Nicole Zefanya or NIKI is an Indonesian on-the-rise hit R&B singer. She started her career as an opening act for Taylor Swift’s The Red Tour in Jakarta when she was 15 years old. Throughout her teenage years, she maintained her singing career by posting her covers and also her original songs on Youtube. Yes, with her beautiful voice, she also writes her own lyrics and produces her own songs. She also released some of her originals called “Polaroid Boy” and “Anaheim” on Spotify under the name Nicole Zefanya, way before she joined the American-Asian mass media company, 88Rising.
After she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to study music, she joined 88Rising in 2017 with another Indonesian amazing rapper, Rich Brian, who actually joined first. Based on his confession in Najwa Shihab’s Interview session, Brian also helped Niki produce one of her song “See U Never” that was released under 88Rising along with “I Like U”.
NIKI has a mission to empower young Asian artists through her music as stated in the first Head in the Clouds Festival, she hopes that they (Asian-American artists) feel heard, understood, and most importantly, represented.
After releasing 27 singles, 2 EPs, and an album called “Moonchild” in 2020. She released another amazing heart-wrenching album called “Nicole” in August 12th 2022. This album complements her high school love story based on her previous 3 singles “Before”, “Oceans and Engines”, and “High School in Jakarta”. This album tells us the detail about the first time she found her high school lover until the butterflies is all gone and she realized everything is no longer feels the same and that she has to let go after 2 years of relationship.
As if an album is not enough, she made a short film based on this album called “But I’m Letting Go”. She also held a free limited screenings in Los Angeles, New York, and Jakarta. If you didn’t get the chance to attend the screening, don’t worry because the short film will be available to watch in Prime Video and Amazon Music in August 18th.
