Nikki Lynette Interview by John M. Ellison IV

Your eclectic nature is reminiscent to me of a female Tech N9ne. Even though you’ve mentioned that you’re a rocker that happens to rap, are rappers like Tech N9ne, Twista etc. an influence on your sound?

As far as hip hop artists go, I think my sound is most heavily influenced by N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco, and Kanye. They’re people who have great lyrics, make commercially viable music, and aren’t afraid to step outside of the box. But honestly, Tech N9ne is an influence on my hustle. He’s a great example of what an independent artist can accomplish when they’re on top of their game. I really look forward to meeting him one day, we have a few mutual acquaintances so u’d best believe I’m gonna make it happen )

I noticed the “Roses N’ Guns” mix tapes referenced Guns N’ Roses, are you a fan or were you going for a theme?

Both. Guns N’ Roses are music icons, who had one of the coldest guitar players who’s ever played the instrument (seriously, when I’m playing Guitar Hero I’m TOTALLY summoning the spirit of Slash. LoL!) To me, they’re one of those bands that embody American rock. So I chose to title my mixtape series “Roses N’ Guns” because my mixtapes are essentially me flipping rock songs into hip hop tracks, with a few other flavors in between. Plus, the image of a rose and a gun describe me well, at least that’s what I’ve been told. I wish I could remember the way he worded it, something about me being sweet and fragile like roses but dangerous & reckless like guns (he didn’t mean it as a compliment.) That actually solidified me choosing Roses N’ Guns as the title. Damn it…now I gotta call my ex and ask him to explain that to me again so I can answer my interview questions better. I wonder if he’ll be happy to hear from me. Probably not p

Chicago is known for bands such as “Screeching Weasels”, “Big Black”, “Rise Against” and “Naked Raygun” to name a few. Are there any punk bands out of Chicago that you enjoy?

Aside from The Methadones (who are unbelieveable,) I’m not as in tune with the punk scene in Chicago as I should be, unfortunately. I listen to Fall Out Boy, The Plain White Tees, and Kill Hannah, they are sorta punk but not hardcore. I don’t listen to a lot of contemporary punk because it seems like the quality of punk rock has declined just as badly as hip hop over the past few years. But right now I’m REALLY into Foxy Shazam. They not from Chicago, but they’re from Cincinnati which is still The Midwest so I sorta claim them as ours. LoL! They aren’t hardcore punk either, they’re genre-less bastards who rock just like me so right now I can’t get enough of their funky stuff.

For the video for “Shut the Fuck up Boy” video I mentioned that your aesthetic reminded me of Wendy O. Williams and you acknowledged her as a “bad ass” (which I agree with.)
Are there any other female rockers that inspire/influence you?

Tina Turner, Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, P!nk, Gwen Stefani’s crazy ass, Tracy Chapman, Cree Summer (the album she did with Lenny Kravitz is just InSaNeLy dope,) Shingai Shoniwa of “The Noisettes,” and any other chick who’s ever rocked a mic and looked bad ass while doing it.

I noticed a distinct rock influence in your sound, who are some of your favorite rock bands of all time?

The Noisettes, Rage Against the Machine, Prince & The Revolution, Blondie, Nirvana, Sly and The Family Stone, No Doubt, Foxy Shazam, Queen, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Bananarama, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and of course Guns N’ Roses! I feel like I’m leaving a few out. Smh. I’m such a poser.

What was it like hearing your music on MTV,VH-1 and Showtime for the first time?

Weird. LoL. For my VERY FIRST tv placement, me and my boo Katelyn had a girl’s night at her place. It was on that The Hills spin off, a show called The City. She recorded it on her dvr so right after it aired we rewound it and watched it over and over again. We were stoked. We spent the rest of the night watching The Adventures of Tim p Now I rarely even have time to catch the shows that play my music. Its hard to keep up with the features, I usually don’t know about the placements ahead of time and I don’t find out about them until one of my Bad Asses hits me up & tells me “Hey! Yo shit is on VH1 right now!”

A lot of artists have a list of people they would want to work with, what is your ultimate list of collaborators?

I’d love to collab with N.E.R.D., Kanye,Tech N9ne, Little Dragon, Will.I.Am, Big Boi & Andre 3000, Travis Barker, Foxy Shazam, M.I.A., LMFAO, Lenny Kravitz, Justice, and Paramore, for starters.

You mentioned you’re a fan of the Venture Bros. on “Adult Swim” what are some of your favorite episodes?

I love the one where Rusty has the tag sale, they show the largest number of supervillains in one location that they’ve EVER shown on the show. That in addition to Hank’s concession stand and The Monarch’s obsession with defiling Rusty’s crib was just too funny to me. Also, the one where Dean got testicular torsion…do I even need to go into detail on that one???????? LoLoL! And both of the Spider Skull Island episodes went hard. There are really too many to name, I have never seen an episode of Venture Bros. that I didn’t like.

I noticed that you were at Comic-con, and you enjoy Deadpool. Are there any other comic book titles you’re checking out?

My favorite comic book of all time is Inifinite Kung Fu. Martial arts, great storyline, zombies, and a Jemi Hendrix looking samurai dude who’s just going around kicking everybody’s ass. So epic! Kagan Mcleod’s style influenced my own visual art so much, everything about this comic from the characters to the writing just rocks to me. But there has only been 7 issues released to date, of which I only have four ( I am considering just buying the graphic novel so that I have them all, but I’m a total fan-boy for Infinite Kung Fu so you know I want all 7 issues. Aside from the Xmen graphic novels I don’t read too many other comics, I’m more so just a lover of geek culture in general.

You mentioned you’re a fan of “The Office” are you a fan of the English one or the American version?

Honestly, I prefer the American version because I’m actually a total stan for Steve Carell. I’m not a stan in an “I want to bone you” kind of way, I’m a stan in a “Ever since I saw you in 40 Year Old Virgin I’ve been your biggest groupie” kind of way. I also am a big lover of Dwight and the dynamic between Oscar & Kevin. I hope that the show stays funny now that Steve Carell is gone. Or else I might need to be hospitalized for clinical depression.

You mentioned on your twitter page that you’re an aunt. Being an uncle myself, would you consider yourself the cool aunt?

I think my nephews consider me the cool aunt. Kids are little sponges for everything in popular culture, and with me being in the music industry and pretty much being forced to stay on top of popular culture we tend to know about a lot of the same things and have plenty to talk about. And the things that I don’t know about they expose me to it, and vice versa. My nephews rock, they really love me. In fact, they keep track of my song placements better than I do. They call me and tell me what show played which song and during which scene, etc. They’re impressed that my music is on shows that they like. I’m impressed that they listen to my music enough to be able to recognize it when they hear it on tv. It rocks to be on your own nephew’s iPod. They are my biggest fans, in fact, they are the reason I don’t swear in my music. I might say some wild stuff from time to time, but if you pay attention you’ll notice that I never say any naughty words other than “ass” or “hell.” I think I might have said “damned” on my mixtape once, I’m not sure. LoL. My youngest nephew has gotten to the point where he demands that my sister play my music in the car, so since I know for a fact that they listen and learn all the words, I have to be conscious of what I say. Especially since I have a lot of young fans. Yeah, I have strong opinions and say some controversial things, but I want them to know that its ok to have your opinions as long as you can communicate those things intelligently and stand behind what you say. That’s the type of thing that makes someone cool to me.

I want to thank Nikki Lynette for her time and for granting me this interview. Keep an eye out for the Roses n Guns re-release coming soon!

Check out her official website
http://nikkilynette.com/