Nija
The Grammy Winner Writes Her Own Songs
ARTIST FEATURE
By Lulu Moore
Photo Credit: Brian Ziff
Nija Charles is a young pop singer and ambitious musical talent with extensive music industry experience. At only 24-years-old, the New Jersey artist is a record producer, genre-mixing musician, and double-Grammy-winning songwriter. On January 28th, Nija dropped her debut solo project, Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You, under Capitol Records. The album exposes the rawness of heartbreak while steering clear of self-deprecation. Her technical and historical musical knowledge propel her songwriting to the top of the charts. Combined with her contagious, self-assured spirit, Nija asserts her dominance in the pop, R&B, house, and rap scene today.
Nija casually mentions how she was working in Paris with Jay-Z and Beyoncé on The Carters album when Beyoncé told her that she had a beautiful tone on her demo for “Heard About Us”. Beyoncé subsequently asked to feature Nija on “MY POWER”, to which Nija replied, “You don’t tell Beyoncé ‘No’.” This experience was a distinctive moment that validated Charles’ decision to switch from songwriter to solo artist.
Nija was only 21 years old when she wrote two songs for Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning album, Everything Is Love, and perfected the hooks on several of Cardi B's hit songs like “Ring” with Kehlani and “I Do” featuring SZA.
Winning the Grammy opened doors for her, allowing her to write some of today’s major hits. She’s written for artists like Summer Walker, 21 Savage, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Wiz Kid, Meek Mill, Lil Baby, and many more. But out of all the songs she’s written, currently, her personal favorite is “No Guidance” by Drake and Chris Brown given its cultural impact.
Her major commercial and professional success is an ode to her dedication and hustle throughout her youth. An honors student at the NYU Clive Davis School of Music, her aunt and uncle first introduced her to the Fruity Loops music production software at a young age. Shee grew up listening to Chicago house music and Jersey club remixes to jazz, gospel, and soul music in the church. However, she felt especially touched by R&B and a 70s sound.
“I found myself really locking into the 70s music and that era,” said Nija because “it is when they used the instruments in the purest form. In the 80s they started adding synthesizers and…more electronic instruments to make music. But in the 70s you had the piano, the guitar, the other instruments, and voices.” Nevertheless, Charles pulls something from all music to expand her genre-bending ability.
Nija describes herself as a chef and an overall “fan of music.” Her exposure to a range of sounds equips her to create music with pop cords and drill drums that still embody a rap cadence and emulate an R&B sound. She learned “how to maneuver in different pockets”.
But Charles mainly attributes her quick rise in the industry to th mantra she has tattooed on her wrist: “Trust Your Gut”. Nija combines her sharp intuition with a structured routine that still prioritizes self-care. She aims to work diligently for four days out of the week but still creates enough time to “shop, go to the movies, go go-carting,” and do whatever she needs “to be a regular person.”
Her emphasis on self-care bleeds into her fashion sense. Nija consistently shows up and shows out. “On a daily basis when you look good, you feel good. And when you feel good, the results show,” said Nija. She wants to look “the part” but emphasizes how she does this for herself and her comfortable fashion compliments her music. Whether it’s a baggy vibe, a futuristic touch, or a tight piece she knows who she is and likes to experiment.
The artist also touches on the challenges she’s faced being a Black woman in the pop and rap/R&B industry. Going into the studio with rappers as a face that’s not fully known, “they assume you’re just there for the vibes so they don’t even acknowledge you.” This happened to Nija “just the other day.” But on the pop music side, Nija touches on the growing profitable market for Black female musicians. “Everyone wants to do a song for Summer Walker. Everyone wants to do a song for SZA. But y’all weren’t making songs for Summer and SZA yesterday. So why are you trying now?”
Despite these challenges, she doesn’t shy away from taking up her space in the studio or in life. Her recent Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You album addresses toxic relationships––but from Nija’s uniquely confident perspective. You feel Nija’s power in “Wicked” as she combines her raw emotive R&B vocals with big drums and a drill beat. In “Rare”, the 808s are a heartbeat weighed down by the burden of mixed-signals in a situationship. True to herself, Ninja’s lyricism in “You Don’t Love Her” embodies her strong sense of self. But she still wanted to incorporate a lighthearted track in the album. “Beautiful Lies” uses a fun, upbeat tempo to speak to the human tendency to overhype oneself in the “talking stages” of a relationship. Overall, the album introduces a new, self-secure voice to the R&B scene.
In R&B, “I feel like when people sing about the ups and downs, it’s like ‘I’m so sad. I can’t believe you did this to me. I’m a victim’.” Charles challenges this narrative and tries to bring the confident aura of female rappers to the R&B scene. Thus, her message becomes “I am sad. But you’re the one who fucked up. I’ll take this L once, but after this, I’m done and I’m getting back to who I am.”
Despite Nija’s astronomical successes, she remains grounded in reality. Her advice to rising artists is “It’s okay to have a bad day.” Delivering a hit every day is “not realistic” and you have to be okay with that. “Sometimes creative genius will pop up, and sometimes that creative thing will leave”.
However, her awareness of human limitations doesn’t dampen her consistent drive. She admires women––and people in general––“who are able to juggle so many things and are so good and dedicated.” In five years, Nija aims to top the charts, produce a number one album, build superstars, have her publishing company “go crazy” and establish herself as a mogul. She is certainly poised to take the steps to get there, and we’re excited to see where her career takes her.