Artist

Niykee Heaton

Last updated: 18 hours ago

An artist whose output alternates between acoustic pop ballads and bleary slow jams inspired by contemporary rap and R&B, Niykee Heaton was discovered through her YouTube channel. In 2011, while still enrolled in high school, the suburban Chicago native began uploading clips of performances recorded in her bedroom -- covers of R&B, rap, and pop hits, along with occasional originals, for which she accompanied herself on acoustic guitar. Near the end of the following year, a version of <a href="spotify:artist:15iVAtD3s3FsQR4w1v6M0P">Chief Keef</a>'s "Love Sosa" was featured on the website WorldStarHipHop -- the day before the singer turned 18 -- and she subsequently caught the attention of Steve Rifkind and <a href="spotify:artist:7HXSDsfCgKWhoeWD31IdWw">Russell Simmons</a>, who signed her to their <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a> affiliate <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22All+Def%22">All Def</a> label. Bad Intentions, a six-track EP of alternately sleek and strummy pop-R&B hybrids, was released in September 2014. Late the following year, she performed a series of concerts in Canada and the U.S., dubbed The Bedroom Tour. In March 2016, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a> proper issued The Bedroom Tour Playlist. Pushed as a mixtape, it featured remixed and remastered material that Heaton had previously made available through her active self-promotion via social media. The mixtape debuted at number 39 on the Billboard 200. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

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