# Naïka

Victoria Naicka Richard (born March 3, 1998), known professionally as Naïka, is an American-born French-Haitian singer and songwriter.

## Early life and education

Born in Miami to a Haitian mother and a Malagasy father, Naïka spent her childhood living in various countries and regions, namely Paris, Guadeloupe, Kenya, South Africa and Vanuatu, before moving back to Miami when she was 16. She developed her musical interests at an early age.
In 2015, Naïka placed second in the BMI John Lennon Foundation Scholarship competition. She studied Performance as her major at Berklee College of Music in Boston, being selected during her first year for a tour with Michael Bolton. She participated in the NBC casting show The Voice and, during her 7th semester, she was selected to take part in a bootcamp class by songwriter Kara DioGuardi, which resulted in her debut single "Ride". Following her graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career.

## Career

Her 2016 rendition of the Haitian traditional song "Papa Gèdè (Bel Gason)" received 200,000 clicks within two days and a total of over 1 million views. After the success of her 2017 debut single "Ride", which obtained 5 million Spotify streams – resulting in a second place on the platform's Global Viral chart – and charted in twelve countries, she signed a two-year contract with Capitol Records (a division of Universal Music).
After releasing several singles between 2017 and 2019, she rose to prominence in early 2020, when a TikTok video of her version of "Don't Rush" garnered over 20 million views in three months, drawing the attention of the original artists Young T & Bugsey. In 2020 and 2021, respectively, she released the EPs Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 1 and Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 2, under the label AWAL. In April 2024, Naïka made an appearance during Saint Levant's performance at Coachella 2024, duetting to an unreleased song. Her debut album is scheduled for release in 2025.

### Artistry

Naïka is a multilingual artist, singing in French, Haitian Creole, and English. Her musical style, which she defines "world pop", is based on a mix of world music – blending European (particularly French), African, Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean music – with pop, soul and R&B. She cites influences from Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, as well as classical composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

## Personal life

Naïka lives and works in Los Angeles. Since 2023, she has been in a relationship with Palestinian rapper Saint Levant.

## Discography
### EPs

* Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 1 (2020)
* Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 2 (2021)
* TRANSITIONS EP (2022)

### Singles

* "Ride" (2017)
* "Limbo" (2017)
* "Serpentine" (2018)
* "Oh Mama" (2018)
* "Blame" (2018)
* "Snowing in L.A." (2018)
* "Deja Vu" (2019)
* "Enchanté" (with SACHI; 2020)
* "Head in the Clouds" (feat. TeaMarrr; 2020)
* "Water" (2020)
* "African Sun" (2020)
* "Sauce" (2021)
* "Belle, Belle!" (2021)
* "Don't Lie" (2021)
* "H2O" (2022)
* "My Body, My Choice" (2022)
* "Guava" (2023)
* "Milkman" (2023)
* "1+1" (2023)
* "Messi" (with June Freedom; 2023)
* "6:45" (2024)
* "1+1 (Acoustic)" (2024)
* "6:45 (Acoustic)" (2024)
* "Messi (Sunset Mix)" (with June Freedom and Peace Control; 2024)
* "Layers" (2025)

#### As a featured artist

* "Blame" (Party Favor feat. Naïka; 2018)
* "Vynil" (Joss Austin feat. Nessly & Naïka; 2022)
* "Agua" (Michaël Brun feat. Naïka; 2024)