Beautiful and talented singer-songwriter Naika Richard or Naika as she's professionally known is an indie lover's dream. Born in Miami, Florida to a Haitian mother and Malagasy father, her musical influences are a mix of European, Caribbean, and African. Growing up her dad's job had them move around a lot which had them living in such countries as Europe, the South Pacific, Africa, and the Caribbean. These experiences of cultures and music influenced her musical taste. Keep in mind with many of those cultures music plays a very big part in people's lives.
Naika as a child listened to world music in her home but at the age of seven, she discovered the music of Britney Spears, Black Eyes Peas, Destiny's Child, and others. Since then she never lost her love for pop music and therefore calls her music "world pop." She says it's a mix of her cultural roots with her love of pop music. She credits her teacher while living in Kenya with introducing her to opera music and letting her record CDs of the music lessons they learned that day. At 14 her father bought her a piano and she studied classical music for a couple of years and eventually started writing her own music. Later in life, she was accepted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She decided in 2019 to post some videos of her song, Don't Rush to TikTok never imagining that it would become popular. Naika says it was the best decision she ever made. Last year she released her debut EP, Lost In Paradise, Pt. 1 to great acclaim, and just released her second EP, Lost In Paradise, Pt 2 earlier this month. Check out this world music pop diva and support independent music worldwide. Happy listening!
Ma Cherie
Comments