Niambi Ra celebrates her own uniqueness
Afro futuristic hip hop rockstar AND a broadway actress, Niambi Ra, is a walking testament that you can chase more than one dream. Constantly surrounded by music from different avenues, she continues to cultivate a strong music presence as an independent artist and is doing incredibly amazing. She speaks on goals for her music, her songwriting process, her artistic growth, and so much more!
Abby Martinez: So, how did you get started in music?
Niambi Ra: I'm from Washington DC, and I went to Duke Ellington School of the Arts which is an arts high school. I've been acting, singing, dancing my whole life. But when I was in high school, I was a theater major and pretty much, I met a guy there who I ended up dating (and we're still friends to this day) who introduced me to hip hop. I really like the Wu Tang, A Tribe Called Quest, that Neo Soul Hip Hop vibe and catalog. From there, that's when I realized I wanted to make music. And I started a rap group with him. We started rapping together and then we went on to do our own things. We both still make music, but that was really when I first got the spark to want to create my own music.
AM: Do you usually write music by yourself or do you have a creative team you bounce ideas off from?
NR: Most of the time I'm writing by myself, but there have been some times where one of my recent releases “Friday,” that was actually written with a producer at the same time, he was creating the beat, and I was kind of creating the song as I was reading the beat. I was coming up with melodies and lyrics. I went on to finish that on my own later. That was a different experience I guess for me, but it worked out really well. I collaborate with producers, friends or just people that I know in the business as far as the production that I use but I usually am sitting and writing on my own.
AM: There are artists who write music in the most unconventional places like a closet or under their desk, where do you usually write your music?
NR: When I first started writing music, I actually used to write in my closet. I actually used to record in my closet on the desktop computer. So I was doing that a lot in high school. So that was maybe over 10 years ago. Then even in one of my apartments in New York, I used a closet to record in there.
Also, I was also on tour with a show for a while for 16 months straight, with a Broadway musical. And during that time I definitely wrote in hotel rooms or in different parts of the theater that I can find stuff like that. But now, I pretty much try to find just like a secluded space to myself, and I'm able to write.
AM: How has musical theater influenced your music or the way that you perform?
NR: It's interesting. I kind of try to keep them separate in my brain and now more recently in my life, I've been telling people that I do both sides, telling people that I also am on Broadway. Before I just didn't want people to put me in a box when it came to like hip hop and stuff. I wanted to be taken seriously. Not that Broadway isn't serious but, as far as the music and the musicality of it, it's very different. I definitely know that it's influenced how I approach music for sure because I have training in music, and it definitely affects me as an onstage performer. I feel very comfortable on stage because I've been doing that most of my life and really having everything be the best that I can be with what I have. I think I've kind of taken that from the theater world as well.
When you see my performances, I always just try to make sure that I'm looking good, I'm sounding good. I'm always warming up before all of my shows and I'm a storyteller so I think that it definitely comes across in my live shows. And then yeah, musically it's like there's a bridge because you know I have this voice that has been trained. I guess in classical musical theater technique, pedagogy, and taking that in and singing neo soul.
“Guidance” music video (latest single release) directed by Chelsea O
AM: How have you grown as an artist? Are there differences from when you first started your music career versus now?
NR: Yeah, for sure. I mean one, when I first started making music, I had some music training but I didn't have the music training that I have now because I ended up going to college for musical theater. There's a big difference in the sounds that I can produce with my voice, my understanding of harmonies, my understanding of songwriting. Now the influence of live music is also very present in my music. Even in like one of the last songs that I put out that was recorded with a band. And my album is recorded with the band, which wasn't something that I was doing when I first started or thought of but didn't have people who do that. So yeah, I'm really happy about the relationships that I have now with people, especially in New York for 11 years now, and really being on the music scene and on the independent artists scene.
I've learned a lot that I probably can speak on and stuff that I learned in my body, if that makes sense, or without me even knowing that I’d taken on. Because of all of the new people that I meet and new bands that I see. I've always been a pretty deep writer, but as life continues to happen and more experiences happen, I'm able to help people more by telling my own stories. Even when it comes down to it, my projection has grown a lot. The way that everything is mixed is a lot different. Things that I didn't know how I was going to accomplish before or thought was just a dream. You know I'm doing a lot of those things now with my music.
So I definitely feel like I've grown in a lot of ways as an artist just even in understanding myself more, the responsibility that I have artistically and the ambassadorship that I'm standing in as an artist who is committed to helping to heal and make space for other people.
AM: What are some goals for your music?
NR: I want more people to hear it. I want to continue to make really dope visuals, and I want to expand outside of America. What I want to do with my music is create a space where people don't feel so alone, where they can relate to my story or they hear their feelings, aggressions, concerns, and questions inside of my lyrics. Feeling some type of catharsis, overcoming, or healing. I mean I think that's the biggest thing that I want to do with my music. Whether that be through ballads, dance songs, more fun songs or the slower songs...it's like in anything.
My end goal is to promote healing and promote other people believing in themselves and celebrating their own uniqueness. Overcoming moving forward, believing in something, and allowing others to believe that. It's okay to believe that I'm something, and it's okay to go for it. I want to touch people and want to connect with people. And I want people to feel free with my music.
AM: Do you have any current projects that you're working on that are coming up in the near future?
NR: I just released a single like a couple of weeks ago, and I'm releasing another single and video very soon! And I’m releasing my EP this year for the launch. So that's what's happening and of course I'm writing other music and kind of move on to the next album.
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