With a voice that shifts seamlessly between melody and rap, Nicole Blakk has been steadily carving out her own lane in the UK music scene. From viral moments on TikTok with DJ AG and Red Bull Mic Flex to performing on stages at SXSW and Glastonbury’s Shangri-La Main Stage, she’s shown she can hold her own whether online or live in the flesh.
Add in co-signs and appearances with names like Lady Leshurr and Beta Squad, and it’s clear Nicole’s rise isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
We caught up with Nicole at UD’s studios to talk about the power of social media, her journey to more authentic spaces, and reconnecting with her late father through her passion for music.
UD: How has 2025 been treating you?
Nicole Blakk: It’s been a great year so far. It’s really mad because towards the end of last year, I was planning on focusing on being a songwriter and leaning into being more behind the scenes as an artist. Mainly because I felt like I was putting myself out there and nothing was really happening. That was the plan, to just stick to songwriting and then maybe in a year or three, think about being an artist again.
UD: What made you refocus on yourself?
Nicole Blakk: One day I was with two of my friends after a studio session, we were in the King Cross area and we saw DJ AG was there. I was just like, “Yeah, let’s just go. Why not?” and we went to watch. Because I had a studio session, I had my PA for one of my songs already on my USB, and I had my laptop too. I had everything with me. One of my friends asked someone on his team how it worked to perform and they said you had to queue up and it was too late to be added on. I was like, “No worries“, so we were just standing there enjoying the music and then one of the ladies that works with AG, was like, “Do you make music?” And I was like, “Yeah, I rap and I sing.” She was like, “Okay, go on then.” and I was like, “oh, he said it’s too late.”, she responded, “do it, do it.” I literally said, “No, I don’t really want to, it’s all guys on there.” She was like, “Exactly! That’s why you should do it.” I literally kept saying, “No“, 20 minutes had passed. I had no intention of doing it. And then she went to AG, “Get her on” AG was like, “Okay, do you have a USB?”. I gave him my USB and I did my Black Box and got a wheel up. Once it got uploaded, loads of artists like Skepta were in the comments on that video.
UD: It really only takes one moment, doesn’t it?
Nicole Blakk: It really does. It happened so quickly. Then, like a week later, AG invited me to one of his TikTok events with Defected Records. I didn’t know I was performing or anything… I thought “this is a TikTok event. This would be a good opportunity. Why not? Why not just take my chance?” So I brought my hard drive because I’d lost my USB (and to me, that was a sign to not go). I was like, I lost my USB, then my cat tore my outfit I wanted to wear… Things kept happening that led me to believe I shouldn’t go. I ended up leaving at the last minute. On my way to the train, I went to Primark and the first thing I saw was a red jumper. It was £8. I ended up getting to the event and I wasn’t sure what section I should be in and by chance I asked the staff if I was down for the VIP section where people were performing. I was and I went inside, AG saw me and he was like, “Oh, take the mic” and I started rapping. As it was a live feed on TikTok, everyone was like, “get the red jumper again, get the red jumper again.” I was called the ‘Red Jumper’ laughs. Then that’s when Wez (Saunders), the CEO of Defected Records, came downstairs.
He said: “The sound is connected to my office. I can hear you performing. Can you come down tomorrow and can we have a meeting?” During that first meeting with Wez, we discussed him helping connect me with Defected writers to finish a song or two, but just a few weeks later, we chatted about him managing me, which felt so natural to us both.
After this, I went to a Lady Leshurr event. And she was like, “You’re the red jumper, girl. I was trying to look for your account, and I couldn’t find you, and I saw you on AG’s Live.” The week after that in London, I was a supporting act for her. Everything was just happening so quickly after that.
Wez then arranged for multiple studio sessions for me including with Jammer and Blizzard. Red Bull then hit us up and said “We saw you on AG’s platform. We want to get you down.” Then I did a shoot with Naked Smoothies. They also said, “We saw you on AG.” And that’s why I’m so grateful to AG. The guy is a living legend, giving so many opportunity to singers; it’s no wonder he was named Time Out’s Londoner of the Year last year. It’s just that one opportunity that triggered so many great things, especially meeting my manager. It’s the reason I’ve got a lot of music opportunities.
UD: It’s so powerful to know that while it felt like you were feeling that your hard work wasn’t being noticed, it was all preparing you for all these moments that you’re now experiencing. What would you say to someone going through this difficult journey now who may feel like it’s not connecting?
Nicole Blakk: I really believe in the quote “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.” You’ve got nothing to lose. That’s one thing I said to myself when I saw my ripped clothes and I couldn’t find my USB. I was just thinking, “If I go, I’ve got nothing to lose. And by staying, I might be missing out on something.” But at that moment, I wasn’t thinking something was going to happen when I got there. If you try once and you miss, it’s like, at least you tried. But if you just don’t try at all, it’s already lost.
I took one shot and it was a domino effect for me. This is the first time I’m really putting it all together and literally, if I didn’t do that THAT day, I wouldn’t have met my manager. I wouldn’t have done Red Bull and opened for Lady Leshurr. So it’s just being aware that you just never know who is watching.
UD: What AG is doing is amazing. It’s giving people a platform and also it’s a great training ground as well. Looking back on your first AG moment, how did you stand out from the many others waiting for their moment too?
Nicole Blakk: I think there’s a few reasons. On a surface level I stand out. I usually wear white eyebrows and lashes. The reason I do that is because of my cat, because my cats have white eyelashes. They have white eyebrows. My cat is easy. She’s the best. I lost my white eyeliner that day and I was like, I’ve just started doing this. We went to Poundland, it was towards the end of the year, so all the Halloween makeup was on discount. I put my finger in the red and I put in on my eyebrows and then I started putting it on my hair. And my friend was looking at me and I asked him “does it look crazy?” And he was like, “it’s you…” I think that’s the first thing. It’s like, even if you’re scrolling AG’s live you’d think “this girl’s got red eyebrows and red hair.”
Then if you look at the video, I’m the only girl in the video. It’s all just guys behind me. I’m just there and I’m rapping. So I feel like that’s what would make people stay. And also it started with me rapping in French. I think they edited it that way. And then the track samples Amy Winehouse which is a recognisable track. So I think there’s a lot of things that played a part.
“I feel like if I wasn’t me and I was watching that, I would have stopped and watched.”
Nicole Blakk on performing with DJ AG
UD: Let’s dive into your journey. Where did your journey with music begin?
Nicole Blakk: My grandad was actually an artist. He was one of the most prominent artists in Africa. When he passed away three years ago, all the shops were shut down. He’s very respected. He even played sax with James Brown. They’ve done shows together in Europe. He made a living off of music, it was his source of income. Recently I found out my biological Dad, who passed away when I was five, was also a musician, he used to play the guitar in a band.
UD: How did finding that out about your Dad’s love for music during lockdown ignite your love for making music?
Nicole Blakk: I feel like that’s where things started. It became different for e. I was singing and making music from a young age but this information really came at a pivotal time for me. During lockdown, I was on X Factor. So we filmed the show during COVID. I fell out of love with music because the show was not right for my musical direction. I nearly fell out of love with music.
When I found out about my Dad, I just started writing and writing because I just felt more connected to him. He passed when I was so little, and while I still remember him, this new understanding of him just made me feel so connected to him. So I think when I make music now, I remember, okay, this is coming from my biological Dad. This is actually my roots and my grandad.
UD: It truly sounds like the info about your late dad came at the perfect time. He definitely wanted to remind you of your power especially after a negative experience with the corporate side of the music industry. It was so great to see your family come out to support you at SXSW too, having that encouragement is so important!
Nicole Blakk: I was looking back on the videos the other day, as a lot of my family was down to watch. I think the support is just crazy. I think also having that support from them and knowing they’re behind me is also what continues to drive me.
Even my grandma, who sadly passed away when I started uni, she would be on to me! I would do live’s online during lockdown and she’d be like, ‘You need to go on live today!’ My grandma used to stay up with me watching the live. I was with her every single day. She was at every show. She would always come with a suitcase to my shows. That support is what continues everything for me.
UD: So I know you’ve been singing from quite young. How did you start rapping?
I only just started rapping not too long ago, I had a really bad breakup and he was a rapper. I wanted to rap but I didn’t know how to rap and he used to always tell me, “Don’t rap, don’t rap. Just stick to singing.” I used to listen. As soon as we broke up, I saw that he was putting out diss tracks online. So, I was like, “Okay, I’m just going to do it back then.” And I thought, Even if it doesn’t sound good because he said, ‘I can’t rap properly’, I’m going to just do it because why do you keep making diss tracks about me? And everyone in the comments was like, “Oh, my days. I didn’t know you could rap”. I was like, “Oh my gosh, is that actually good, guys?” I think that’s what encouraged me to continue doing it. It was just a back and forth. It was very stupid. I was 18. I stopped rapping for a bit and carried on with singing, then one day when I was writing, there were too many words in a sentence so I turned it into a rap. I did a Live In The Lab with BassLab Studios with actual bars! I was actually barring, but it was like half singing, half rapping.
I had an 8 bar, and then I was singing for a 16, because I was just a bit nervous. I was still stepping into it. And then that’s when I was like, ‘Okay, cool. I think I can rap.’ I’d say within the last six months, there’s a few great communities that I’ve been connecting with. Isaiah La Touche introduced me to Spaces, where I met Twenty’8, who’s a rapper. I knew what grime was, obviously, but I didn’t ever expect myself to MC on grime. So when they started inviting me to these cyphers and sets, it was always just hardcore grime. My lyrics are not really grime, though. I felt like I couldn’t rap on those beats. They were too aggressive. Then I went and I sat down and I wrote a 16 to one of Fonzo’s beats. He’s a producer that I was working with, and he made a grime beat specifically tailored to me that basically was soulful grime. I started practising and building from there.
UD: What was that experience like being at the Red Bull Mic Flex as it’s a real testing ground for skill?
Nicole Blakk: Red Bull definitely tested me a lot as well, especially with the wild card and the different genres. I was so nervous. They send you 15 beats of each genre that it might be. So I was listening to all of them and I was thinking ‘I can’t rap on any of these.’ but I managed to do it. I feel like every single person I’ve been working with recently, from Chantelle (UD) to Wez and Jammer, Arcain & New Machine, to even my sister, who’s a film producer, everyone just makes so much sense and brings something great out of me. I just love the team that I’m building.
UD: What other moments in the lead up to now prepared you for your current success?
Nicole Blakk: I think everything I’ve experienced has helped me in some way get to this point. Growing up I went to a sports academy, secondary school. I was playing football and then I started training with the England women’s netball team. It was just a lot. It was so intense.
At secondary school, I was the only girl in my class for four years. So I was doing sports every single day and the class that I was in, it was just boys… We had to do rugby, we had to do football, we had to do netball. I was the only girl, so I constantly always felt like I had to prove myself all the time because it’s like when they’re picking teams. For example, the first year, I was always the last to be picked because I was a girl. There was literally a guy in my class, he had a cast on his leg and it was me and him left to pick from, and they chose the guy with the cast on his leg!
UD: That’s character building! How did you push through?
Nicole Blakk: I remember I’d train with my brother and with my cousins. I came back after the summer just ready to go. Every sport, I made sure I had it down. Then after that, I was going hard, I even started sometimes being the first picked laughs. I was playing football with all the guys, and I feel like rap is a male dominated field, whether we like it or not. There are loads of female rappers, but it’s the men that are dominating it. I feel like even if you’re good as a female, you have to be sick because if you’re good, they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, she’s all right for a girl.’ I still get comments like that. Literally only because I’m a girl.
I feel like whilst I was at university, it taught me a lot about being in my own space. Also not having that family support close by had its challenges. Sometimes I was struggling. Uni sometimes just gets depressing. And I was really struggling, and especially my break up was when I first started uni. So my mum was coming down, and I didn’t want to show them that I was going through it. So, it taught me a lot about strength. And I feel like through music, you have to be strong. For example, six months ago, I was just like, I don’t want to do it anymore. I felt like, I’m trying, and nothing’s working. But because of the strength that I had, I was like, let me just do it anyways, because why not? I say from lockdown and college times, just the strength. And then from uni, I got a scholarship for my masters. I was the only person ever on that campus to get a scholarship as well. So I think that gave me a lot of drive.
Also ACM, big shout out to them because they supported me through so much. I did my first ever headline show at ACM, the University. I had so much support from the tutors. They gave me access to all the campuses. So, I had Brian Henry who plays keys for Soul II Soul, mentor me. And that’s what you need, that support, knowing, okay, I’m not just doing this for me, but I’m also doing this for all the people that support and believe in me, too, because I know now I don’t want to let them down. And if I’m ever in a place again, these are the things that help me push through. So it’s all those little things that have happened throughout my life, all those stages of my life that have helped me.
UD: What has your experience been like going from being a singer to being in the world of UK rap, especially with your experience at school?
Nicole Blakk: I was literally in a male dominated field. I was playing football with just boys, just teenage boys that felt like they were a lot better than me. And then I became better than a lot of them. Do you know what I mean? I was literally doing tricks around them. I just felt like when you start to just feel like you’re too good, that’s what I started feeling like. And I never felt like that when I started. So I feel like with rap, as a female, you have to be like that. You have to feel… You have to put on that masculine energy and that masculine persona and just be like, ‘Yeah, don’t look at me as a female rapper. Just look at me as a rapper.’ Full stop. That’s it. That’s all I want. Don’t compare me like, ‘Oh, yeah, she’s a female rapper’. No, I’m just a rapper. I’m so glad Red Bull put me on there as the only girl that day because I can still level with them.
I’ve only just recently started rapping. I’m still learning a lot. But when it comes to singing, that’s my bag. Like, literally, my mum was paying for those competitions growing up, that’s what I was doing on the side. We went to Paris for a wedding once. I was booked for weddings, funerals etc. I was basically a function singer. So, when people know me first as a rapper, it’s quite mad for me.
UD: Can you talk to us about your writing process?
When I’m writing, especially when I’m making songs, it’s from watching movies. I’ll write from the perspective of that person or character and then try to tailor it to myself. So, I’m writing about someone else’s experience, but I find the angle that connects it to myself. I like to reflect on how I’ve personally experienced this type of emotion in my own life and then I write my take on it. That’s how I write the lyrics a lot of the time or I’ll listen to songs. Like recently, Sasha Keable has been the one! I just love how her music makes me feel.
UD: I was just thinking about some of the powerhouses of talent that can both sing and rap to really high standards like Lauryn Hill, Estelle and Doechii…
Nicole Blakk: Doechii… I resonate with her so much, she recorded a video on, I think it was four years ago or something where she recorded herself basically saying she’s just used the last bit of her money to pay for a studio session. She had no money left but she decided to go to the studio because she still believes in herself. She was like, I see myself here, here, here, here, and here but she was sitting on the floor in her house and had just lost her job. No money. And look at her now. I feel like that gave me so much motivation. Seeing someone that looks like me. Genuinely, I feel like seeing a Black person come from that, manifest something powerful, and literally make it happen is insane to me. It’s so insane that it’s like, I can do it, too. And that’s what she says. She always says, ‘If I can do it, you can do it, too.’
It’s someone I can fully relate to. I look at her and I watch her music. I just love everything she stands for. I just love how she performs. I love how she puts herself out there. She’s very aware of everything, and she conducts herself so well and carries herself so well. It’s so amazing to have somebody to look up to like that.
UD: Doechii is so talented and it’s so great to see her finally getting the flowers she deserves. She’s also really transparent about her journey with her mental health which I think in the music industry is still taboo. How are you finding the balance with work, creating and real life?
Nicole Blakk: I’m on a nonstop roll, and it’s just going to be that way, It’s not going on pause anytime soon. So, I’m finding a really great balance with prioritising my mental health. I’ve found that having my mornings for me during the weekdays helps me with this. It’s just a habit I’ve put into myself because the rest of the day I have to do the phone calls, and I have to do the speaking to people, and I have to do the Instagram posts, and I have to do studio sessions and photoshoots, especially the past few months it’s been really busy.
UD: You mentioned earlier you’ve been working with the legendary producer Jammer. What have you learned by working alongside him?
Nicole Blakk: Before working with Jammer I put a lot of pressure on myself to create and have a certain amount of output from each session I was doing, like I need to perform at least seven times in a month. Every performance, I need to make sure I’ve done this. I need to record in my studio sessions, I always say, ‘I need to leave and four songs need to be recorded.’ Working with Jammer is a lot more relaxed. We spend a lot of the time just talking to each other, and vibing so it feels a lot less forced and more organic and I’ll record a little bit. I feel like when you’re relaxed, it’s so different because I didn’t put pressure on myself and we still got the work done. I didn’t get three songs done, but I got one great song done. I think it’s just all about balancing. I think that’s what has helped me stay sane. If I continued that way before I would have definitely gone insane.
UD: It’s definitely a lot harder to create with heart when you’re looking at it only like a business and with the quantity of output. The quality of music is always at the heart of it all.
Nicole Blakk: That’s why he makes such great music because he lets you get comfortable. My friend was there, we were just chilling. Oh. he also helped me with my Red Bull Cypher preparation. It was so mad. I was actually mentored by Jammer for Red Bull. I feel like that’s why I went in because I knew he was going to be watching. Before, I was showing him bars that I had written and he was like, “let’s try something else.” He was so on it with me and he was just speaking and pouring so much encouragement into me. Having people like this around you, is just what you need to help you grow.
UD: The Red Bull moment was iconic. Can you talk to us about the journey with incorporating French, Congolese and Punjabi into your music?
Nicole Blakk: I’m Congolese, that’s my background. So, we speak Lingala and French. My grandma never spoke English so French was the language we could all communicate in. I would spend all my time with my nan, I used to basically live at her house. After school, she picked me up, take me back to her house.
I learnt Punjabi through my best friend, Sana. She’s actually from Pakistan, but she would listen to a lot of Indian music as their languages are quite similar. So I just knew the songs. I was 11 years old singing these songs at her house as I used to go to her house every day after school. Every birthday, I’d be there. Her mum literally threw a surprise party for me once at her house. That’s how close we are. So, she would play a song, and I would just sing along. Then one day I was at uni, and I recorded a video just singing along to one of the songs, and it just went crazy. It was one of Diljit Dosanjh’s songs. The video went crazy. It got a million views.
After it went insane online, I chose to not carry on because. I didn’t want to offend anyone. Then Sana was like ‘Why would anyone get offended?’ I don’t know. I just thought people would get offended as it’s not my culture or language. She was like, “if I started singing in French, would you get offended? Exactly, because I’m just singing in another language.” She was like, “Are you disrespecting any cultures? Are you singing any religious songs?”. I think she made it clear to me that there’s a difference between religion and culture. And she was like, you’re literally just singing songs of our culture. You’re just singing. You’re not offending anybody. She said, if you start disrespecting the culture, that’s when it’s a problem. But you’re singing along to a song. How is that a problem? That’s when I started to do the singing in the shop TikTok videos.
UD: Oh yes, I’ve seen the video! How did that idea even come about?
Nicole Blakk: The way that actually started, was off camera, I had ran out of money in my first year of uni and I went to the local shop. All I needed was bread and milk to last me to the end of the week. I got what I needed. I went to the till. I was like, I don’t have any money left. Can I sing to you in your language to get this? He was like, “No”. I was just like, “Please, can I just sing?” And I was like, “Just listen to me.” And I sang to him and he recorded me on his phone. And Sanna’s mum got sent the video, but not directly from him. It was circulating on WhatsApp.
UD: That’s wild. Viral on WhatsApp.
Nicole Blakk: Yeah, it was circulating on WhatsApp. And she was like, “Why are you singing to random men in the shop?” And I was like, “Auntie, I needed bread.” she was like, “You should have asked me or your mum.” (laughs)
After that I went into a shop and passed my friend my phone and did it again. I thought that video circulated so much on WhatsApp but I need my own content. Let’s see what it does. The first one is now at 2.5 million views. It led to lots of promotional brand work with other shops, food shops with quite a few local restaurants and even hair shops.
@nonelikebeee Period #nicoleblakk #nicolepreet #fyp ♬ original sound – Nicole Blakk????
UD: You’ve clearly got a great eye and ideas for creating breakthrough moments on social media. What have you learnt about creating visual moments for online with your music?
Nicole Blakk: It’s just been sick. I’m so grateful. I feel like one thing I learned is to keep the same format, especially with your own videos. I thought that people might think it’s boring if it always looks the same and in a similar format but you have to remember that every video goes to a different audience. It’s not the same audience for every video. Keeping it the same is the best thing because it’s consistent. People will recognise it, especially if they liked it. I tried changing the layout of each video and the views were going down. But when I kept it the same as what I was doing before, that’s the ones that did well. Keep it consistent and let people understand your thing. It’s got to the point on TikTok on the suggested bar, it says ‘Nicole singing in shop’. Keeping it the same and doing the same thing always works.
UD: So, would you say that’s one of your social media pillars. Singing in the shop?
Nicole Blakk: Yeah, it works! There’s a singer called Ethan Hodges, who was also on X Factor, and he has his phone at a specific angle as he films himself covering songs as he plays the piano, in 30 second videos. Every video on his page is exactly the same. He was getting like 500 views, 300 views. Then one of his videos, exactly the same, blew up and I think it got like 4 million views. I think the song was “Slipping Through My Fingers”, he ended up being seen by the person who owns the song and has done the official remix of it. He’s now doing so well. There’s so many great examples of people performing and making music online.
UD: You’re completely right. How has UD played a part in your journey so far?
I first heard about UD as I did a session with Girls Of Grime. Then after I graduated, I reached as I wanted to hold a small event. I just love the building and really enjoyed the space. It was a good place to record. The quality was great. The quality of the music we recorded here was really good as well. So, I contacted just to ask how I can do it myself, how I can get involved. And that’s when I was told exactly what the Free Yard sessions were (complimentary studio time) and how to do it and the forms to fill out. Everyone was so helpful. I did my own Free Yard session and it ended up being great. I ended up having Not3s, Nadia Rose, and then my family here while we recorded. It had a nice vibe. It was very chill, very calm. I was then invited to do an Artist Residency, which gave me more studio time. I definitely want to use more of the studios. I feel like the staff here was so good, so welcoming, so kind. The engineer that I had as well, Justina ‘Likkle Jay’ Bryce, was so great to work with and knowing that you have experienced people working alongside you, I think that’s what added to it. It made me feel really important, really cared for.
UD: What things are you focused on to drive you forward?
Nicole Blakk: I’m just grateful every day. I’m just enjoying the process so much. This year I’ve accomplished a lot and it’s made me see anything is possible. SXSW was crazy. I mean, opening for Mabel was just insane. And the fact that six months ago, I was really just going to be a songwriter just in the background. And it’s just weird how you just stumble across opportunities like that. And I could have just looked at my ripped clothes and been like, I’m just not going to go because that’s how I felt. I’m really focused on putting out great music and being open to new opportunities.
Nicole’s single ‘White Wine’ is out now. Catch her performing at UD x Time Out x Westfield London on 23rd August at 6pm, ariel way, W12.
Follow her on Instagram, Spotify and TikTok for the latest.
Words & photography: Laura ‘Hyperfrank‘ Brosnan
