The genre-blending sounds of Leeds-based electronic artist, producer, and DJ NikNak are inspired by an eclectic collection of music and media. Her brand new album, Ireti, released via Accidental Records, leans into Afrofuturism, exploring the ways in which humanity and technology intersect, and has narrative crossovers with iconic dystopian films and video games like Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077. The record is a distinctive, cell-tingling fusion of jungle beats, jazz nuances, dub, reggae rhythms and cinematic electronics; all of which help to sculpt NikNak’s elusive, yet exciting new sonic universe.
We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to create music in the first place. We caught up with NikNak to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five tracks that have inspired her songwriting techniques. The thing is, she made so many great recommendations, that we decided to keep them all – so there’s nearly double the amount of tracks for you to sink your teeth into!
Check out her extensive list of choices below, and scroll down to watch the video for NikNak’s latest AI inspired single ‘Pandora’s Box’ featuring AGAAMA at the end of this post…
1. Willow Smith – ‘Big Feelings’
There’s these clips of Willow in the studio recording and piecing together elements of her latest album, Empathogen, with Yussef Dayes in there recording drums with her at one point…then I saw her Tiny Desk Concert and it blew me away; especially seeing a mostly all female line up of musicians vibing together. Her re-work of ‘ Wait A Minute’ is so glorious and uplifting. To think that she’s only 23 too!? To end on ‘Big Feelings’ takes me back to Jamiroquai and Herbie Hancock. Watching this performance made me go buy the album and has inspired me to work with more live musicians in the future. Brilliant stuff.
2. Mia Koden – ‘Hot Take’
This tune reinvigorated my love of 140 in recent years and gets bonus points for referencing the histories and all the wonderful things that make 140/dubstep so special. It’s kinda rare nowadays I think to come across music that makes a point of referencing its origins in authentic ways. What Mia has done here is make a track that is 100% her, but I also feel my ancestors through that baseline and multiple drum switch ups.
3. Jlin – ‘Open Canvas’
It was really hard to pick something from Jlin’s album, Akoma. I saw her live for the first time at Bristol New Music Festival alongside Ryoji Ikeda and was blown away by both performanceS, but seeing Jlin use the MPC live was something else entirely. I fully admire her work and she’s someone I’d love to connect with one day. Her music makes me feel nostalgic and warm – big vibes.
4. Loraine James – ‘Gentle Confrontation’
I’m kind of cheating a bit here, because I’d put the album in this too since it’s the same name, but the intro to Loraine’s newest album is beautiful and really imposing of where her sound has taken her in recent years. Picking a tune from her discography at this point is really hard for me, as I’m a big fan of her ever-evolving work. I just love that there’s a sense of play in her work, which is so important and richly evident.
5. Dennis Brown – ‘Get To Love In Time’
Dennis Brown is my fave reggae artist I think, and this song always takes me back to the exact moment I’d heard he passed away. I think this was the first time I’d really had an artist’s death impact me. If I didn’t get into production, I would have become a bass player simply because of reggae and the beautiful grooves underneath all the other instruments. Dub plays a big part in my music I think, whether I realise it or not. All the delays and reverbs, and the noise that comes from all of that, all play important parts in my music consciously and subconsciously, and I love that. RIP Mr. Brown.
6. Missy Elliot – ‘Whatcha Gonna Do’
Her discography is nuts, as we all know, but I’d say my favourite song of hers has to be ‘Whatcha Gonna Do’ from the So Addictive album. Whenever she works with Timbaland, magic happens and I think in hindsight, this era of R&B/Hip Hop really gifted us with a version of Afrofuturistic music in mainstream. This was one of the many tunes that helped me to see that we can literally make music be and look like anything we want, and that we don’t have to follow rules. It’s something we don’t really see now in the same way anymore, but Missy is definitely one of the pioneers of this.
7. Boxcutter – ‘Rusty Break’
Before this tune came into my life, I’d been introduced to DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’ and Cut Chemist’s ‘The Audience Is Listening’, and loved how they’ve been able to adapt, sample and repurpose classic drum breaks into new patterns and loved that. Then came Burial, and around the same I think came Boxcutter’s ‘Rusty Break’ and he took things to a new level. I think I was in my first year of uni at this point… I don’t know, I feel like I was hearing so much music that everything was influencing me in a variety of ways both in and outside of my studies, particular in my undergrad studies but ‘Rusty Break’ is up there for sure!
8. Burial – ‘Archangel’
I remember sitting in college going through a YouTube dark hole at lunchtime or free period, and I found an anime video someone cut to this track… immediately I was hooked and had to listen to everything Burial had put out at that point. Sampling Ray-J’s vocals in such a dark and atmospheric tune was nuts. The textures and gridless drums were nuts. Burial introduced me to another side of music production, another way to break rules and approach it like a sketchbook instead of it being so regimented.
9. Seed. – ‘Afronaut’
I’m a little bit biased as I’m now a member of Seed., but the first time I heard ‘Afronaut’ it made me an instant fan of them and Cassie’s phenomenal writing skills. All of the time signatures, melodic craziness, everything altogether is next level; and all the ways the keys, chords and tempos change and intertwine with each other throughout the track is very inspiring. Plus, XANA’s verses are just cherries on top. More rules broken here. As someone who can’t read music and didn’t learn to classically play an instrument, hearing talented musicians play such transformative music was another big moment for me I think too.
Thanks to NikNak for sharing her favourite tracks with us!
Watch the video for her latest single ‘Pandora’s Box’ below
NikNak’s upcoming UK Tour Dates 2024
(DJ sets unless otherwise noted. * = Ireti live)
May 23, 24, 25, 26, 28 – Leeds Art Gallery – Inner Ireti immersive installation at Leeds Jazz Festival (DJ set and artist talk at 1pm on May 23)
May 25 – Leeds, Headrow House
May 31st – Birmingham, Centrala,
June 6 – Newcastle, Cobalt Studios*
June 29 – Brighton, Fortune Of War
August 30 – Belgium, Meakusma Festival*
Sept 7 – Utrecht, Gaudemaus Festival
Follow NikNak on bandcamp, Soundcloud, Spotify, Youtube, Instagram, X & Facebook
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