Niki (Nicole Zefanya)

Nicole Zefanya, born 24 January 1999, was raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her music is partly influenced by her mother, who listened to 1990s R&B like Destiny's Child and Aaliyah when she was young. She went to Pelita Harapan School in Lippo Village, Indonesia. At 15, she was the opening act for Taylor Swift's The Red Tour in Jakarta after winning a competition arranged by Swift and the ice-cream brand Walls, called Ride to Fame. The gig became a catalyst for her YouTube channel, where she uploaded original songs and covers, gaining over 40,000 subscribers. She published two songs, Polaroid Boy and Anaheim, in 2016 and 2017 respectively, which can be found on Spotify under Nicole Zefanya.

In 2017, Zefanya moved to Nashville, Tennessee to study Music at Lipscomb University. She released two singles, “See U Never” and “I Like U”. under the American mass media company 88rising as an artist under their label. She released the song “Vintage” in May 2018 as the first single for her EP titled Zephyr.

Zefanya has stated that she tries to empower Asians and Asian Americans through her music. In the Head in The Clouds music festival, NIKI took a moment to address the 10,000-plus audience gathered in Los Angeles’ Historic State Park. “I just want to say, as an Asian female, I do not take this day and this stage for granted. My hope is that above everything else today, that you feel heard, you feel understood, but most of all that you feel represented." NIKI's mission is to empower young Asian artists under-represented in the American music industry.

After 88rising announced their collaboration with popular food festival 626 Night Market to curate a food section at Head in the Clouds, Zefanya made a special guest appearance with a meet-and-greet at the 626 Night Market event at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on 11 August 2019. In 2020, Niki gained American citizenship.