The guy she sings about in "Nobody" is saved as "Leather Jacket" in her contacts. They're like, "Oh I know that feeling," where you see a photo on his phone, and you're like, "Why is that girl still in your damn phone?" I didn't really mean for it to be relatable, that's just what's happening to me." It was so weird, and now I'm listening to it and I'm like, "Oh my god!" But it's cool and a lot of people are resonating with it because it's so honest. What do I do?" She didn't intend to write so much about her relationships, but that's what makes her songs relatable. I think it was the first time I really fell in love, and I was like, "Oh man, I'm going to fuck this up. But I was just feeling things and in love, and it's complicated. Now that I listen to it I'm like, 'It is a strong female point of view,' I just didn't think the content or the lyrics were going to be so transparent and honest, because I'm usually a little more private. It's all about me falling in love and being this crazy girlfriend. "I went into it being like, 'I want to make this a strong, female thing.' And it kind of ironically ended up being that, but in a total different way. I wasn't expecting it to be what it turned out to be." Her themes of female strength manifested in a raw, unexpected way. But working with the label was exciting, to work with a team and pick the favorite songs. We have live strings and horns, so adding live elements can add to the length. So I really wanted to take my time and make music that's relevant but I can listen to in five years and still be like, 'This is really cool and beautiful.' So it was about trying to make a body of work that really resonated, and it takes time. "I think nowadays everyone wants stuff really quickly, and you go through content much faster. She took her time writing her album so the songs could be timeless. She's so beautiful, but is still mysterious, and finds a way to be private still, which I really admire, so I'll take the comparison and just try to make her proud." She's the best at writing about love, and heartbreak. "I feel really respectful to that, because to me, Sade can do no wrong. That's my favorite." Her airy voice has earned her comparisons to Sade, which she does not take lightly. I tried to pick a song not a lot of people know it’s not one of her most famous. King of Sorrow, Sade: "I'm the biggest Sade fan. They were like, "Really, Kevin Lyttle?" I'm like, "I promise it's gonna be cool." And then when I was practicing it, that Marian Hill song just kinda worked with it." It's one of those songs where you don't really remember the artist, but when you start listening to it you're like, "I remember this song." And I remember I was in an Uber and it came on the radio, and I was like, "I'm gonna cover Kevin Lyttle." I had to get some people on board, though. "Turn Me On," Kevin Lyttle and "Down," Marian Hill: "I'm a huge Kevin Lyttle secret fan. Damn it." But I thought it was a perfect thing, and it worked really well." "If You Had My Love," Jennifer Lopez: "I've been wanting to cover a J.Lo song, and I remember when Drake put his album out, I was like, "Oh my God, he did it before me.
I tried to pick songs that with a sad, longing kind of vibe, and he doesn't know what the other person thinks, and I just think it's a cool song."
"Teenage Fever," Drake: "It's such a good song. Niia's medley is a mini-playlist of artists she loves and songs that've stuck to her. Ten years later, she's proving she no longer belongs in the background. She anticipates heartbreak in "Hurt You First," nostalgically serenades a lover in "Last Night in Los Feliz" and nails a duet with powerhouse Jazmine Sullivan in "Sideline."īefore I came her Generation Blue EP in 2014, but Niia's true breakout came years before that in 2007, she was featured on Wyclef Jean's "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" with Akon and Lil Wayne. That fusion takes shape in I, carrying themes of finding love and losing it, through her perspective as a woman.