Before she was known internationally as NIKI, Nicole Zefanya posted songs on YouTube under the name nzee24. The Indonesian singer, songwriter, and producer took those recordings down after signing with 88rising and leveling up her career, but now she’s revisiting many of her early songs on her sophomore album, Nicole, which arrives today.
Nicole doesn’t just contain reimagined versions of nzee24 tunes. The first half of the album features “new & archived songs no one’s ever heard before,” according to a statement by NIKI back in June. “This project is without a doubt my most favorite thing I have ever made as an artist,” NIKI added. “It’s where younger me and current me meet and hang and have a fucking blast together.”
NIKI previewed the project with the singles “Before,” “Oceans & Engines,” and “High School In Jakarta,” all of which fared well on the Genius Top Songs chart. NIKI has credited Taylor Swift—whom she opened for in Jakarta in 2014—with inspiring her to revisit her older material.
