MM Rising Star Profile: Nicole Blakk

Nicole Blakk was destined to be a musician. Coming from a musical background where her grandfather had his own record label and played the saxophone alongside James Brown, it was her love of poetry that got the ball rolling for her. From singing in the church choir, Blakk’s older sister saw a talent in her sibling and pushed her to pursue her artistry. The family ties were real, as her sister used the money she earned from her first job to pay for studio sessions and music videos. While Nicole managed to secure a few gigs, her momentum her studies of Digital Marketing at university began to take priority.

Serendipitously her interest in marketing and social media helped give her the first break of her career. “One day I ran out of money at uni,” she tells Mixtape Madness, “So I went to the shopkeeper and I said, ‘if I sing to you in your language, can I get some bread and milk?’ I just need it to last me for a week. And then I sang to him in Punjabi, recorded that video and it went viral on TikTok.”

While it would be reductive to put Blakk’s rise down to virality, this moment does give an insight into one of her artistic superpowers. With French being her first language and growing up adjacent to a Punjabi household through her best friend, she can effortlessly switch between the three languages, not only bringing something different sonically to her work but also giving her multiple forms of expression through different vocabularies. “I think music is art and it’s about showcasing yourself. Even the smallest part of myself, my upbringing, and the people I have around me, I’m going to want to showcase that.” 

This shapeshifting nature also sees her combine rapping and singing with consummate ease. Originally starting out as purely a singer, it took an ex-boyfriend telling her that she shouldn’t rap to light a fire in her belly. “He said it’s a red flag if a girl raps and it’s an ick,” she tells MM, “So I was just like, ‘okay, yeah. I’ll never rap, don’t worry’. I wanted to annoy him after we broke up though because he made a diss track about me, knowing I couldn’t rap. So I just did it back, but I had actually had some flows in there.” It’s a great thing that her pride got the better of her, as she joins the likes of BXKS, Cristale, Jayahadadream, and Wohdee in a fresh crop of outstanding female rappers in the UK.

From viral Red Bull and DJ AG freestyles to her latest stellar single, ‘Money (On My Mind)’, Nicole is steadily making inroads into the rap game and levelling up at every possible opportunity. Her musical influences are unbounded, ranging from Rod Wave and Polo G to Linkin Park and Paramore, all the way through to Labi Siffre. This genreless inspiration shines through in her music as she expresses herself with an innate freedom, which turned the head of one of the undisputed titans of UK rap, Santan Dave.

“When I found out I was going to the studio with him I ran out into the middle of the road and screamed.” Their first session together saw no music being made, instead just a conversation across four hours that bonded the two artists. Their final product, ‘Fairchild’, was one of the most important moments on The Boy Who Played The Harp, opening up conversations about femicide and misogyny. “That’s what art is all about,” Blakk states,  “allowing people to feel seen and heard and being a voice for the voiceless.”

Nicole continues to find her voice and is displaying elevated levels of artistry with every drop. Her vocal ability coupled with an elite pen game can see reach the upper echelons of our scene, and she is well on course to have a sensational year. So what does success look like to her? “Just doing what I love every day, being positive, spreading that positivity and allowing people to feel heard through my music continuously.”

Nicole Blakk’s latest single, Money (On My Mind), is out now: