Listening to her disc is like enjoying a hot cup of café mocha. The rich flavors blend to create an intense heightening of your senses and leave you only craving more and more. The album’s first single “Between Us,” has peaked at number ten on Billboards Smooth Jazz charts and with the success of her sophomore single, “Love Is a Lion,” she is set to tear up the charts even more.
Sexy. Smooth. Soulful. Up and coming singer/songwriter Nyee Moses exudes this and more. With her debut self-titled album, she has conquered late night smooth jazz radio. Her songs have garnered rave reviews from both Entertainment Weekly and Billboard Magazine. Her sound blends a mix of jazz, soul, R&B, funk, pop, Latin, African, and hip-hop to utter perfection.
With more success on its way, Moses is grateful for the response she’s getting. “We’re so loving the response we’re getting…it’s flattering, incredible, and I’m happy. You never know what is going to happen to you, and we’re getting this beautiful response from so many people, “Moses says.
Her debut self-titled album’s sounds range from neo-soul to funk, but when it comes to the album’s eclectic sound, Nyee attributes it to her inspirations growing up. “I love Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, the Psychedelic sound, I love the traditional jazz like Miles Davis, I listen to classical. I think the album reflects a lot of different genres: Latin, African, pop,” Moses says. And Nyee pays dues to a singer many have compared her to, Sade. “Sade is an icon, incredible. Something about her writing, quality, it’s just honest and beautiful.”
Nyee’s musical inspirations and writing roots go back to her childhood. “Growing up I was adopted, and I always felt like I was the odd-one out, not because I was adopted, but because I was the odd-one out. I turned to writing and poetry to express myself. I wrote a lot of poetry, and I probably wrote a father’s day song for my dad when I was 10 years old. And I played violin, so I was always musical,” says the singer.
Nyee’s sound is one for candle-lit nights between lovers and she attributes many of her more sensual songs to her dealings with love. “It just comes from a very honest point. My first two singles were straight love songs, [like] when you’re really immersed in a relationship and how that makes you feel. That’s how I wrote it into the music,” says Nyee. “And I had amazing musicians. They are naturally sexy players with sexy instruments,” the singer concludes.
“Between Us,” the album’s first single, has made its splash on the U.S Billboard charts, yet many of the album’s tracks are single-worthy. Nyee chose “Between Us” along with her record company because, “I think the guitar at the front just hits you, and grabs you…it is one of the more poppy songs. It was between ‘Love is a Lion’, the next single…there are quite a few single [-worthy tracks] on that album, “says Moses.
An album’s artwork is almost as important as the music itself in selling the product, and Nyee thought of the simple, yet beautiful concept of her looking into a rear view mirror while she was at a friends. “I love old car, and that’s a 57 Chevy truck, a friend of mine had it, and it was parked in the back, and we did a photo shoot around the truck,” Nyee says.
“Between Us” is one of the few singles by a new artist to be released to radio this year, with fewer and fewer debut albums being promoted by record companies, Nyee feels flattered, yet still concerned about her success. “It’s so unfair [that many artists don’t get promoted] , and it’s so miraculous [that] radio promoters have loved [my music] and have pushed it. It must be that guitar up front. It makes people think ‘oh I like that’ and makes them want to listen. I was so honored to be one of those artists picked to get so much radio play,” says the songwriter.
Already breaking into the impossible business of music and making her mark, Nyee has even more plans to write for a second album and isn’t closed minded about any other forms of entertainment to go into. “There’s always more,” she says, “you never know what tomorrow is going to bring. Hey, there’s a movie, or there’s another thing. Music opens up the doors to opportunities to other things,” says Moses.
If her debut album is any sign of what is to come, Nyee is by no means a one-hit wonder, and with her own brand of unique soul/jazz/R&B fusion and she’s not the next Sade or the next Jill Scott, but the first Nyee Moses.
