Nikkiya ‘Sailing’ to the top

Atlanta-based down-a$$ R&B chick sails to DJBooth.net’s top chart spot

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Resident ATLien, and SupaHotBeats alt-R&B artist, Nikkiya dropped new track “Sailing” this week and it debuted at No. 1 on DJBooth.net’s R&B/Pop chart — a helluva feat considering she sits atop a stack loaded with heavy-hitters including Tyrese, the-Dream, Trey Songz, Rihanna, Frank Ocean, and R. Kelly.

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NIKKIYA “SAILING” by Supahotbeats

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The song features her singing atop a loop of Joe Sample’s “In All My Wildest Dreams” — famously sampled by De La for their De La Soul is Dead album skits and Tupac’s “Dear Mama” joint.

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It takes a bold artist to jump on top of Sample’s storied sample, but Nikkiya owns it with smoky, vinyl-crackling vocals, equal parts badass chick and Badu-esque. But as her 2011 debut street album SpeakHer proved, she’s cultivated her own style, i.e. she will cuss yo motherlovin’ a$$ out (remember “Cheater”?), then fie up a blunt afterward (“When I Was High”) like it ain’t nothin.

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“Sailing” is the first leak from her forthcoming iTunes release, SpeakHer Overload, a reloaded version of SpeakHer with five new songs, due to drop in early February. It serves as the appetizer to her 2012 full-length NIKKILLA.

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Correction: Nikkiya is not signed directly to Yelawolf’s Slumerican, but is affiliated with the label.