| Nikki & Rich are Nikki Leonti, a California-born pastor's daughter who grew up singing in church, and Rich Velonskis, a Queens, NY-born former DJ and established hip-hop/R&B producer who got his start spinning in New York City clubs as a teenager. These two seemingly opposite characters first met in 2007. Nikki was based in Nashville working as a background singer for Carrie Underwood and Rich was in Los Angeles producing tracks for Eve, Robin Thicke, Mario, and Ludacris, under his moniker Rich Skillz. (A track he produced on Ludacris' No. 1 album Release Therapy earned Rich a "Best Rap Album" Grammy.) Rich was looking for a strong vocalist and lyricist to collaborate with and take his tracks to the next level and he found the perfect match in Nikki.Nikki & Rich have been finishing up their debut studio album entitled "Everything". The album promises to be a collection of everything from hip-hop influenced tracks to huge soul ballads remeniscent of 60's style live instrumentation. Nikki's enormous deep rooted soulful vocals over Rich's giant production come together to form an explosive sound. The two write all there own music. With Rich creating the entire tracks from scratch and NIkki just watching as he does so. She really needs him. Without him she would be nothing. |
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