niki to soul, gospel, and 1990s' R&B like Destiny's Child and Aaliyah when she was young, Niki's earliest original music skewed towards the folk and indie genres.
Career
At 15, she was the opening act for Taylor Swift's The Red Tour in Jakarta after winning a competition arranged by Swift and the ice cream brand Wall's, called Ride to Fame. Niki maintained a YouTube channel throughout her teenage years, on which she uploaded original songs and covers, which were eventually released on Spotify under her birth name.
In 2017, Niki moved to Nashville, Tennessee to study music at Lipscomb University. She released two singles, "See U Never" and "I Like U" under the American mass media company 88rising as an artist under their label. She released the song "Vintage" in May 2018 as the first single for her debut extended play, Zephyr.
On April 24, 2019, Niki released a visualizer of her single titled "lowkey," which became one of 88rising's most popular videos on its Youtube channel.
In September 2020, Niki released her debut album, Moonchild. In December 2020, Niki released "Hallway Weather", a holiday single.
On 12 August 2022, Niki's second album, Nicole, was released.
Influences
Niki's music was influenced by her favorite pop, folk, R&B and indie artists, including Taylor Swift, Boyz II Men, Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Kirk Franklin, and Aaliyah. She grew up exposed to music as her mother sang church gospel music as a backup singer. Niki has also said that she listens to and is influenced by all musical genres. She cites growing up in Indonesia as influencing her worldview, and in turn, her music.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
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| Moonchild |
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| Nicole |
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Live albums
| Title | Album details |
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| NIKI Acoustic Sessions: Head In The Clouds II |
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| Live at The Wiltern |
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Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
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| Zephyr |
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| Wanna Take This Downtown? |
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Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IDN Songs |
MLY |
MLY Songs |
NZ Hot |
PHL Songs |
SIN |
SIN Songs |
VIE |
WW Excl. US |
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| "Awali Hari Dengan Cinta" | 2014 | N/A | N/A | N/A | — | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Non-album singles |
| "Polaroid Boy" | 2016 | — | |||||||||
| "Anaheim" | 2017 | — | — | ||||||||
| "See You Never" | — | — | |||||||||
| "I Like U" | — | — | |||||||||
| "Chilly" | — | — | |||||||||
| "Newsflash!" | 2018 | — | — | — | Zephyr | ||||||
| "Say My Name" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Friends" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Spell" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Vintage" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Dancing with the Devil" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Warpaint" | — | — | — | Head in the Clouds | |||||||
| "Lowkey" | 2019 | — | — | 24 | — | Wanna Take This Downtown? | |||||
| "Indigo" | — | — | N/A | — | Head in the Clouds II | ||||||
| "Shouldn't Couldn't Wouldn't" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "La La Lost You" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Sugarplum Elegy" | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Switchblade" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | Moonchild | |||||
| "Selene" | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Lose" | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Hallway Weather" | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||
| "Every Summertime" | 2021 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 56 | 181 | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: The Album |
| "Split" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Before" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Nicole |
| "Oceans & Engines" | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "High School in Jakarta" | 2 | 6 | 9 | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Year | Title | Album |
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| 2018 | "Little Prince" (Rich Brian featuring Niki) |
Amen |
| 2019 | "No More" (Higher Brothers featuring Niki) |
Five Stars |
| 2020 | "Forever" (End of the World featuring Niki) |
Chameleon |
| 2020 | "Iloveyoumorethanicansay" (HONNE featuring NIKI) |
No song without you |
| 2021 | "Coming Home" (HONNE featuring NIKI) |
Let's Just Say the World Ended a Week from Now, What Would You Do? |
Tour
Headlining
- Nicole World Tour (2022–2023)
Opening act
- Taylor Swift's The Red Tour (Jakarta only) (2014)
- Rich Brian's Australia & New Zealand Tour (2018)
- Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour (All Asia dates) (2018)
- H.E.R.'s Back of My Mind Tour (All US dates) (2021)
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Nominee(s) | Category | Result | Ref. |
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| MTV Europe Music Award | 2022 | Niki | Best Asian Act | Nominated |
See also
- Rich Brian
- Stephanie Poetri
