Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Nikki Jean studied theatre before moving to Philadelphia and joining the band Nouveau Riche as lead singer. She gained major recognition for her contributions to Lupe Fiasco’s “Hip Hop Saved My Life” from the Grammy-nominated album, The Cool, before going on tour with Kanye West (Glow In The Dark Tour, 2008) and Mayer Hawthorne (A Strange Arrangement Tour, 2009).
Nikki Jean co-wrote songs with Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, Lamont Dozier, Carly Simon and more for her 2011 Pennies in a Jar LP, before releasing 2013’s X-Mas EP and 2014’s EP. She also appeared on Brother Ali’s A Bite Marked Heart (2012) and Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo & YouthThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Last year, in addition to appearing on a whopping six tracks from Lupe Fiasco’s Drogas Wave LP, Nikki Jean also released a string of new singles, including “People & Planes”, “Mr Clean”, and most recently, “Pink Lemonade”, all of which appear on her Rhymesayers Entertainment debut, Beautiful Prison.
