DONIKA, real name Donika Zejneli, is a New York-based independent artist who we discovered thanks to her appealing Youtube covers. She made a second strong impression with her self-produced debut single “Superiority Complex”, a little musical blessing.
The single effortlessly infuses RnB-Soul sonorities with hints of old-school vibes, that sent us back to our best memories.
DONIKA breathtaking and alluring vocals perfectly match the intriguing and infectious production.
Listen to it now, and Rendez-vous below to discover DONIKA in 5 questions.
Who are you and how did you start to make music?
I am a songwriter and a producer and have written, produced and recorded my own songs as well as worked with other emerging artists. I knew very early on that I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. At the age of 3, I learned I could sing and when I was 7 I began to write my own songs and poems. I have about 20 notebooks full of songs, poems and journals that I wrote in since I was 7 and I often go back to my journals to draw inspiration for new music. I taught myself how to produce during the Corona pandemic and my first single “Superiority Complex” was the product of that learning process.
What are your main inspirations to create?
My inspirations for songs come from a lot of different places. They are usually derived from my personal experiences intertwined with my observations of other situations and human experiences that I have been exposed to. I want to heal people through my music.
How could you describe your creative process?
Sometimes it starts with a melody that popped into my head, an instrumental sound or just a catchy phrase or word that I decided to write into my Notes and later elaborate on. I usually like to start by deciding what the song will be about and how it will make people feel, then I write the lyrics and I create a melody from those lyrics. I then go into my music program and find instruments or sounds that fit that theme and I begin to create music that flows with that melody and those lyrics. All my songs tell a story and are written with a purpose to teach someone something new or give someone a different perspective on what they previously believed to be true.
Can you tell us more about your latest release “Superiority Complex” and the story behind it?
For the song “Superiority Complex” I was in quarantine and noticed how much controversy was being posted online and observed how humans have a tendency to feel superior to one another. For example, a rich and famous person may feel superior over someone who is not, someone who is homeless may feel superior over someone else that’s homeless because they present themselves better, a person who is an environmentalist may feel superior over someone who is not and etc. All these examples have one thing in common, they are all human. So, my song gives examples of instances where people may think they are better than someone else but also contradicts those instances with other examples of how they are not because we are all still part of the human race and thus collectively contributing to the successes and failures of our earth.
What can we expect from you soon?
I am planning on releasing a single in the next few weeks and another shortly after before releasing my EP this year.
DONIKA is set to release two more singles before releasing her EP by the end of 2021, so stay tuned and follow her on Instagram HERE.