Go with the Flow with NYA

Words by Matthew Spence:

—And we’re back, and we’re back 2x, like (One More) Chance the Rapper, you’re watching “Not Another Video Block Reboot,” and I’m your host, Reggie NoFly—the only place to watch your favorites and the latest hip-hop/R&B videos. The hottest and the latest and everything in between, you know what I’m saying. All in case if you’re too lazy to search on YouTube, scroll through Instagram and Twitter, download torrents, or stay up till 3 am to watch that random MTV video block. Syndication was missed, yo, and we got you covered, yo! Now, right before the break, we asked you to vote for your Viewers’ Choice Friday video, where the power is in your hands. Is there an up-and-coming artist’s video you’d like to see? Now’s your chance to rock the vote, and boy, did you guys deliver better than Domino’s. If only everyone had this energy for the election, but I digress. We’ll reveal the viewers’ choice in a moment, but right now, let’s see our countdown recap.

#5. Laila!—Like That

#4. Eminem—Houdini

…….Why y’all looking at me? I didn’t vote for the video.

#3. SZA—Saturn

…somehow, cause that song doesn’t even have a video.

#2. Kendrick Lamar—Squabble Up

Give It Up, Y’all. WOO-WOO-WOO

……………………. Ok, stop clapping; we got it.

But now, let’s get to the viewers’ choice. Appreciate all the fans who voted, even though some of you didn’t vote properly. Up-and-coming artists, people, up-and-coming. Some of y’all voted for Beyoncé. And the wrong genre too. I enjoy me some Gracie Abrams too, but not this show. Shout-out to all the talented artists who are doing their thing, but only one can be the Viewers’ Choice. Next up for this week’s Viewers’ Choice and next up for the next R&B talent to make waves and vocal runs. Give it up for NYA and her video “GoCrazy.”

And by the looks of the quality of music, this won’t be the last time we’ll be seeing her. GoCrazy-NYA. Peace. Goodnight, y’all.

An artist who feels like she’d be a mainstay on 106 & Park and TRL for our time, NYA is an artist who comes from the influence of R&B legends and pop icons (and Maryland), but she shines in her own individuality. Crafting music like a free spirit exploring life around her. Fun and freeing on one hand while connecting the dots emotionally on the other hand. NYA is an artist developing her craft one song at a time. From bangers to somber. “I have so much different types of music.” On Side A, we have the aforementioned “GoCrazy” that is destined to be in someone’s party mix or workout mix. And with its’ array of likes and plays: 500k streams on SoundCloud and 50k on Spotify. With various plays and an On The Radar performance, having 11k monthly listeners on Spotify, it’s safe to say it’s done a round or two in a few people’s ears. On side B we have her latest single, “Immune,” a contrast to her previous releases. While her work up until now felt upbeat, “Immune” is taking a step away to highlight her chops as a singer-songwriter with this stripped-down track that feels like an intimate deep cut that she decided was important for everyone to hear. This is fitting as she’s learned to balance doing for herself without neglecting others, as 2024 was a year of lessons for her. “I’m a very empathetic person, but I learned to not be selfish but to be selfish if you know what I mean.”.

Buddying up with that idea, 2024 was a lesson for her regarding just keeping on pushing even in doubt and with doubt, cause best believe there’s gonna be doubt from within yourself and others. However, she’s been able to break through the imposter syndrome with a reminder: “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t meant to be here.”. Yet, getting to that point took a lot, especially when you’ve always been a dreamer as a kid. Adults can kind of suck. “I just wanted to sing like when I was a kid, and you know how they’d [adults] ask, ‘Oh, what do you wanna be when you grow up?’. I’d be like, ‘I wanna be a singer, and they’d be like, ‘That’s not realistic.”. Eventually, I said I wanted to be a lawyer, but I didn’t wanna be one.”

Now being a dreamer is the story of her life and for many others, But how that story was written is the question we beg.

Growing up, courtesy of Mama NYA, music was around her very often, and singing was a part of her life as early on as blinking and breathing. “I always sang my whole when I was young. I never sang professionally, but I was in the choir at church, I was in the choir at school, and I used to sing in the car with my mom.” She continued. “It was always my mom; my mom likes to sing.” Shout-out to Moms, and thanks to the sounds of Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Janet Jackson. Combine with the peak geek for music teens have: “I would have these phases of being obsessed with an artist,” loving Ariana Grande’s first album in middle school. Growing to love artists Jhené Aiko, Rihanna, Kiana Ledé, and more recently PinkPantheress. NYA would slowly pick out her musical hair, as she got her moment due to her side hustle as a hairstylist and her homie-client, who just so happened to produce with a fair trade. Hair for beats. “I’d do his hair; he’d give me beats.”. Which was needed, as she was dealing with a breakup during this time around 2020. Going through a breakup and not being the most open about it, she would take that era of her life to poetry and write a bunch of songs to the beats her homie would send her. All that would prep her for a big day in 2021.

Where one day in California, a session meant for her client would ultimately become hers; talk about the luck of lucky. “He needed his hair done for, I think, the BET Awards or somewhere, went to go to do his hair in the studio, but I didn’t end up doing it.”. She continued, “When everyone left the session, it was still open; the engineer was there; everyone was there to record, but they [the artist] weren’t recording, so I asked, ‘Can I record?’ and the engineer was like, ‘Let me call,’ and then I recorded one of the songs I had written during the breakup.” They even invited her back to the studio again for a free session. BOOM, one step for NYA, next step to the Grammys. Sprinkling in a gap year or two, it was a bit quiet when it came to the music; however, 2024 would make her debut through the streaming waves with her debut release as NYA (she went by her full name before), “GoCrazy.” A record for the partygoer that can bounce from the headphone to the car.

Like the element of surprise, the plan was just to make a song with not much thought. Lo and behold, the traction it got kinda swept NYA off her. But being in school (she’s a Sociology Major, FYI) and all of a sudden seeing your song kinda take off a bit, it definitely can throw question marks and exclamation points to your head at the same time. “It was like, ‘Woah, woah, everything is happening so fast. We put the song on SoundCloud; it was like 20k in the first day or 2. By the end of the first week, it was like 200k, 300k, 400k, 500k.”. It’s safe to say it went crazy… throw a tomato; I’m suing your ass. Experimenting at hand, it was a track that was a bit odd and left field for her, but it’s another case of different can be good. “It’s not that I thought it was a bad song or anything like that.” I wasn’t used to it; it was just different for me. It felt like I was rapping; I did it, and I was like, “Ehh, I don’t know.” I sent it to my engineer, and he was like, “This is hard,” and everyone else in the studio was like, ‘Yeah. Then after time went on, I was like, ‘Ok, I caught on to it more. Ending with “I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone.” However, she’s not worried about the early “success”; she’s not worried about being put in a box and is stoked that there’s more to come. “I feel like there’s so much more for me to do, so it was like a good starter. Like this can happen; you are capable of grasping people’s attention, but there’s so much farther for me to go. Like we could do this, me and my team.”

Knowing there’s more work to be done, she’s excited to carry on the craft of her sound she describes as “fun, ethereal, and emotional”. All of it being music, she creates more free-flowing feelings and emotions. Expressing her writing process, she explained how her process is that she doesn’t have one, or at least not in the traditional sense, not as much as before on her musical journey. “I think it’s because I used to have to write my songs and be prepared before I go in because I was really to record in front of people. Like, it’s very vulnerable to be singing in front of a bunch of people, even if it’s not a bunch of people. When you’re recording and you don’t have something already written, it’s very genuine in my opinion.” Cheers to comfortability when creating with the homies. Overall, it’s about capturing a moment. All that “off the dome” recording has been a payoff for NYA as she continued to make a nice string of solid singles.

“2NIGHT” and “c through” are both tracks that carry a vibe; however, “c through” is the first flick of the lighter of her songwriting and her vulnerability. She’s not trying to be put on a dead-end road of music. She has more to offer and wants to offer more. “I want my music to be like a rollercoaster.”.

Hence, her latest single, “Immune,” is a chip off the old block of versatility flow, a contrast to her work up until now. Ironically, NYA herself is a contrast from her music.”If I was not me, then I think I was different than I am based off my music, like I’m pretty calm.”. Winding down in our convo, it felt like the anatomy of an artist, learning more about her, felt like a dichotomy. Hearing discuss how she doesn’t really show her personality like that, but yet talking to her felt like talking to a close neighborhood friend.

Revealing more of herself, leaving her fans with a message she expressed: “I want them to know that I’m here. I don’t have like a huge fan base or anything like that yet but I feel like everyone goes through so many things to where it feels like their alone. I feel like music and listening to songs is that one point throughout the day, whatever you’re doing for those 3 minutes: you’re fine. I want those 3 mins to be “ok”, however, the song is. If it’s emotional, we’re gonna be emotional for 3 minutes; if it’s happy, we’re gonna be happy and have fun. I just want my music to be that peace.” Clocking in on our final moments in our hour and some change convo, I couldn’t help but feel the sincerity in her answers as well as appreciate them. The future is blind to all of us; all we can do is hope for the best and lament our hopes for tomorrow. NYA, for one, has a short but sweet plan for the future. “I really wanna drop some projects. Drop some videos. Inspire people. Have fun. Be happy.”