We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nikki Hayes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nikki below.
Nikki, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
It was when my best friend in middle school got a camera and wanted to record a video of me singing for YouTube. I believe it was the beginning years of YouTube. It was a cover of “Melt my Heart to Stone” by Adele. Over that year, I saw people from around the world commenting on the video. I’d always loved music and I’d always loved singing. As a child, I always said that I was going to be a singer when I grew up but I didn’t really know how to do it so the YouTube video definitely formed a spark. From there, someone who worked at a record label sent me a message on YouTube and that was when I knew that I could do this.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m an R&B Singer/Songwriter. I’ve worked with Grammy Award winning and nominated producers and artists – from Good Music’s Malik Yusef, to Kuk Harrell, to Ye Ali. I’m most proud of the placements that I’ve gotten on different televsion shows (All American, For Life, Claws, Tyler Perry’s Sistas). My music is very soulful and intimate and I hope artists are able to not only feel it through the music, but I hope the music inspires them to explore themselves and their own vulnerabilities.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I love watching a song come together. I know for a lot of artists, including myself – we draw from our life experiences and ourselves internally. Whether it is love, heartbreak, self-exploration, accomplishments, etc – to see areas of my life in the timeless form of music is so rewarding.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Maybe not knowing about it earlier, but taking advantage of it and that is making your own studio and engineering. It was something that I knew that people did but I didn’t take advantage of it until 2020. YouTube has an abundance of information on how to record your own vocals that I definitely utilze now but I wish I took advantage of it sooner.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://itsnikkihayes.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsnikkihayes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItsNikkiHayes/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsnikkihayes
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/nikkihayes1
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/itsnikkihayes
Image Credits
Photographer: Deshaun Matthews