Nikki Jean

Vocalist and songwriter Nikki Jean, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:3m5Ysd5B0bTHW5Cd1aJ5n9">Nouveau Riche</a>, a Philadelphia-based group featuring <a href="spotify:artist:78xUyw6FkVZrRAtziFdtdu">Roots</a> affiliate <a href="spotify:artist:7df4aW2MDoNsEhmJ2NRoro">Dice Raw</a>. The group released a pair of EPs and never achieved lift-off, though Nikki did some outside work during that time, including the lead vocal on a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:0Ty63ceoRnnJKVEYP0VQpk">Sting</a>’s “Be Still My Beating Heart,” recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:1h2OVSKRdJHnVqyCKqCLkf">?uestlove</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:78xUyw6FkVZrRAtziFdtdu">the Roots</a>' Randy Watson Project for <a href="spotify:artist:3WbeZvDk1COiO2dEokZqn7">Ubiquity</a>’s Rewind! 5 compilation. She gained wider exposure in late 2007, when she contributed vocals to two tracks on <a href="spotify:artist:01QTIT5P1pFP3QnnFSdsJf">Lupe Fiasco</a>'s The Cool -- “Little Weapon” and the single “Hip Hop Saved My Life,” the latter of which she also co-wrote. The following year, she performed with <a href="spotify:artist:01QTIT5P1pFP3QnnFSdsJf">Fiasco</a> as one of the opening acts on <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a>'s Glow in the Dark Tour. She subsequently focused on her solo career and forged a close alliance with producer Sam Hollander; she sought him specifically for his work on <a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6">Carole King</a>'s Love Makes the World. Hollander and Nikki conspired to gain songwriting input from a a number of legends, most of whom peaked during the '60s and '70s. Though Columbia signed Nikki, the label didn't see the project through and dropped her in October 2010. S Curve swept her up and released the album, Pennies in a Jar, in July 2011. The diverse set of throwback-oriented songs, all custom built by Nikki Jean's light yet powerful voice, counted King, Thom Bell, Lamont Dozier, Paul Williams, <a href="spotify:artist:35y7CZMg7jbG8Q96JY7dyC">Burt Bacharach</a>, Jeff Barry, Jimmy Webb, and <a href="spotify:artist:4FtSnMlCVxCswABUmdhwpm">Carly Simon</a> among its staggering list of co-composers. The album also featured “Steel and Feathers,” a song intended for <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Bob Dylan</a>'s 1981 album Shot of Love that had been left incomplete and unrecorded for three decades. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi