Nicque Marina- T-Shirt (New Musical Release) (A Culmination Of My Experiences) (Musician & Artist) (October 2021)

Issue Eighteen- October 2021:

By Mercedes Barreto

There are lots of things you could interpret regarding a song and its musical or creative aspect. Yet only the creator has the key to access its original bound meaning. Artist & musician Nicque Marina is a creator who unlocks the key to her own sense of style, and shares it with us, in this guided yet informative article.

What is the initiation, that marked your career, in terms of a sense of style and your overall vibe?

“I wouldn’t say there’s a single point that really solidified my style. I would say it’s more a culmination of my experiences as a person and as an artist that has helped me develop a style. Having my producer/label owner, Verna M. Miles to mentor me in my writing and delivery has definitely been a key component, and I’m grateful to have that.”

Has Covid had an impact on you, and how so? In a negative or positive way?

“COVID has definitely had an impact on all artists, especially in places like NYC. For recording artists, we couldn’t go into the studio to record songs; we couldn’t film music videos; we couldn’t do shows. Those are the obvious negatives. The positives came from having to be very creative in order to continue producing music and content. I had WAY more time to just write songs. Also, a few years back, I decided to teach myself how to record music (very minimal basics), because I was tired of producers promising they’d work with me or cut a good record and then just not delivering. So I have my own equipment at home, and quite a few songs I actually recorded from my house. I also turned more attention towards social media, which resulted in my building a following of more than 1M on TikTok and 150K on YouTube as a personality. That’s definitely the best thing that’s come out of this.”

If you could pick three words that justly describe your latest musical release, in terms of your passion, or your creativity, what are those three words, and why choose those words? What does this mean, in the eyes and ears of a follower, or listener?

“Vulnerable, relatable, breezy. I would use those words to describe my most recent release “T-Shirt.” It’s a song about not being good at expressing your feelings, and I don’t think there are truly a lot of songs out there that convey that. It’s about being awkward, maybe a little depressed, feeling undeserving of love even though you’re receiving it. My followers know that I’m pretty open about my struggles with mental health, and we don’t talk about these complicated feelings enough, in music and in real life. I’ve had so many listeners tell me that they can relate to the words of this song so much, usually because they struggle with some of the same feelings that I do. I’m glad I was able to put those sentiments into words well enough for people to really connect with the song.”

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

When you play and create music, what is something that comes to mind? Why so, and does this feel unique to you, or is it something relatable?

“When I’m writing, I’m usually pulling from freestyle poetry I write on a whim on a weekly basis, or on memories of people and experiences. Sometimes it’s deep, sometimes it ain’t that deep, but it’s always 100% from the heart. Sometimes that’s a fun thing, sometimes it’s not so fun. Sometimes it’s words that I wish I could say to certain people in my life, sometimes it’s words I’ve already said to them. Sometimes, those thoughts and memories make me happy, and sometimes they make me really sad and angry, and sometimes, it makes me feel petty and dismissive, and I think those emotions really come out in the recording process. I think that’s relatable to all writers, as we all pull from personal experience to create our works. How could we not? But the thoughts and memories that inspire can be pretty complicated and unique to me and my life. I don’t always want to tell the whole story in my songs, so I’ll just reveal snippets and the emotions felt in the situation. So though listeners may be experiencing something they can connect to, I’m the only one in the world truly experiencing what that song really means.”

Is there a favorite release you are proud of and feel is imperative to share? What is a worthy accomplishment of this year 2021?

“T-Shirt” is the only release this year so far, but we’re currently going through a LONG catalog of songs written between January 2020 and now, and I’m really excited for listeners to hear the project we have put together. I’m grateful that this time in quarantine has allowed me to refine my songwriting skills, and each batch of songs keeps getting better and better, so I’m proud of that.”

Where can we find your music, and why should we? What makes Nicque Marina’s music top-notch, and merits our listen and follow?

“My work can be found wherever music is streaming! iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc. What I love about my songs is that each one is drastically different, of course not so much as to jump genres, but I have so many musical influences gathered from my life, and I draw from different ones every time I write! I grew up listening to Beyonce and Destiny’s Child, but I learned how to sing by listening to Mariah Carey. I’m a complete nerd about movie scores (Hans Zimmer is my favorite), I’m also an anime-watcher and so I love Japanese pop. I’m a classically-trained jazz clarinetist and so I grew up listening to Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and the like. I came up in musical theater as well and I love Broadway… I also draw inspiration from Jhene Aiko, Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Ed Sheeran, Jessie Reyez… I have a very diverse taste in music. So you can count on those tastes coming into play with my music, whether it’s my style of writing or the track that was chosen, you’ll be taken on a very pleasant and TURNT ride!”