Niyamani: THE BIGGEST!
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Niyamani, an emerging artist whose journey into music has been both personal and transformative. With a unique blend of influences from New York City culture and an innovative take on lyrical delivery, Niyamani brings her own fresh perspective to the scene.
From Brooklyn, the city that’s shaped not just her sound but also her musical network. Niyamani dives into her story, reflecting on her roots and the impact of her upbringing with music. With a stage name that’s both personal and powerful, she shares how her journey began and the pivotal moments that shaped her into “The Biggest Ni.”
In this conversation, Niyamani discusses her latest EPs, including “Niyamani vs. the Club,” giving us insight into her creative process and cross-city collaborations. From the cover art that encapsulates multiple facets of her artistry to her work with producers like Amiri Mikel of No Label, Niyamani offers us a glimpse into her world.
Join us as we dive deeper into the life and artistry of Niyamani, uncovering the inspirations behind her music and what the future holds for this rising talent. This interview captures the essence of Niyamani’s journey, setting the stage for an engaging and evolving platform for her music, influences, and aspirations.
Good to go?
Yes! I hope it’s okay that I’m rolling up right now?
Of course. I wish. So first can you just tell me a little bit about yourself?
Okay! So my name is Niyamani, that’s my stage name as well. I kept it as my actual name just because I loved it so much. I’ve always loved my name. I am 24 years old. I’m an artist, and I’ve been making music for about a year now.
My first song “Moving On” has been out for a year, and it just hit 1000 plays. So that’s pretty cool!
Part of your brand, even on your IG handle, is the phrase “the biggest”. What does that mean for you as an artist?
So it actually started because it’s a factual thing. I’m like five eight and a half, five nine. So I always just thought I’m large. So I just kind of took that, and it’s actually something that I used to be a little bit self conscious about. Which is interesting because growing up, I did not like my height. I felt like I was just really big. But actually grew into it, and I feel like by calling myself “The Biggest Ni”, helped switch the way I thought about myself, because it’s more of a compliment.
You said you’re from New York, right?
Yes, I’m from Brooklyn!
Your whole life?
Exactly, yeah.
What was it like growing up there? And how do you think that affected you as an artist?
Well, growing up in the city, it’s like its own culture, like the New York City culture or whatever. I feel like it really shaped who I am because it shaped who I listen to. It wasn’t until I got a little bit older that I started branching out into more like underground artists, quote unquote.
For example, the whole drill scene. My first song was a drill song, and drill technically started in Chicago, but New York has its own drill scene. So I felt like that influenced me and the abrasiveness of my flow.
I feel like that all comes from where I come from because that’s just how we are.
You have a couple EPs out right now. The one that has “Radio Killer”. What’s that one called again?
It’s called Niyamani vs. the Club.
Can you walk me through the process of making that?
Yeah! So that project came along pretty quickly only because I knew I wanted to drop something, and I wanted to drop it around my birthday. My birthday is on Christmas. I think it dropped on the 27th or something like that. So I tried to do it around there.
The process was basically picking between the songs that I already made and trying to decipher which ones will be the most cohesive to do for an EP. Because once I first started making music, I didn’t start actually recording until a good few months afterwards. So I already had songs lined up ready to just be recorded,
So from that, it was a matter of, okay, which songs are good enough or which songs, like I said, are cohesive? Which songs do I want the album to be about or the EP to be? I just felt like I wanted to go more of a route that most people aren’t going down, which is the Jersey Club route. That’s why I started off doing, like, Niyamani vs. the Club, because it’s my take on all of these club songs.
Who made the cover art for that?
It’s a good friend of mine, Passion. We actually met right when I just became our artist. So we’ve been friends for, like, a year now. She’s done the cover art for Niyamani vs. the Club, as well as Is You Down. I wish I could just drop her tag right here.
You can text it to me.
Okay!
I can shout her out. (@xvippt)
Of course.
What is it supposed to represent?
It’s supposed to be six different versions of me and different outfits that I’ve worn before and different hairstyles that I’ve worn before and it’s just a house party. So I found that really cool.
Is it six different people because of the different songs?
Yeah, it became six songs. I was thinking about dropping a 7th, and I was like: “No, let me just keep it six”. Then it ended up being six people on the cover as well, so, yeah, that’s a cool little detail.
I wanted to also ask about working with Amiri [of No Label]. We just did an interview with them, too.
Oh, nice!
What was that collaboration like?
So it’s been really cool working with Amiri. It’s been very comfortable. What’s the word I’m looking for? Professional, I guess. He’s very about his work. I’m always able to just be like, ‘Miri, can you send me a beat? And there’s always a magical beat that he sends me, and I’m like: “Yo, this is hard. Why have you been sitting on this?”
I feel like our chemistry is pretty good. I usually just get his beats and write to them, then go to the ‘stu. I’ve invited him to the ‘stu just so he could see how the process works, because I’m not sure how involved he is with No Label’s recordings. But I wanted to bring him on the journey.
This is kind of a hard question, but if you could describe your sound, what would you call it?
What would I call it? I would call it… almost like… you know how they have alternative R&B?
Yeah.
I will call it alternative hip-hop. Because it’s still hip hop most of the time, but it has a lot of alternative elements to it, because I feel like my flows change. I try not to keep one flow and then I never want to stay on the same sound for too long, which could be a good thing and a bad thing as an artist.
So that’s why I would have to just condense it into being alternative hip hop.
I’ve been to one of your shows you hosted and you performed. At the Brooklyn Art Cave. What’s the performing aspect of your artistry like, and how do you approach it?
Right now, I would say I’m pretty laid back in terms of performing. Not on purpose. I don’t try, but I let the performances come to me. People will reach out to me, like: “Oh, would you like to perform at this place?”
That’s kind of how the ball has just been rolling right now. I haven’t been too intuitive in terms of looking out for performances myself, which is something that I kind of want to change, because I do enjoy the performance aspect a lot. I feel like that performing is a great way to meet new people, meet new
fans, or meet people that you might even end up working with in the future. Because that’s how I met Amiri, through No Label. They were at one of the shows, and I ended up just connecting with them, and I’ve been following them ever since.
What’s a studio session like for you?
Standard studio session? It’s funny because I’m at one of my friend’s studios now, and this is actually the same studio I recorded Radio Killer in. So I felt like I had to come back and refill the vibe.
Basically, a typical studio session, it would probably have maybe one or two other people. I don’t really like too many people in my studio sessions. That’s just me. It would definitely have cannabis. I like to smoke, so I’ll probably roll up before I go into the booth. I’ve been recording with the same engineer for a while, too. I typically don’t branch out. Right now I’m branching out.
What’s your first memories with music?
So my first memories of music will probably be listening to, I think it was a Mariah Carey album and, like, a Beyonce album. Those are, like, some of the two first albums I got as a kid, and I would just listen to it and I’d be like, oh, okay, this is this song, this is that song.
I started to kind of remember the songs because I like them, and then from there, it started with poetry to be honest. I know most artists say: “Yeah, I started with poetry.” But I did really start with poetry. I felt like the poetry that I like to do was not very abstract. It was very to the point. It had a rhyme scheme. And then from there on, I was like, okay, since my poems are so rhythmic, I can start putting it to music.
In school, I would do these little class projects. If you get a creative project in school or whatever, especially starting in high school, I was like: “Okay, I’ll write a song.” That way it’s like, I don’t have to be an artist. It’s not like at that time I was an artist, but it still allowed me to express myself, and that’s basically where it started.
And then the real reason why I started rapping was just because I had a friend at the time. Well, I had a couple of different friends from different places at the time who were into music, and basically I was inspired. I would use the word inspired because in my opinion, she was a good artist. But it kind of made me think, okay, if she could do it, I could do it, too. It gave me the motivation to be like: “Okay, there’s actually people out here that I know trying to build a music career.”
Who are some other inspirations you’ve had musically?
So I have to go with Nicki as my first inspiration, has to be, of course. Because I felt like, as a New York native, too, she shaped a lot of my sound, and there’s so many Nicki Minaj verses that I know by heart, so it’s pretty cool.
Another inspiration, I would say, probably Lil Uzi, Smino. I really like Smino. I don’t know if he’s a true inspiration, because I don’t hear his sound in my sound, but, I would still consider him an inspiration.
And if I could pick one more, well, I won’t pick one artist, but I’ll pick, Drill as, a sound, because there’s a lot of drill artists out there, and typically they’re men. So there’s not a lot of Drill girls out there. One I could think of, for example is Kenzo B. I like her music, so I’ll throw her out there, too.
What’s next for you as an artist? Projects? Shows? Anything Else?
So I definitely want to drop another EP. I’m working on that sound. I think people are going to like it. It’s going to be a smoother version of me. You could kind of think of Is You Down? but a little different.
I still feel like I’m going to incorporate aspects of myself in there in terms of Jersey Club, because that’s where I started, but I want it to be a collection of smooth, actual songs. Because I’ve gotten some criticism that my songs can be very lyrical. Not in terms of what I’m talking about, necessarily, but how it comes off. It can be very wordy. So I’m trying to experiment with my sound and try to find different ways to
give the people what they want, but also make myself happy. Because I feel like I started this because I wanted, not selfishly, to make myself happy, and just to express myself.
So that’s how it all started, and that’s how I felt like it should continue to go.
Dope. That’s really, like, the last scripted question I have. Is there anything else you want the people to know?
I don’t think so. I felt like this interview went very well! It pretty much incorporated all I needed about who I am.