NIKI

Indonesian singer, songwriter, and producer Nicole Zefanya performs as NIKI and draws from the sleek R&B and pop sounds that defined the tail end of the 1990s. She first cultivated listeners in her mid-teens by uploading acoustic originals to YouTube, then issued her debut single, the tender “Polaroid Boy,” in 2016. A year later she entered the 88rising roster, and the label released her debut EP, Zephyr, showcasing fuller production in 2018. A second EP followed before her first full-length album, Moonchild, appeared in 2020; her second album, Nicole, arrived in 2022, and Buzz came out in 2024.

Born in 1999 and raised in Jakarta, she absorbed the late-’90s R&B her mother favored, records by Destiny’s Child, Boyz II Men, TLC, and Aaliyah. During the mid-2010s she began posting both original material and covers on YouTube under her full name, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. Her first single, the heartbroken ballad “Polaroid Boy,” surfaced in 2016 and was followed early the next year by the understated “Anaheim.” Joining 88rising, the media company that operates as a record label, video-production house, and management firm, led to the July 2017 release of “See U Never,” her initial track under the NIKI name. “Vintage” and “Newsflash!” were among the singles collected on the May 2018 EP Zephyr. The following year brought the short EP wanna take this downtown? as well as the track “Indigo,” which appeared on the 88rising compilation Head in the Clouds II.

Tracks such as “Sugarplum Energy” and “Switchblade” preceded her 2020 debut album Moonchild. In 2021 she contributed “Every Summertime” to the soundtrack of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The charting singles “Oceans & Engines” and “High School in Jakarta” paved the way for her second album, Nicole, released in 2022. Live at the Wiltern followed in 2023, and her third studio album, Buzz, arrived in 2024.