Early Life
Niki Zefanya was born Nicole Zefanya on January 24, 1999, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Zefanya was given her first guitar when she was nine years old, and she taught herself how to write and play music. She attended Jakarta’s Pelita Harapan School. At the age of 15, Niki won a contest to be the opening act on Taylor Swift’s “The Red Tour” during its stop in Jakarta. During her teenage years, Zefanya launched a YouTube channel and began uploading videos of herself singing covers and original songs while playing acoustic guitar.
Career
In 2017, Zefanya moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend Lipscomb University. She studied music there, and after she signed with the record label 88rising, she began releasing singles under the mononym Niki. In 2018, she contributed five songs to the album “Head in the Clouds,” which featured artists signed to 88rising. That year Zefanya also released the EP “Zephyr.” In 2019, she performed on “Head in the Clouds II” and released the live album “NIKI Acoustic Sessions: Head In The Clouds II.” Her 2019 EP “Wanna Take This Downtown?” featured the single “Lowkey,” which reached #24 on the charts in the Philippines. Her debut studio album, “Moonchild,” was released in September 2020, and it included the singles “Switchblade,” “Selene,” and “Lose.” Four of Niki’s songs were featured on the soundtrack for the 2021 film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: The Album.” “Every Summertime” was released as a single, and it was certified Gold in the U.S. and was a top 10 hit in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In April 2022, Zefanya performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time. Later that year, she released her second studio album, “Nicole,” which peaked at #64 on the “Billboard” Top Current Album Sales chart in the U.S. The single “Oceans & Engines” reached #14 in Indonesia and #33 in the Philippines, while “High School in Jakarta” reached the top 10 in Indonesia and Malaysia. Niki graced the cover of the April 2023 issue of “Vogue Singapore” (the “Pop” issue), and the following month, she released the live album “Niki: Live at The Wiltern” and performed on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts.” She released her third studio album, “Buzz,” in August 2024, and it reached #19 on the UK Independent Albums chart, #22 on the US “Billboard” Heatseekers Albums chart, and #77 on the UK Albums Sales chart.
Personal Life
In a 2022 interview with “The Forty-Five,” Niki said of her school days, “I went to a Christian school where everybody wore uniforms. Nobody was allowed to dye their hair, have piercings, or express themselves in those stereotypical ways, so music and writing were my ways of doing it. YouTube opened the floodgates of inspiration and allowed me to connect with other creators my age from all over the world. It was the first time that my little Jakarta bubble started to feel like it was growing.” She added, “I was a total nerd in my English Literature classes: it was my favourite subject. I was working my writing muscle every day at school and reading so much poetry: it rubbed off in my music.”
