Dancehall Queen turned artiste Queen Nikki, who is also popularly known as DHQ Nikki, has released her first-ever music project entitled Struggles and Pain. Her debut EP features five songs, three of which speak to her journey in becoming who she is today. Nikki became famous with her dance routines that would dominate Jamaican parties, none more so than the Mosquito Net and Needle Eye Whine. The latter was noted to have been the center of a public dispute between herself and Dancehall superstar Spice in 2015 over money issues.
Her EP isn’t her first step into the studio. Back in 2017, she partnered with her then-boyfriend Marvin The Beast. Her collaboration with Kiprich on Happy Life also gained her some recognition within the music space. However, when asked why she decided to delve fully into the music business, she expressed that the decision had mostly to do with how she wanted her children to perceive her. “I still love it (dancing) but because of my kids I just decided to stop,” she stated in a recent interview on Sportsmax TV. “What caused the transition was down to my kids. I couldn’t let them grow up and see me dancing like that so I had to change paths and go into music.”
She also went on to explain that she has always had a love for singing. “Some persons didn’t know that I used to do music before I became a dancehall queen so I just said alright let’s go back to that.” Since turning over into music full-time, she has signed with Eclipse and Boysie Records and has been putting in the work recording songs and networking in the industry.
Struggles and Pain can be found on Apple Music and Deezer and details the artiste’s life’s struggles and issues she faced growing up in a single parent household and finding her feet in Jamaica’s entertainment industry.
Watch the full interview:
