Music Mission

Indonesian singer and songwriter NIKI is on a mission to reverse the underrepresentation of Asian artists in American music industry.

- Elisa Valenta

Only a few Indonesian musicians man-age to build an international career, especially in the American music industry. One is the singer and songwriter Nicole Zefanya (21) that goes with her stage name NIKI. So far, she has amassed over 160 million streams to date, slamming the door on the teen pop stardom's conventions--she writes, records, and produces her music on her own. Moreover, she seems to be the only Indonesian artist building an international career that understands the importance of a mission statement in the industry. In the summer of 2019, in front of over 23,000 audiences attending the Head in the Clouds Music + Art Festival in Los Angeles, where she was the fest's only female headliner, NIKI said loud: I just want to say, as an Asian female, I do not take this day and this stage for granted. My hope is that above everything else today, that you feel heard, you feel understood, but most of all, that you feel represented.

NIKI is not shy about her identity, either. She sang several Indonesian songs at stages in the US – at last year's Head in the Clouds, she sang Indonesia's national anthem and invited the crowd to sing along. The mission statement that she stated strengthens the unique identity that resonates with the issue of equal opportunity in general, specifically in the American music industry, where there has been a lot of discussion on the barriers for Asian musicians getting in. It is also the same mission that the New York-based music platform and label company 88rising founded by Sean Miyashiro has to carve its way into the US music industry with Asian artists, including NIKI.