Kedash returns to the hip-hop/R&B party with “DontCha Wanna Have Fun”

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Kedash is back in town, bringing a feel-good, happy-time track with a title that asks, appropriately, “DontCha Wanna Have Fun.”

““DontCha Wanna Have Fun’ is about a guy who’s trying to get with a girl, and she’s not gonna make it easy for him,” she said.

“She wants him to understand that she’s not with the games, and that if he’s really serious then she’ll be open to the possibility of them being together. But he has to make a commitment of some sort, and then they can have some fun.”

Can you tell me I’m the one?
Don’t you wanna have fun
I’ll treat you good
Like you knew I would

“It means, if you can’t tell me I’m the one, then you can’t taste my cookie,” she said, quoting another line from the song.

She added, “If, LOL, you know what I mean.”

The song is set to a West Coast sample by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog. Kedash’s sexy, vibrant voice is born for R&B, hip-hop and pop, which means she can use it for any kind of music she wants to sing.

Her primary genres are hip-hop and R&B, but she doesn’t let that limit her.

“I like to do a fusion of all the types of music that I like, which means I do every genre of music basically. I have straight R&B songs, too, but I’m going to incorporate some jazz fusion and a little bit of everything in the songs I’m going to be putting out.”

She is reviving the recording part of her career, but one of her everyday jobs is singing with a lot of bands.

“I get to do a lot of different music, and I enjoy a lot of different music.”

Kedash started singing at the age of 7 and recorded her first background vocals in the studio when she was 12. From then on, she did background vocals for a lot of artists and record labels.

Kedash comes from soul and R&B royalty. Her father, Carter Cornelius, was one of the Cornelius brothers, as in The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, a group that gained fame in the ’70s.

Two of their original songs made the top of the Billboard chart. “Too Late to Turn Back Now” went to No. 2 and “Treat Her Like a Lady” made it to No. 3.

The bands she sings with in south Florida perform at clubs, country clubs, private events and festivals. A lot of them play Top 40 stuff. She laughs when she says that.

“I’m trying to slowly incorporate my music into the venues, but a lot of them are, you know, a little older, so they can’t — they wouldn’t be able to …” and her voice trails off, into the impression that what some of her audiences can’t do is make the leap into, say, hip-hop.

She is working on an album she hopes to bring out in the fall and is lining up tour dates and other appearances, including performing as Tina Turner in a tribute concert.

A big part of that appearance will be her stage presence, which, she said, “I integrate into everything that I do,” she said.

With her new focus on recording and putting out music, she said, “I want to use my talent and my artistic skills to express my music like I want to.”

She wants to make a name for herself, as her father and aunts and uncles did before her.

“I want to do more of my music and go as far as my music can take me,” she said. “I want to do concerts and tours, opening acts and things of that sort because I want to get my music out there.”

She wants to put out a couple more singles before the album, and to break the ice is “DontCha Wanna Have Fun.”

“A lot of my other songs, the more R&B songs, are sadder. You know — he broke my heart, he left me, all that. This is a song to make you giggle a little bit, just to make someone have a good time.”

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Nikena and her voice fire up her R&B dance track “Hold Me”

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To introduce herself to audiences in 2024, Jamaican/New York R&B artist Nikena wanted something sexy and fun, something people can dance to, vibe with. She wanted, really, a dance party wrapped in a song.

“Hold Me” is mission accomplished. The song is sultry, the video hot, and Nikena’s voice provides the fire.

“Initially, I just wanted an R&B track,” she said. “As I started writing it, I was thinking I want it to be more like meeting someone at the club, having a good time, and being that I’m from the islands, I wanted something with an island feel to it.”

Oh I really like your style
I'm loving your body language
Baby from across the room
Your energy is so magnetic

The intro is soft, dreamy and quick but not fast, building up to speed, and when the beat kicks in the song moves from beach to dancehall.

“I’m influenced by dancehall, and I wanted it to be about just like a fun time at the club, and I wanted it to have a sexy vibe.”

Her party days, her 25-year-old days, she called them, are past, but not very far past.

“I wanted that song to recreate my days of having fun, telling the story of two people checking each other out at the club and ending up having that moment together, because I remember growing up and partying and doing all that stuff.”

Hold me, hold my body, hold me
Hold me like you know me
To the rhythm of your beat

Nikena is an RN working full time in New York, but her dream has always been writing and performing her own music, inspired by R&B and pop legends like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

In 2019, she began actively working the dream. She first released “Hold Me” late last year. This year she is promoting it, partly because she has a superb video to accompany the track and because, “It is a great song, and it sounds really good in the car.”

Pounding the steering-wheel drum good.

“I think it’s something that people can cruise to, and because it is summertime, I want to promote it and get people to hear it, add it to their playlists, play it at events and, hopefully, it will build traction.”

She wants this song and its video to draw the kind of attention that can kick off a career. She has worked her music alongside the often grueling days that come with being an RN, and she continues to write songs, make music and perform in the tri-state area around New York City.

She writes her own lyrics and creates the melodies, then goes to her producers for the beats and finishing touches. Two more songs are written and done, and more are in various stages of progress. Her goal is at least an EP, maybe an album, this year.

“My songs are coming out really good,” she said. “My goal is to get a sponsor, because I have the ideas, and I have the projects, but it is a lot to do by myself as an independent.”

Her catalogue is small but full of great music, fun lyrics and her extraordinary vocal talent.

Producing the video “took everything, having to do the whole music video and then still writing and having to do promotion and everything.”

“But I’m very proud of the end result.”

The song is sultry, and the video, starring Nikena and friends, cranks up the heat. One long section illustrates a portion of the chorus that showcases her Jamaican roots.

Boy I know you like when me twist up my spine
Oh yeah yeah
Boy I know you like when me twist up my spine
To the rhythm of your beat

She says she gets questions about the meaning of this section. The closest American interpretation is “twerking.” The video could illustrate a dictionary definition.

Connect to Nikena on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

“Hold Me,” YouTube
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