Ni-Cola shares her story
Image Credit: Ni-Cola
11th Jul 2019
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Music
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Ni-cola
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Soul
One of the hottest songs on the xRhythms playlist is 'T.I.M.S' by Ni-Cola. If you haven’t heard it yet, it might ring a slight bell when you do.
The song 'T.I.M.S', which stands for “This Is My Story”, is actually based on an old, and I really mean old, hymn. Best known as 'Blessed Assurance', it was written in 1873 by a lady, Fanny Crosby, and has, down the years, been sung in tens of thousands of churches.
Said Ni-Cola, “I remember singing the original hymn, written by the blind American songwriter Fanny Crosby, and loving the lyrics and melody and thought, imagine this being sung in the club or on the dance-floor.
She loves to capture other people’s stories.
"Since the beginning of time, the world has been discovered and rediscovered through the art of storytelling and captures our imaginations so effortlessly. As a songwriter, I love to capture other people’s stories and weave them into my songs with my own interpretation.”
Manchester-based Ni-Cola Monique Witter was born in 1982 with three siblings in a strong, Jamaican single-parent home. In fact, another song which Ni-Cola recently released as a single, 'Dear Mum', is a tribute to her mother, rapped not sung by Ni-Cola.
Funky music has long been part of Ni-Cola’s life.
At the age of nine, Ni-Cola was singing in the church choir and by the late ‘90s, she’d formed a group known as GSD (God Said Dance). Funky music has long been part of Ni-Cola’s life.
By 2005, Ni-Cola was writing and recording songs like the single 'Still Here' and, by 2007, her debut album ‘My Passion His Heart’ received a review in Cross Rhythms magazine, who wrote, “She’s gifted with a great voice and a passion to communicate her faith and inspire her audience towards life change.”
Another album followed in 2011, ‘Love Out Loud’, Cross Rhythms writing about her “unerring ability to fuse pop, reggae and soul, and also manage to rap very well.”
'T.I.M.S' is Ni-Cola’s best recording so far.
Now Ni-Cola has really got up with 'T.I.M.S', which she sang during her recent Warrington-based school tour, which promoted well-being and mental health awareness, and the stories of human strength in the face of adversity. With great producer Ibe Giant Killer putting together a memorable groove, and the MOBO-winning Lurine Cato adding some classy BVs, 'T.I.M.S' is Ni-Cola’s best recording so far. Until the next one, that is.