Nikki Jean

Nicolle Jean Leary (born August 25, 1983), better known as Nikki Jean, is an American singer-songwriter. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Jean started out as a lead singer of a short-lived Philadelphia band called Nouveau Riche. She was introduced to rapper Lupe Fiasco when he was working on his 2007 album Lupe Fiasco's The Cool and achieved initial success as the featuring artist on his single "Hip Hop Saved My Life". She continues to collaborate frequently with him.

After two years of co-writing songs with many different songwriters for her debut album, including Bob Dylan and Carole King, Jean released Pennies in a Jar in 2011. The album received positive reviews but commercially underperformed. Her solo career continued with three extended plays: the X-Mas EP (2013), the Champagne Water EP (2014), and Beautiful Prison (2019).

Early life Nicolle Jean Leary was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on August 25, 1983. Her father was a government aid agency worker and her mother was a labor lawyer. Jean developed an early interest in songwriting after watching Irving Berlin's 100th birthday in 1983, and started learning the piano aged eight. Her mother's interest in folk music led her to learn the importance of writing lyrics that are easy to sing along to.

Career

2005–2008: Nouveau Riche and Lupe Fiasco's The Cool After graduating in 2005, Jean was invited to perform at a Labor Day barbecue in Philadelphia by The Roots. Their member Dice Raw asked Jean to join his new band called the Disease (renamed Nouveau Riche two weeks later) after hearing her play piano in a studio. Jean accepted the offer and moved to the city, where she lived in the neighborhood of Manayunk. The five-member Nouveau Riche released two extended plays (EPs) when it was active from 20052008. As the lead singer, Jean co-wrote many of the band's songs.

Jean was working with producers Chris & Drop, who played one of Jean's songs to rapper Lupe Fiasco. Fiasco invited her to collaborate with him. She featured on two tracks on his album Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (2007): "Little Weapon" and the single "Hip Hop Saved My Life", which she co-wrote. She later went on the tour for the album. Jean and Fiasco performed as one of the opening acts in Kanye West's 2008 Glow in the Dark Tour. She believed her lack of mainstream success helped her secure collaborations, which allowed her to approach each writer as a fan. She was originally signed to Columbia Records but was let go in late 2010 as her music seemed "more mature" than they anticipated; the album was instead released on July 12, 2011 by indie label S-Curve Records, titled Pennies in a Jar. its songs failed to chart except in Japan, where it reached the Top 10 singles. Hollander would later write in his autobiography, "In my mind, I'd totally failed Nikki. [...] I'd under-thought the greatest idea ever and hung her out to dry in the process. She deserved better. This was easily the biggest miss of my career, and man, it stung."

2011–present: Extended plays and further collaborations Jean later moved to Los Angeles. She released the X-Mas EP in 2013, Vibe premiered the extended play of the same name on November 19, 2014, containing six songs which concern topics such as police shootings, heartbreak and religion. Jake One, Like, Double-O, Donnie Trumpet and Nate Fox serve as producers.

She featured on several songs on Lupe Fiasco's 2015 album Tetsuo & Youth. Jean, Fiasco and The Roots performed "Little Death" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in February 2015. She and Fiasco also appeared for the first season of Why? with Hannibal Buress (2015). Jean later featured on songs from Fiasco's 2018 album Drogas Wave. In 2019, Jean released the seven-track EP Beautiful Prison through Rhymesayers Entertainment, with Fiasco featuring on the Jake One-produced single "Mr. Clean". She also released a short film called Get Free.

Musical style and influences A soul and pop artist and songwriter who often features on hip-hop songs, Pennies in a Jar featured pop and soul music reminiscent of the 1960s–80s era in which many of her co-writers flourished. AllMusic's Andy Kellman said that the songs contained, perhaps, "a modernized hip-hop spin".

EPs X-Mas EP (2013) Champagne Water EP (2014) Beautiful Prison (2019)