NIKKI AND
RICH Soulful, Hip and Uber-Talented by bill biss In the history of popular music, sometimes
“it takes two, baby, to make a dream come true.” Such is the case with the magical and very musical duo of Nikki and Rich. The com- bination of Rich Skillz’s musicianship, produc- tion and music writing combined with Nikki Leonti’s amazingly powerful, sensual and chameleon-like voice and lyrical skills create major sparks on their Reprise debut CD called Everything. The Rage Monthly spoke with the two of them just weeks before their release drops on August 17. Let’s find out more about this dynamic duo, shall we?
The Rage Monthly: You two have been compared to a lot of musical duos of the past. No one has ever compared you to Captain and Tennille though. Nikki and Rich: (laughter)
Nikki: I like that.
Rage: The music is so wonderful. Nikki and Rich: Thank you.
Rage: Rich, a question for you. Please tell me about the experience of the first time you heard Nikki sing? Rich: It was amazing. I just heard this power in this voice. I think the first thing that
hit me was not so much how I was blown away…that was an instant. But, the fact that I was excited to get something. The music that she had played me, I felt she wasn’t using what she had in her. She had acoustic and country and all that. It was all great, but I really thought with her voice and us doing this kind of soul and pop thing that we do, would really work with her. I completely changed my whole production style accordingly. She was just this raw talent that came in and I was just blown away.
Rage: Nikki, your voice really is incredible. I wanted to ask you about the song called, “Take the Lead.” Did you write the lyrics for that? Nikki: Yes, but that was definitely a collaboration with Rich and myself. It’s a subject
matter that maybe strays a little differently than what a lot of people speak of when they talk about relationships. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.
Rage: The lyrics might not be construed as feminist. Though, a portion of the lyrics clearly states, “I’m going to be my own person and be as strong as you.” It’s stunning. Rich: That’s the funny thing about that song is the false sense of “this is the woman
allowing the guy to take the lead.” It’s not like: you can take the lead…you’re being al- lowed to (laughter).
Rage: How much time did you two spend deciding on the order of the songs on Everything? Nikki: Wow. We had a few different orders on the record before we determined how it would be done.
Rich: We got some input from our A&R person, Watts Russell. He was very intricate in helping with that. We had our original order and then the new order kind of changed very lightly.
Rage: It was very creative of you Rich to weave in a touch of the 1960s girl groups in a couple of songs. Then, lyrically, to do something, which is modern in tone, which counter balances that classic sound in the beginning of the album. But then, with the song, “Same Kind of Man” and Nikki goes all “Leona Lewis, Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey” with her voice on that. Nikki and Rich (laughter)
Rage: Listening to Nikki sing, it was like, “this woman has a voice that can do pretty much any- thing!” Rich: I agree with you there.
Rage: Nikki, you were raised in a very religious household. You have commented that you only listened to Christian music growing up. When you were able to buy an album on your own, what was one of the first albums you remember buying? Nikki: I was 16 at the time. At the church we were going to, somebody snuck me a copy
of Mariah Carey’s Music Box and her Christmas album. So, when my parents would leave, I would play that record. That was my first exposure to anything non-Christian. I was blown away by the vocals and everything she did. That was the first. Later, when I was 18 and out of the house, I was listening to James Taylor and Chicago.
AUGUST 2010 | RAGE monthly 31
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