If you don’t know who Nikki & Rich are, you’ve obviously have been living under a rock.
They are the latest HOT duo to take the music world by storm with their ’50s jazz inspired soulful sound. Nikki & Rich is comprised of singer Nikki Leonti and producer Rich Velonskis.
As soon as Nikki opens her mouth to let out her first note, you will be blown away. As a former background singer for Carrie Underwood, Nikki is no stranger to the business, but teaming up with Rich is what changed everything.
Rich is a DJ/producer from Queens, NY who has worked with everyone in the industry from Ludacris to Robin Thicke. Rich was on the quest for a great vocalist and after coming across Nikki, he knew he found what he was looking for.
The two have been going strong ever since and are set to release their debut album Everything this September. Their latest single “City Lights” is an infectious, amazing single that will leave you begging for more from this dynamic duo. GlobalGrind had the chance to catch up with the two for an exclusive sit down.
GlobalGrind: When you take a step back to take a look at all that has happened and your success, how do you feel about it all?
Nikki: Blessed. You just have to take each day as it comes and that’s the thing with the music business, you never know. You are going to have peaks and valleys and when you have the peaks you are thankful and never look too far ahead, except for where you are at and go wow, this is a great day. We got to do The Tonight Show and Ellen those days you just breathe it all in and enjoy it.
Rich, what spoke to you about Nikki’s voice?
Rich: I think it was just the rawness of it. When I first heard her sing, it was real powerful and almost like, raw. I think it just inspired me to do something to speak to that soulful side. At the time I was producing mostly hip-pop records and I was going in for the kill, you know the beat and when I met her I wanted to speak to the soulfness. In hearing her, there is such an emotion that comes from such a raw voice that you don’t want to overpower.
Why do you think that people have been so receptive to you guys and your sound?
Rich: I think that’s the testament of where music is going right now and with the success of Adele. I think people are just looking for something a litle more real, a litle more musical. Not heavily overproduced, and there is always a market for that. When you are in the club and drunk you don’t want to hear six violins, but people are coming back to wanting real stuff; things that are written and are performed and instruments and blending that.
Did you ever think you would be in a group?
Rich: No, I didn’t. We didn’t plan it, we were just writing for other people and it happened.
Nikki: I never thought I’d be in a group. I’m very much solo-minded and in my own thing and I don’t play well with others. For me it would have taken something very special for me to ever consider joining forces with somebody, so it was special.
What do you want people to take away from this album?
Nikki: You create it and you hope for the best. Every interview we do like this where people are interested to hear what we have to say and every time someone wants to come to a show, it’s always something we feel humbled by and appreciative of and thankful of. With me personally, with all this you just hope people want to listen and that’s all you can ask.
Rich: The record for us has been two years in the making and it’s been a lot of hours, a lot of work, a lot of dedication and we just feel like it’s a great expression of what we want to put out there. It’s a story and for us it’s a blessing to be able to do that. To have one person besides your mom, or your dad or your brother, your friend, give a sh*t, it’s great. To see people at our show, it’s crazy.
Is there anything you want to plug or let your fans know about?
Nikki & Rich: We are constantly putting up new music on nikkiandrich.com; sometime random giveaways and shows. You can follow us on Twitter @nikkiandrich ‘cus we trying to get that poppin’.
Check out their video for “City Lights” and click next for more photos of the talented duo.
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Nikki & Rich are the latest supergroup to hit the scene.
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Nikki & Rich are releasing their debut album in September.
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Nikki is the singer; Rich is the producer.
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Nikki planking at the GlobalGrind office.
