Not My Neighbour

"Not My Neighbour" is a song by New Zealand musician Niko Walters, released as a single in August 2020. The song was a success in New Zealand, reaching number four and becoming the 17th most successful song in New Zealand in 2021. In 2021, a new version was recorded featuring American R&B singer Kiana Ledé.

Background and writing
During the writing sessions for Walters' debut album Escape, he wanted to create an experimental song, different from his typical soul-inspired songs. Walters was inspired by the written works of Leonard Cohen and films by Quentin Tarantino to create a song that told a story using detailed visual imagery, as a way to "put a different spin on a classic love song". Walters worked with producer and musician Rory Noble and singer-songwriter Mikey Dam to produce the song.

Composition
"Not My Neighbour" is a contemporary R&B song, that describes a love story using the metaphor of a police hunt.

Release
"Not My Neighbour" was released as the second single from Escape on 21 August 2020. After the success of the song, American R&B singer Kiana Ledé collaborated with Walters to produce a new version of the song. Walters felt that "Not My Neighbour" was "an unusual song that doesn't really fit the style of everyone's vocal and feel", but Ledé's style was a good fit after she called him and discussed her ideas for the new version of the song. The new version was released on 16 April 2021.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.


 * Chris Chetland – mastering engineer
 * Mikey Dam – writer
 * Ryan Hobbs – writer
 * Rory Noble – producer, mixer, writer
 * Niko Walters – writer