Search - Nikka Costa :: Everybody Got Their Something

She's got my attention---next it's gonna be yours.

Grafs | United States | 06/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album that explores many different textures and genres of music. In her debut effort Nikka Costa manages to do just about everything on this album: she gets real gritty and raw on the album's opening track, "Like a Feather." The following track, which i believe is the best on the album, features Costa showing off her robust vocal range as she beautifully belts out the album's most beautiful chorus on "So I Have For You." Costa's vocals on this track give this song a snese of boundless energy and passion. "Tug of War" is a bona-fide soulfed song, as Nikka shows great vocal restraint as she slithers through the sultry stanzas of this track. Costa makes this track even more interesting by complementing the song's soulful feel with symphonic and electronic elements. The fourth track, "Everybody Got Their Something" is a track that you will like five seconds in to it. This 70's sounding track screams funk! One of the album's best tracks, this catchy tune adds another layer to this eclectic album. The next two tracks, "Nothing" and the short "Nikka What?", add extra textures as they are a beautiful ballad and a short track of record scratching, respectively. "Hope it Felt Good" is an energetic assertion of a lover left jaded. Awesome guitars on this track. Lots of very interesting instrumentation with trumpets and saxaphones in the later part of this track. "Some Kind of Beautiful" is a soulful funk track that will have you bobbin your head before you know it. "Just Because" is a slower, blues tune. Costa lets her words lazily fall out of her mouth as I have only heard seasoned singers do. The next track is another solid effort, but next to all the album's other songs, which all sound very original in one way or another, this song seems kind of plain. The album's closer, "Corners of My Mind", is a fitting end to this album. Costa turns the energy down a few notches on this beautifully bare track, which features a cello accompaniament and the gentle lapping of slowly running water in the background. This song seems to give the listener a chance to peacefully meditate and relax after 45 minutes of bombastic energy and powerful music.I would highly recommend this album to anyone who is interested in hearing the debut of an artist who's music we will be listening to for years to come. Enjoy!"

SOUL MAMA ROCKS ON!

illmama | VA | 05/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you've seen that catch as hell Tommy Hil commercial and ask who is singing that funky soulful song...well look no further. It's music best kept secret NIKKA COSTA!! Well, she may be selling millions internationally and now she's honored us with her presence in the US with this rare gem of an album that makes you think she's Sly Stone and Janis Joplin's love child. She's definitely got the pure, exquisite funk of Sly and Co., and vocal hysterics of Janis, Tina, and a few other soul sistas. She's got the depth of Fiona Apple and the rowdiness of Alanis during her Jagged Pill days. Yet this is totally on some next platueau. She's like this ancient futuristic soul child coming back to ressurect a dying art. Like Erykah and D'Angelou trying to evoke the spirits of earthy soul, Nikka's trying to breathe new life to rock before it began to lose it's soul. Rock when it was funk-sweaty and bluesy as jazz, rock when you could understand the vocals and nod your head, instead of bang it. There are some beautifully-crafted songs up here, that tug at your soul and make you wanna dance all night. Thank you Nikka for this riveting, heavy soul stirrer. It's definitely time for real rhythms again. Everybody gotta have this!!"

You won't be saying Nikka What or Nikka Who for Long!!!

Grafs | 06/21/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I think Nikka Costa's greatest appeal is her gritty, style vocals reminiscent of some of the great R&B female vocalists but all her own. I think of Nikka as a cross between R&B, rock, soul, and funk. She's a unique artist with a lot of potential as Everybody Got Their Something proves. Like a Feather is the standout track because it's very different from the rest of the album. If you've seen the video, you have to agree it rocks!!! She reminds me a lot of Janis Joplin in many ways! Her stage presence seems phenomenal. I would love to see her live. Nikka is at her best when she's rockin' the house rather than dishing out the slow tempo, ballady tracks. If Some Kind of Beautiful doesn't do anything for you, check your pulse. You're probably dead. Other standout tracks include the title track Everybody got their something, Hope it felt good, and the awesome Tug of war.Ultimately, if you like soul divas with a rock edge than this is for you. Think Anastacia meets Prince meets Janis Joplin. Think great CD. Think great artist."