Colors Nikolai Paiva (born June 10, 1988), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Niko Is (stylized as NIKO IS), is a Brazilian-American hip hop recording artist born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Currently based in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, he is signed to

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

Javotti Media Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

. Niko's catalogue includes projects like Chill Cosby and the Good Blood LP, which were both released to generally positive reviews and moderate success. His

debut, Brutus, was produced by frequent collaborator, Thanks Joey and was released to critical acclaim on February 4, 2015.

Early life

Nikolai Paiva was born in

, his mother's home country. The two moved to

when Niko was seven years of age. Niko began showing an interest in music while attending

Dr. Phillips High School Dr. Phillips High School is a public high school in Dr. Phillips, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It serves the Dr. Phillips census-designated place (CDP), the Bay Hill CDP, and the residential portion of Lake Buena Vista. History Dr ...

, where he began working with

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, Thanks Joey. The duo released a number of popular singles and mixtapes. Niko was known in school for performing spontaneous

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

and drawing crowds. After high school, Niko pursued his music career and developed a style influenced by an assortment of genres, from hip hop and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

Career

2012 - Chill Cosby

In 2012 Niko Is independently released Chill Cosby. The mixtape was well received locally and would help Niko garner a strong internet buzz. The single, "Steffi Graf" featuring

Action Bronson Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...

, was featured on popular websites such as

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

, 2DopeBoyz, Complex Magazine and others. The independent project landed Niko an interview with

Vibe Magazine ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

and aligned him with regional tastemakers, such as DJ Smallz and Ayo the Producer.

2013 - Good Blood LP

Good Blood, a precursor to his long awaited Brutus project, was Niko's first release in 2014. The title is the literal English translation of the Brazilian term, 'Sangue Bom' and Niko says that he created many characters in the album to be direct representations of his culture. Good Blood was entirely produced by Thanks Joey with the exception of the self-produced "Onda". The project received positive reviews, with

Orlando Weekly ''Orlando Weekly'' is a liberal progressive alternative newsweekly distributed in the Greater Orlando area of Florida. Every Thursday, 40,000 issues of the paper are distributed to more than 1,100 locations across Orange, Osceola and Seminole coun ...

commenting, "Bigger than his fro and a clear level up, Good Blood is the sound of an artist hitting major-league stride." In May 2013, Niko recorded a song with industry veteran,

, for his Brutus project. Kweli then developed an interest in Niko's career and had asked him to join his recently formed

label.

Brutus - Present

Niko released ''Brutus'', with longtime collaborator, Thanks Joey. The album was released through

and features

and other notable artists. upon release of the album Dan-O writing for Freemusicempire passionately presented praise for the album "Niko is less silly on Brutus (still very silly) and more focused on rapping himself into history. I always think of it as that Reasonable Doubt mindstate; that album is special because you can feel Jay saying “if this is my one shot I’ve got to tell you everything” and this is Niko’s statement." Since the release of ''Brutus'', along with his creative-partner, Thanks Joey, Niko has been working extensively with Colours of the Culture, a global collective of visual artists and musicians. Colours released their first collaborative project, ''Roy G Biv: What a Colorful World'' in October 2015. The album features guest appearances from

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of hip hop group the Lox, alongside childhood friends Sheek Louch and Jadakiss. ...

, Niko Is and other Colours of the Culture affiliates. Niko Is appeared on four songs on Talib Kweli &

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a 1988 births Living people Rappers from Florida Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Dr. Phillips High School alumni 21st-century American rappers