A young white woman singing Chief Keef lyrics as if it were an Ariana Grande song might sound like a recipe for disaster.
Except Niykee (pronounced like Nicki) Heaton took a stripped-down, acoustic-guitar approach, adding depth and passion to tunes that previously lacked heart. Her rap covers went viral and led to a joint deal with Capitol Records and All Def Digital (a new venture helmed by Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons and film producer Brian Robbins) earlier this year.
During a quick trip back to Chicago, the 20-year-old singer-who was born in South African, raised in suburban Geneva and now lives in L.A.--spoke with RedEye by phone from a Walgreens parking lot. Stars, they're just like us!
I've read that you didn't have any musical training. Is that true?
There was nothing going on by me, in my town or anything. My older brother was very into folk music and he took like, mandolin lessons. He took all these expensive lessons, and when it was my turn to get a guitar or something my parents were like, "He took up all the music lesson money. Sorry."
Mandolin lessons? That seems pretty... obscure.
Right? The most expensive old instrument.
How did having siblings who enjoyed medieval strings affect your musical taste growing up?
[laughs] My older siblings were super-into different stuff, and that all affected me. When he wasn't playing weird instruments, my brother was super-into Bob Dylan and The Pogues. My sister loved The Doors and Jeff Buckley. I took from all of that, and then I got into Motown--Diana Ross specifically--by myself. Then when I turned 10, someone played me Lil Jon and [I] was like, "Well, this is my life now." Everything changed. I loved rap so much.
Understandable--Lil Jon changed my life as well. Speaking of rap music, you had been doing acoustic covers of songs from various genres for awhile but didn't really break big until your "Love Sosa" cover went viral. What made you want to cover Chief Keef?
My manager Lauren and I were set on just covering songs from all kinds of genres. One day I picked her up in my car and had Pusha T on. She was taken aback like, "This is what you actually listen to?" I told her how much I love rap music and she straight-up said, "Why don't you cover what you love then?" My first reaction was to say no, but we decided to take a risk. My main concern was that people would see me, a blond girl with a guitar, and take it like I was mocking rap music.
That was my next question. Did people think you were making fun of rap?
For sure. I wasn't laughing at it. It came from a place of genuine appreciation and I think that came through. [The video] hit [popular video site] Worldstar, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Chief Keef tweeted his support almost immediately. Did you get any responses from any of the other acts you covered?
Literally almost every person I covered has reached out in one way or another. I covered an Ace Hood song, and DJ Khaled and Ace reached out. Pusha T reached out. Everyone has shown love.
You've gotten a surprising amount of hype for your Instagram page, of all things. People say you post a lot of scantily clad photos.
I've never understood that. I didn't grow up as this, like, hot, sexy girl who won people over with my looks. When I got on Instagram and started posting pics, that was for me. I don't play that game of like, "Oh, let me post this thirst trap" and see if people go crazy. I was in a bathing suit eating hot Cheetos for three days, so I took a pic of that. People need to chill.
What is a thirst trap?
How I categorize it: A thirst trap is a picture that a woman posts on social media where it's obvious she's showing off her body to get attention with a caption that has nothing to do with the picture. It's always completely unrelated. Like, you'll see a half-naked picture of them on the beach, but the caption is like, "The beach is where I feel God." Come on, just be honest about it.
How have you dealt with that criticism?
There are always people telling me what I shouldn't be doing. Even with my music, people will say I've l changed or sold out or something, just for moving from acoustic songs to pop music. I express myself in the way I want to. The ["Bad Intentions"] EP itself is a reflection of that.
How's life on a major label now? When can we expect the full-length?
I just started writing. The plan is to have it out early next year, around late spring. Being on a label is cool because it gives me more tools to work with. When I was in my room with that guitar, I was making the best with what I had at the time. I didn't have producers or any of these opportunities. The EP [is] what my next level sounds like.
Listen to Niykee Heaton's "Bad Intentions EP" below.
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