MOBO EXCLUSIVE: Nina Sky Takes Us to the Other Side

Ladies and gentlemen, your favourite twins are triumphantly back and I sincerely suggest you dust off those dancing shoes and ready yourself for some seriously good times ahead.

Six years have gone by since the lyrical Latinas lit dance floors across the globe with their debut self titled release. After the success of stomping anthems such as ‘Move Ya Body’ and numerous collaborations with Hip Hop honchos and Reggaeton royalty, the sought after music duo have been most hard at work in the studio. While Nina Sky patiently await the release of their much anticipated second album ‘Starting Today,’ the singers-DJs-producers are giving the fans what they have so desperately been waiting for by magnanimously releasing an EP- ‘The Other Side.’

The independent release from Nina Sky is an edgy music menagerie that reflects a side to the musicians that mainstream audiences have not yet audibly experienced. The catchy title track ‘The Other Side’ gives avid listeners a sample of what is to follow with the stunning songstresses’ distinctive vocals wrapped in strings and synth where electro gestures and harmonic interludes playfully tease and leave one curious, oh-so- curious, about what to expect next. ‘Never Look Back’ a melodic monologue that is remix gold, ‘Only You’ an ode to that special someone and the satirical ‘You ‘Aint Got It,’ Nina Sky’s eclectic musical sensibilities are boldly exhibited for all to enjoy.

Sporting no nonsense androgynous crops and inked with some intricate body art, the stars have visibly come into their own and musically are evolving beat by beat.

Natalie and Nicole candidly spoke to me about their stellar evolution….

MOBO: Tell us about your childhood growing up in New York…

Nicole: We grew up in Queens, New York, me and Natalie and we have two younger sisters who are nineteen years old and nine years old. We grew up really close to our family with our mom and our stepfather, who was a DJ. We grew up around a lot of music everything from like Miles Davis to Bob Marley, Mary J Blige, Madonna, everything inbetween so we grew up in a household where music was always played. Our mom was really encouraging about us doing music because we were always passionate about it growing up. We grew up really really tight and we grew up in New York City where we were around so many different genres of music and people, it’s a melting pot. We’ve been inspired by that and we still live in New York, we love New York and I don’t think we’ll ever leave!

MOBO: What or whom inspired you to become musicians?

Natalie: We were inspired heavily by our stepfather. On Sundays we were having parties at our house where my mom and dad would be inviting all these people over and you know you’d hear everything from Freestyle music to House music to Hip Hop music to Reggae music. So I think he had a lot to do with inspiring us musically and what we ultimately became in our lives.
Your Puerto Rican heritage has featured in your music as Riddim and Reggaeton samples, you have released songs such as ‘Oye Mi Canto’; how do you see the large Spanish market developing in the future?

Natalie: I definitely think that things are changing. You see Spanish people doing Hip Hop now and R&B so I think they are continuing to do all different types of music not just Spanish music. You look at someone like Pitbull who’s kinda at the forefront of that movement right now collaborating with everyone from like Usher to Hispanic artists and he’s kind of paving the way currently for a lot of Hispanic artists who want to come up too. I feel it’s opening doors for a lot of Latino musicians and it’s good that we could have been a part of that movement because you don’t see a lot of Latinos in the mainstream.

MOBO: You collaborated on Major Lazer’s album ‘Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do.’ Describe the experience working with Diplo and Switch…

Natalie: Diplo actually contacted Nicole and wanted to work on some stuff so we went into the studio and we recorded two different versions of the track, we put it on two different beats and he put the two versions we did together and made that one song. It was a vibing session, he invited us to the studio, we wrote the song, vibed out, he put the two verses together and then he added Ricky Blaze on it.

Nicole: Diplo has a good ear for fun music, he makes a lot of fun music and that’s what we like to do so…

MOBO: There has been unrest with your record label. Is your second studio album ‘Starting Today’ going to be released this year?

Nicole: I mean as far as we know we don’t have an actual release date for ‘Starting Today’ that’s where the frustration came from because we never received a definitive date like this is when its going to come out and we’ve been looking forward to that. So as of now we don’t know and that’s why we’re putting out our EP ‘The Other Side’ and hopefully soon we’ll get an answer if ‘Starting Today’ is going to come out this year. Hopefully it does because we put a lot of work into writing and recording that album but we are really excited about the EP we recorded which comes out tomorrow…

MOBO: The EP is entitled 'The Other Side.’ Is the title indicative of you as Nina Sky making a definitive break away from the old Nina Sky we know?

Natalie: I don’t think we’re taking a break from Nina Sky, it’s definitely showing the other side of Nina Sky, a side that people may not of seen. Nicole is also a DJ, I write most of the music, Nicole co-produced and we wanted to show that on this album. With the producers that we worked with, we made sure that they were all DJs because it fits in with who we are. They are DJs and producers; we’re musicians, DJs and producers you know... It’s another side of Nina Sky and that’s why we titled it ‘The Other Side’ and also it fit because we had a song on the album called ‘The Other Side’ so it kinda all came together.

MOBO: You are independently releasing the EP correct?

Nicole: Yea, we are independently through our website ninaskyhigh.com which is cool because it’s kinda like a thank you to our fans because we haven’t had our own album out in six years and we’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with a lot of great artists. It’s like a thank you to our fans who have been supporting the whole movement and we put this album together and it’s free and it’s cool, we’re really excited about it!

MOBO: Which artists would you like to collaborate with in the future?

Natalie: We would love to collaborate with Outkast. We’ve always been fans of them. They are a very eclectic duo, we are a very eclectic duo and we think that we could make beautiful music together so if we could pick one group it would be Outkast; but we like Sting.., Lauryn Hill would be amazing. She’s such an influential artist, she’s the one that inspired me to write from the heart. Everything she says, you believe. I’ve always wanted to be like Lauryn Hill in that way you know?

Nicole: Absolutely, her songs still touch you the same way, they still make you feel the same way, and they don’t feel dated...

Natalie: They’re timeless!

Nicole: She’s amazing.

MOBO: Which artists are you currently listening to?

Nicole: I’ve been listening to The Gossip I really like their album, I mean there are a lot of artists I really like. I’ve been listening to a lot of 90’s House and older music but as far as a recent album that came up which is not totally brand new but I really like The Gossip yea…

MOBO: If you had the power to create THE musical artist, which artists from the past and present would you use as building blocks and why?

Natalie: Wow, that’s such a good one! Um, I’m going to think about it... Nicole?

Nicole: I mean if you think of superstardom and you know artists that have been around and made their mark with timeless music, I would say it would have to be a mixture of Michael Jackson. He is one of the greatest performers of all time, his performances are so amazing, his music is so amazing, his writing is so amazing; and then from current, I would say…, who would you say from current Nat? We can make this a collaborative effort haha…

Natalie: My artist that I make would definitely include a lil’ of Lauryn Hill, the passion the soul, you know the lyrics, her heart. Nowadays, artists take over every industry, they’re not just artists anymore they’re musicians, artists, they have clothing companies, they’ve been able to market themselves in a whole different way than back in the day. I don’t know one particular artist I’d say but someone that’s done that, made a name for themselves in everything they’ve done. I admire that work ethic, someone that gives it their all in everything they do.

Nicole: Like?

Natalie: Jay Z, Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, yea put all those artists together and you’ll have the ultimate super duper artist!

Nicole: You have to sprinkle a little Madonna in there!

Natalie: She’s been relevant for so many years, she’s reinvented herself. Yea!

MOBO: What does music mean to you?

Nicole: I think for me it’s the ultimate form of expression. I mean Natalie writes more than I do…

Natalie: Yea, you took my answer haha…

Nicole: Even writing the song and producing the song, you’re putting emotion into it. The sounds that you use for the song make you feel something. It’s not always about the lyrics you know? The music can evoke emotion too. So for me, music is the ultimate form of expression, it’s like therapy you know what I mean?

Are you playing any UK dates in the near future?

Natalie: We are! We don’t know the specifics yet but around October, we’ll be performing in the UK.

MOBO: Do you have any messages you would like to convey to your fans?

Natalie: Of course we want to say thank you, thank you for all the support over the years. Thank you to the fans and hopefully people will appreciate the music and we hope to be in the UK very soon!

It is not often one is privy to the human side of artists-their trepidations, struggles, hopes and aspirations; Nina Sky are unequivocally as real as they come.
Dynamic, passionate and instantly affable. Their banter at times is reminiscent of gregarious exchanges between my own sister Diya and I and it is endearing to know the musicians are a unit on and off stage; for the music industry ‘aint no theme park.
It is plain to see that the committed sisters unconditionally love their art and are giving it absolutely all that they have.

The cosmos has conspired, hope has refused to succumb to desolation and Nina Sky are on a dazzling upwards trajectory- the natural course for all brilliant stars.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the stellar evolution of Nina Sky and I sincerely hope your dancing shoes are ready for some seriously good times ahead. Mine are.

‘The Other Side’ is out now. Download for free at www.ninaskyhigh.com

Reema Kumari Jadeja ©