NIKKI & RICH

A California girl and New York guy make beautiful music together

As far as mea culpas go, “Next Best Thing,” the debut single by pop duo Nikki & Rich, isn’t particularly remorseful. Over malt-shop piano and doo-wop backing vocals, singer Nikki Leonti tells a heartbroken ex it was boredom that led her to stray. “It’s my fault, I’m the one to blame,” she coos, callous and cavalier. “Shame on me and my man-eating game.”

In real life, she plays no such games. A preacher’s daughter from Corona, Calif., Leonti grew up on a strict diet of gospel music. “I snuck a record once,” confesses Leonti, recalling a rare teenage foray outside of spiritual sounds. “Now that I look back, it was such a harmless thing. I snuck the Mariah Carey Christmas record, which is odd. From there, once I was 18, I had a lot of cramming to do.”

Leonti had released two gospel albums of her own by her early 20s. In 2007, when she met future songwriting partner Rich Velonskis, she was singing backup for country superstar Carrie Underwood. Velonskis is a New York City-native DJ and composer who (under the pseudonym Rich Skillz) has produced tracks for such artists as Eve and Robin Thicke, and his work on Ludacris’ 2006 Release Therapy earned him a Grammy for Best Rap Album.

When Leonti and Velonskis started writing together—he handling the music, she the lyrics—they planned on licensing their material to other artists. One of their first compositions was “Same Kind of Man,” about a woman addicted to destructive relationships. Lyrically, it would have been perfect for its intended recipient. “Rich and I worked on that song when Whitney Houston was looking for material for her project, so it was written with her in mind,” Leonti says. “It was something that I connected with and became possessive of—and we ended up keeping it for us.” Velonskis recalls his partner’s determination not to part with the track. “She wasn’t having it,” he says with a chuckle. “Which was good. I couldn’t imagine that song done by anyone else.”

Excited by the music they were creating, the two christened themselves Nikki & Rich and began recording their debut album, Everything, due in late September. Musically diverse and loaded with warm-weather jams, the collection draws on influences old and new. “Music is not a science project,” says Velonskis. “It should be whatever you feel, whatever is inspiring you at the time.”

–Kenneth Partridge