Nikitaa is making it On her Own
Los Angeles-based artist Nikitaa is a vanguardist through and through. Her innovative new sound combines the best of R&B and Ethereal/alternative pop into an exotic new SoundFont directly informed by her Indian roots and a galore of influences.
Nikitaa was born and raised in Mumbai, where she began her musical formation in earnest at the age of four with piano lessons and Indian Classical. Growing up, Nikitaa would go on to to participate in School choirs and group competitions all through her teens, when she would convince her parents to send her to Los Angeles to study and get immersed in one of the most important cities in the industry.
Her songs are as catchy as they are spiritual, so much so in fact that she refers to her work as "goddess pop", a kind of purpose-driven musical style intrinsically related with a celebration of the "divine feminine".
"Every person has a Goddess power within them that honors the feminine within and without. I hope to remind people of this and uplift and empower them with my music, giving them space to express all their feelings no matter what it is they feel. Goddess Pop is a genre where I get to be everything I want to be—an expansive being with a genre-melding sound"
Nikitaa's newest single is called "On My Own", and it wasn't released just after Valentine's for no reason, this song is a cathartic anthem for those tired of being alone. The music is vibrant and filled with unique instrumentation meant to deliver you into a whole new soundscape you've probably never been in.
Even though "On My Own" talks about loneliness and even heartache, it's not a full-on lament of any sort, it sort of celebrates the longing, and it presents itself as this beautiful piece on romantic vulnerability and idealism that you just don't ever hear any more nowadays.
Meet the author
Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based.
I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.