Draft:NiiKo

[NiiKo] (1994-) is an [Italian American artist] known for his motivational lyrics and melodic drill style.

Biography.
NiiKo, born Ryan Francesco DiMartino, was born on October 7th, 199. Who hails from Batavia, in New York State. The 29-year-old artist comes from what he calls an “old-school Italian upbringing.”

Growing up, DiMartino wasn’t always sure what direction life would take him in. After receiving a scholarship to play in Florida, he was a committed athlete and thought he was set up to be a professional baseballer.

But his life took a turn when he tore his UCL, meaning he’d never be able to play again. He left college feeling more uncertain about his life’s direction.

As he describes it: “After college, my life was constant ups and downs, getting involved with the wrong people, constantly partying and doing drugs, working the same boring job.”

Then reality hit him, and he decided to get out of this funk and focus on what he wanted from life.

“One day, I was hanging out with one of my good friends, and we turned on an instrumental to freestyle,” he said. “After I’d finished freestyling, my friend immediately told me I needed to write something and get in a studio.

Career
Despite having only started releasing music two years ago, NiiKo has already made a significant impact on the music world.

His previous single, ‘show me your light’, charted highly on its first release day in December 2023 – encouraging him to drop the follow-up single a few weeks later.

The single in question, ‘Figures,’ dropped on January 28, with an official video coming out in February. ‘Figures’ is as intense as all good drill tracks are. It documents the artist as he tries to navigate friendship groups, success, and who he can trust in his orbit. NiiKo is an exciting artist who can take you on highs and lows with his music. In the song’s chorus, he throws in the dark line, “I just wanna see figures/But I was caught up twisting fingers.” But even as he revels in the darkness, this two-and-a-half-minute song is full of motivations, surprises – and triumphs. NiiKo shares how he dropped old friends and helped himself get ahead. His advice? “Take steps, keep your head up, stay moving, get your bread up.”

Works

 * Listen to your heart
 * Figures
 * Show me your light