Biography
Vocalist and songwriter Nikki Jean hails from St. Paul, Minnesota. She joined the Philadelphia-based outfit Nouveau Riche alongside Dice Raw, an affiliate of the Roots. That ensemble issued a pair of EPs yet failed to gain momentum. During the same period she supplied the lead vocal for a cover of Sting’s “Be Still My Beating Heart,” recorded with ?uestlove of the Roots’ Randy Watson Project for Ubiquity’s Rewind! 5 compilation.
Late in 2007 her profile expanded when she appeared on two tracks from Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool—“Little Weapon” and the single “Hip Hop Saved My Life,” which she also co-wrote. The next year she performed with Fiasco among the opening acts on Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour. She then concentrated on her solo path and formed a close working relationship with producer Sam Hollander, whose contributions to Carole King’s Love Makes the World had drawn her attention. With Hollander, Nikki secured songwriting participation from multiple legends whose peaks occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.
Columbia signed her but ultimately shelved the project and dropped her in October 2010. S Curve picked her up and issued the album Pennies in a Jar in July 2011. The eclectic, throwback-oriented collection, shaped throughout by Nikki Jean’s light yet powerful voice, listed King, Thom Bell, Lamont Dozier, Paul Williams, Burt Bacharach, Jeff Barry, Jimmy Webb, and Carly Simon among its co-composers. It also contained “Steel and Feathers,” a composition left incomplete and unrecorded for three decades after being slated for Bob Dylan’s 1981 album Shot of Love.
Late in 2007 her profile expanded when she appeared on two tracks from Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool—“Little Weapon” and the single “Hip Hop Saved My Life,” which she also co-wrote. The next year she performed with Fiasco among the opening acts on Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour. She then concentrated on her solo path and formed a close working relationship with producer Sam Hollander, whose contributions to Carole King’s Love Makes the World had drawn her attention. With Hollander, Nikki secured songwriting participation from multiple legends whose peaks occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.
Columbia signed her but ultimately shelved the project and dropped her in October 2010. S Curve picked her up and issued the album Pennies in a Jar in July 2011. The eclectic, throwback-oriented collection, shaped throughout by Nikki Jean’s light yet powerful voice, listed King, Thom Bell, Lamont Dozier, Paul Williams, Burt Bacharach, Jeff Barry, Jimmy Webb, and Carly Simon among its co-composers. It also contained “Steel and Feathers,” a composition left incomplete and unrecorded for three decades after being slated for Bob Dylan’s 1981 album Shot of Love.
Albums
Singles
