Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Naïka

American and French-Haitian singer-songwriter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Naïka
Remove ads
For other people with the same name, see Naika.

Victoria Naicka Richard[1], known professionally as Naïka, is an American-born French-Haitian singer and songwriter.

Quick Facts Background information, Birth name ...
Remove ads

Early life and education

Born in Miami to a Haitian mother and a Malagasy father, Naïka spent her childhood living in various countries and regions, namely Paris, Guadeloupe, Kenya, South Africa and Vanuatu, before moving back to Miami when she was 16.[2][3][4][5] She developed her musical interests at an early age.[4][6][7]

In 2015, Naïka placed second in the BMI John Lennon Foundation Scholarship competition.[5][8][9] She studied Performance as her major at Berklee College of Music in Boston,[5][7][10] being selected during her first year for a tour with Michael Bolton. She participated in the NBC casting show The Voice[8][9] and, during her 7th semester, she was selected to take part in a bootcamp class by songwriter Kara DioGuardi, which resulted in her debut single "Ride". Following her graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career.[4][11]

Remove ads

Career

Summarize
Perspective
Thumb
Naïka on the German TV show ZDF-Fernsehgarten in 2018

Her 2016 rendition of the Haitian traditional song "Papa Gèdè (Bel Gason)" received 200,000 clicks within two days[7][8] and a total of over 1 million views. After the success of her 2017 debut single "Ride", which obtained 5 million Spotify streams – resulting in a second place on the platform's Global Viral chart – and charted in twelve countries, she signed a two-year contract with Capitol Records (a division of Universal Music).[5]

After releasing several singles between 2017 and 2019, she rose to prominence in early 2020, when a TikTok video of her version of "Don't Rush" garnered over 20 million views in three months, drawing the attention of the original artists Young T & Bugsey. In 2020 and 2021, respectively, she released the EPs Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 1 and Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 2, under the label AWAL.[5][12] In April 2024, Naïka made an appearance during Saint Levant's performance at Coachella 2024, duetting to an unreleased song.[13] Her debut album is scheduled for release in 2025.[3]

Artistry

Naïka is a multilingual artist, singing in French, Haitian Creole, and English.[3][8][10] Her musical style, which she defines "world pop", is based on a mix of world music – blending European (particularly French), African, Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean music – with pop, soul and R&B.[2][3][4][6][8][12] She cites influences from Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, as well as classical composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[4]

Remove ads

Personal life

Naïka lives and works in Los Angeles.[4] Since 2023, she has been in a relationship with Palestinian rapper Saint Levant.[14][15]

Discography

Thumb
Naïka's logo in use since 2020

EPs

  • Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 1 (2020)
  • Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 2 (2021)
  • TRANSITIONS EP (2022)

Singles

  • "Ride" (2017)
  • "Limbo" (2017)
  • "Serpentine" (2018)
  • "Oh Mama" (2018)
  • "Blame" (2018)
  • "Snowing in L.A." (2018)
  • "Deja Vu" (2019)
  • "Enchanté" (with SACHI; 2020)
  • "Head in the Clouds" (feat. TeaMarrr; 2020)
  • "Water" (2020)
  • "African Sun" (2020)
  • "Sauce" (2021)
  • "Belle, Belle!" (2021)
  • "Don't Lie" (2021)
  • "H2O" (2022)
  • "My Body, My Choice" (2022)
  • "Guava" (2023)
  • "Milkman" (2023)
  • "Messi" (with June Freedom; 2023)
  • "6:45" (2024)
  • "1+1 (Acoustic)" (2024)
  • "6:45 (Acoustic)" (2024)
  • "Messi (Sunset Mix)" (with June Freedom and Peace Control; 2024)
  • "Layers" (2025)

Charted singles

More information Title, Year ...
Remove ads

References

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads