Niki (singer)

Nicole Zefanya (born 24 January 1999), known professionally as Niki (stylized all caps), is an Indonesian singer-songwriter. Having garnered global recognition for her songwriting and musicianship, she is currently based in the United States and signed with the record label 88rising. Her debut full-length studio album, '' Moonchild'' (2020), was named one of the best Asian albums of the year by ''NME''. It was followed by '' Nicole'' (2022) and '' Buzz'' (2024). She has performed solo concerts in 17 countries across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America during the Nicole World Tour (2022–2023) and the Buzz World Tour (2024–2025), including arena shows in Canada, England, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Niki is the most-streamed Indonesian artist, with over 4.6 billion streams on Spotify as of April 2025. Her hit songs include global chart entries "Every Summertime" and " You'll Be in My Heart", as well as "Lowkey", "La La Lost You", "Oceans & Engines", "High School in Jakarta", "Backburner", and "Take a Chance with Me", which all reached top 40 in several Asian countries. In 2020, Niki was listed on ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Asia.

Early life

Niki was born on 24 January 1999, and was raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. Niki taught herself how to play and write music from a young age, after receiving her first guitar at 9 years old. She grew up to '90s music, R&B and hip-hop, along with her mother who would sing gospel in the church. Niki attended Pelita Harapan School in Jakarta.

At 15, Niki won a contest to perform as the opening act for Taylor Swift's The Red Tour in Jakarta. As a teenager, Niki maintained a YouTube channel, on which she uploaded original songs and covers, performed on acoustic guitar and filmed in her bedroom.

Career

In 2017, Niki moved from Jakarta to Nashville, Tennessee, to study music at Lipscomb University. During this time, she released her first singles "I Like U" and "See U Never" under the name Niki through the American record label 88rising.

On 20 July 2018, Niki appeared on the 88rising collaborative album '' Head in the Clouds'', contributing five songs.

On 24 April 2019, Niki released the single "Lowkey", leading into her second EP '' wanna take this downtown?''. In October 2019, Niki appeared on 88rising's ''Head in the Clouds II''. In support of the album, Niki released a live acoustic EP titled ''Niki Acoustic Sessions: Head in the Clouds II''.

On 2 April 2020, Niki released the single "Switchblade" and announced her debut full-length album '' Moonchild''. This was followed by the subsequent singles "Selene" and "Lose". ''Moonchild'' was released on 10 September 2020. In support of the album, Niki premiered a livestream concert titled Moonchild Experience, which aired 10 October 2021, on YouTube and Kaskus TV. On 15 December 2020, Niki released a holiday single titled "Hallway Weather".

On 10 August 2021, Niki released "Every Summertime", the lead single from the official soundtrack to ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings''. Niki contributed four songs to the film's soundtrack, which was released on 3 September 2021.

In April 2022, Niki made her debut appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival alongside labelmate Rich Brian, becoming the first Indonesian artists to perform at the festival.

On 3 June 2022, Niki released the first single from her sophomore album '' Nicole'', titled "Before". This was followed by the announcement of The Nicole Tour, her debut North American tour. Subsequent singles from ''Nicole'' include "Oceans and Engines" (released 8 July 2022) and " High School in Jakarta" (released 5 August 2022). On 12 August 2022, ''Nicole'' was released. '' Vanity Fair'' contributor Delia Cai wrote that ''Nicole'' is "a sonic time capsule of a breakup album that explores heartache in perhaps its most devastating form." NPR discussed ''Nicole'' on its '' All Songs Considered'' podcast and stated, "Something Niki does really well is get to the emotional heart of the matter."

Alongside the album, a short film titled ''But I'm Letting Go'' starring Niki and Peter Adrian Sudarso and directed by Isaac Ravishankara was released through Amazon Prime Video on 18 August 2022. The short film was supported by screening events in Los Angeles, New York, and Jakarta. In October 2022, Niki announced the Asia leg of The Nicole Tour.

In April 2023, Niki appeared on the cover of '' Vogue Singapore''s "Pop" issue.

In May 2023, Niki released ''Niki: Live at The Wiltern'', her first live album. Alongside the release, she announced expanded tour dates for The Nicole Tour, which included festival performances at Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, 2023 Singapore Grand Prix and headline shows across North America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Australia. On 31 May 2023, Niki made her debut appearance on NPR's ''Tiny Desk Concerts'', performing "Every Summertime" alongside three songs from ''Nicole''. NPR writer and editor Stephen Thompson wrote that the set had him "swaying, swooning and swimming in high hopes".

On 12 January 2024, Niki released the single "24", which she wrote in an attempt to synthesize her early twenties and many humbling things she had learned before turning 25.

On 3 May 2024, she released "Too Much of a Good Thing", the lead single for her third album '' Buzz''. This was followed by the announcement of Buzz World Tour (2024–2025). Subsequent singles includes "Blue Moon" (released on 21 June 2024) and "Tsunami" (released on 26 July 2024). ''Buzz'' was released on 9 August 2024.

Other ventures

Endorsements

In October 2020, Niki was named a brand ambassador for the Indonesian e-commerce platform Blibli.

Philanthropy

In May 2020, Niki participated in the virtual concert "Asia Rising Forever," organized by 88rising to commemorate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and to raise funds for Asian Americans Advancing Justice. During her segment, she prepared orange chicken while encouraging viewers to donate. The event raised over .

Discography

* '' Moonchild'' (2020)
* '' Nicole'' (2022)
* '' Buzz'' (2024)

Concert tours

Headlining

* Nicole World Tour (2022–2023)
* Buzz World Tour (2024–2025)

Opening act

*Taylor Swift's The Red Tour (Jakarta only) (2014)
* Rich Brian's Australia & New Zealand Tour (2018)
* Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour (All Asia dates) (2018)

Accolades

Honors

Listicles

See also

* Rich Brian
* Stephanie Poetri

References

External links

*

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Living people
1999 births
21st-century Indonesian women singers
Indonesian contemporary R&B singers
English-language singers from Indonesia
Musicians from Jakarta
Indonesian expatriates in the United States