The year was 2019 when Brooklyn-bred singer/songwriter Nia Sultana released her hypnotic “Coconut Water” track, which became the world’s informal introduction to the rising star. The song was a combination of sultry and smooth, mixed with a modern take on R&B, which has now become the siren’s signature style. As Nia readies her debut EP Bigger Dreams armed with her single “Ambience,” she is geared to bring her refreshing new vibes to the mainstream.
Growing up in a tiny apartment in the housing projects of Brooklyn’s Starrett City, Nia had dreams of touching the bigger world. Music would be that vessel, and it was clear from a young age that Nia had the music in her. “My mom was a singer,” she remembers, “and when we got older my sister was really heavily into music.” Nia’s mom would urge her kids to perform for her family, and while Nia was talented, she was still so shy. “I would make music just for fun,” she adds. “I didn’t think I could do it professionally. It was just something I thoroughly enjoyed.” While attending a local performing arts high school, Nia would come home from school and sing her own versions of remixed radio hits into her phone “just to hear how it sounded.”
That graduated to uploading covers on YouTube and Twitter, her most notably being Frank Ocean’s “Novacane” and the Fabolous remix of Rick Ross’s “Diced Pineapples.” The internet took notice. “People would always interact with me and say things like, ‘You’re so good! I can’t wait until you drop your music!’” Nia recalls. “That was when I was like, ‘Maybe I can take this seriously.’”
It wasn’t until she attended college in Atlanta, majoring in Pre-Law, that Nia decided to truly pursue music head on, releasing her covers more aggressively. “At the time, when I was uploading all these videos and stuff, I was still trying to go to school,” she explains. “And I was working like three jobs, so I just didn’t have the time or the resources to really do music right.” Nia opted to move back to New York with her family and figure it all out. While back home, Nia kept to herself, continuing to hone her craft. Her mother reached out to a connection at a recording studio where Nia started cutting demos. She had three finished songs, when her mother suggested she move out of Brooklyn to pursue music. Nia was bound for Los Angeles, where she eventually connected with her manager Neil Dominique and continued recording songs in a studio out West.
Her two songs “Positions” and “Coconut Water” became the catalysts for her next level, the latter securing her a deal with Interscope Records. All throughout the heart of the pandemic, Nia honed her craft, first working with a small writing camp and later holing up alone to continue finishing her debut EP Bigger Dreams.
“The EP started off with me just working on a bunch of songs with a few older ones I had,” Nia explains. “When I’m writing, I like to be alone and figuring out the best way to express myself.” The EP’s first single “Ambience” talks of the laws of attraction, as Nia seductively asks “Why do you keep coming back?” The title track embodies the whole project, which is full of both promise and potential. “It’s talking about being from where I’m from, aspiring to have more and working on that every day,” she expresses. “Everything just unintentionally came full circle on this project.”
A combination of Neo-Soul, Alt-R&B, and flecks of synth-Pop, Nia is choosy in her songwriting, crafting love songs of female empowerment over solely emotions-driven ballads. “I want to be a role model for younger girls who were like me, in situations that weren’t the most ideal,” she explains. “I was listening to songs telling me to stay with guys who didn’t treat me the best. It was a theme. It’s actually more challenging to write about love from the perspective of respecting yourself.” Nia’s songs on Bigger Dreams all carry that theme of self-respect, mixed with a sound that will surely take her further as she prepares her debut album. “I want to develop my own sound and not only make music based on what’s in style,” she says of her goal in music. “I want to feel like I’m pushing boundaries and creating a sound that only I can create.”
