After gaining almost half a million streams for her first to singles "Honest" and "Exodus", soulful pop singer/songwriter Nikitaa brings something brilliantly unique to the scene with her new single “Majesty”. Fusing a quickly engaging, rhythmically entrancing soundscape, with blissfully delicate vocals, and a substantial, intentional and meaningful lyrical substance, “Majesty” is the R&B/Pop hit we’ve all been craving. This single is an easily relatable anthem about reclaiming your freedom, worth, and money as a woman in a man's world. What Nikitaa has built with this song is a somewhat melancholic, melodically memorable pop track, that walks hand-in-hand with a mildly tribal, almost down-tempo dance-hall aura. Her self-coined genre “Goddess Pop” brings undeniable confidence to “Majesty”. There’s a powerful sense of contrast between the two parts, but in the end, they’re undoubtedly sides of the same coin. That groove is hypnotic for its consistency and warmth, for the spacious yet creative web it weaves around you, and those vocals are equally entrancing but in a whole different way. “Majesty” is beautiful, powerful and memorable pop writing but with a definite edge of refreshing perspective and poetry. We look forward to hearing more from Nikitaa!
"Every person has that Goddess power within them that honors the feminine within and without. I hope to remind people of this and uplift and empower them with my music, giving them space to express all their feelings no matter what it is they feel."
Listen to “Majesty” here.
Hey Nikitaa! Welcome to BuzzMusic. We’re hypnotized by your voice! Have you had any professional training or have you honed your vocal style over time?
Hey! Thank you so much for having me! I'm flattered that I'm hypnotizing, hehe. I definitely have had professional training! I was born and raised in Mumbai, India and I started with an Indian classical vocal trainer when I was about 3 or 4 years old; I was always singing in choir for both Indian classical and Western Contemporary all through school as well. And when I confessed to my parents that I wanted to take my music more seriously they enrolled me in proper one-on-one vocal lessons at the age of 17 that I kept up until I came out to LA at the age of 20 to attend Musicians Institute where I pretty much ate, lived, breathed and dreamt music. I graduated in 2017 and my music and career became even more of my 24x7 obsession and the centre of my world. I will say however that it took a while to hone in on my vocal style despite all my training. I've had so many varying influences - I grew up with an elder brother who listened to hardcore rock and being the younger sibling naturally I followed suit. But I also grew up with a mother who loved 60's and 70's Bollywood music. And then in my teens, I fell in love with Pop, Hip Hop and RnB. So honing in on my sound was definitely about finding ways to marry all of those things into one cohesive thing.
We’re really vibing with your new single! What does your track “Majesty” mean to you? What inspired this song?
Thank you, that means so much to me! It was originally just a beat already titled "Majesty" that my producer sent my way for me to write to! And it just inspired this whole idea of a Queen/Royalty reclaiming what is rightfully theirs and empowering themselves. The instrumentation just screamed feminine power to me, and I could almost visualize a Queen in her castle when I first heard it. The lyrics for Majesty came out of a really raw and honest place of just speaking to all of these patriarchal constructs that attempt to keep womxn and femmes in a disempowered space - and reminding anybody that upholds such patriarchal ideals that when you hurt womxn and femmes you only hurt yourself. My artistry has always been about invoking the various Goddess archetypes across cultures and reclaiming them not just as the counterparts of Gods that no one talks much about, but forces to be reckoned with who were able to use their typification to their strengths and overcome major hurdles. Which is why I referenced so many different legendary mythic women throughout the song - Durga and Persephone, Laxmi, and Eve. I wanted to redefine Persephone and Eve as heroes of their stories and reemphasize all that Durga and Laxmi already stand for - bravery, justice, and ferocity, & abundance and wealth.
Who has had the biggest influence on your life musically thus far? Can you describe the impact this particular individual has had in terms of your new song “Majesty”?
I don't know if I can name one artist to call my biggest influence because I feel like so many different artists have influenced different aspects of my artistry! I feel like I definitely feel inspired by Beyonce's ferocity and the level of detail and thought she always puts into her vocal performances, stage presence, brand image, and persona. I'm definitely inspired by Jon Bellion, Frank Ocean and Banks when it comes to lyrics and melody - I feel like they have mastered the art of being intelligent but relatable and even sassy with their lyrical content. I feel like all of those elements are so key to my music and specifically to Majesty - it's a big, well thought out and lyrically clever record that was intentionally created to highlight this bold and fierce persona that really is who I am on the regular even when I'm not singing.
You've had such a strong love and passion for music at such a young age! How do you think you and your music have grown since you first started writing, versus now?
I started writing poetry when I was 3 - actually, my aunt had to write the first one down as I dictated because I was so little! I only started writing song lyrics at 13 though, and although I've been singing my whole life I didn't really work with melodies for my own songs until I was about 17. I feel like when I first started writing lyrics my structure and writing wasn't really all there because I don't think I really had any idea what I truly wanted to say. I was only 13! I don't think I could've known specifically what I wanted to say and share with the world at 13. Then when I started adding melodies to my words it was the same feeling - I didn't know what would work best with my voice or how much of my range I wanted to use or what I wanted to do stylistically. After music school, it took about a year and a half of being in the studio nearly every day to condense my sound and style into something I felt really represented who I am and what I stand for. I feel like music really is such a process of self-discovery and that's exactly how it felt. I really had to understand what I wanted to say as a person to understand how to write better songs that actually represented me. It's always been a fun process though - every time I write a song I feel like I get to play and be a curious kid again and see what all I can do. I made it a point to approach my songwriting in this way from day 1 and I think that's such a big part of what I love about it.
Thank you so much for chatting with us! What are you working on through the end of 2019?
Thank you so much for having me! I'm actually really excited about the rest of 2019! I'm headed back to India for a few months to write and record out there and play live shows! So expect a lot of music and content coming from me at the top of 2020!
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