By Mark Chappelle
(June 29, 2025) Nicki Richards might be the best vocalist you didn’t realize you already knew. Before American Idol, there was Star Search — and Richards won it, earning herself a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Though solo work often took a backseat to session work, background vocals, and international tours with Madonna, Mariah Carey, and others, Richards never stopped making music. When she does step into the spotlight, she tends to bring heavy-hitters to play with her.
Take for instance famed bassist and producer Marcus Miller, genius drummer and producer Lenny White, and Take 6’s Mark Kibble. The three of them have 13 Grammy awards between them. The other thing they have in common is a fearsome respect for the artistry of Nicki Richards, her creativity, commitment, and of course, that voice that refuses to be ignored.
Lenny White first worked with her on her 1991 debut Naked (To the World), helping her discover her sound, style, and musical identity. “When we started working, she had a great deal of talent that just needed to be directed,” White recalls. “Now she’s her own person. She knows exactly how she wants to do things.”
White, famous for playing on Miles Davis’ avant-garde Bitches Brew (1970) and co-founding pivotal jazz collective Return to Forever, recognizes the same type of intrepid spirit in Richards that marked Davis, Wayne Shorter, and other legends.
“I don’t have any fear,” he declares. “[I learned that] by doing things and failing. I came from an aesthetic of musicians that were icons. Wayne Shorter said how he defines jazz is ‘I dare you.’ Miles said to [him], ‘Hey Wayne, you ever make any music that doesn’t sound like music?’ Music had no boundaries. I [was] around these kinds of guys… I lived out on the edge and I think [Nicki] really liked that about me.”
As a “pro-chance” artist, Richards was eager to try new things herself. “That’s why not many people have heard the prowess that she has,” White explains. “Record companies ain’t ready to take chances like that.”
In those early sessions, she quickly absorbed White’s studio tutelage. “She learned how to do a bunch of stuff on her own. I’m not even talking about her songcraft,” he adds. “She had big eyes and big ears — and now it comes out in her translation.” This wouldn’t be the last exceptional mentor she would encounter either.
Marcus Miller isn’t easily impressed, but Richards’ talent stood out to him immediately. “She showed up on the scene… maybe the late ‘80s,” he recalls. “On the scene with all the musicians, she was one of the cats. There’s not many singers who would go and sit in at the clubs and just be a part of the scene. She would just get up there and wail with whatever was going on.”
“When she was signed to [Atlantic], they went for the obvious. ‘Just put her out as an R&B singer,’” Miller says, knowing the missed opportunity. “But she was playing all the instruments and she wasn’t easily pigeonholed. She’s like a lot of us from New York where we’ll be playing straight-ahead jazz one song, and the next song could be Pink Floyd!”
Like White, Miller also played on Richards’ first disc and in the years since, became a friend and frequent collaborator. Most recently, for Richards’ new album Love Life, they reimagined a Joe Sample tune as the graceful ballad “You Become More Beautiful.”
“Cyrus Chestnut was already on it, and I just supported him,” Miller explains. “That’s what makes a big difference for a musician… It’s not always about getting attention for yourself. I just put the bass on that I thought would be perfect, because Cyrus is the hero of that song. It’s a beautiful composition.”
Where Miller met Richards in the studio, Take 6’s Mark Kibble first got acquainted with her as a standout support vocalist on award shows. “We hit it off right away,” he remembers, quickly keying in on her musicianship beyond singing. “She is such the music producer, and a songwriter as well, but she is so versed in playing instruments – We’re both Logic heads. It just brought us together.”
Their latest collaboration began as song that came to Richards in a dream. She handed the basic idea off to Kibble for vocal arranging. “It was basically a keyboard and rhythm demo.” Kibble says. “She just said, ‘This is the song. Do what you do.’ I did what I did. And she said, ‘That’s nice… but not quite it.’” Undaunted, Kibble embraced the challenge. “She told me, ‘I need to feel like I’m floating in the air.’ So I went back in, made it all smooth, made it flow.” That take made the final cut of “Tether Me,” a standout from Love Life.
Kibble is particularly taken with Richards’ tone. “It’s got a velvety feel over the top of it all the time. Yet it has bite when you need it. [That’s the thing] I always look for — what makes your voice special? What makes it stand out? She’s got that thing. I wish I had that.”
These three veterans in music seem to know many things that others don’t, and one of them is how underrated Richards is. “She’s done some really special things over the years,” says Kibble. “And whenever she shows up on someone’s record, it’s absolutely amazing.” Entertainment is a tough business to sustain in, but Richards has quietly carved an impressive reputation with just her God-given gifts and professionalism. It never hurts to have a parade of legends vouch for you.
Love Life – the first half of a double album exploring organic funk, R&B, and jazz – will be available on digital service providers everywhere July 1, 2025. Including the singles “Anything,” “You Become More Beautiful,” “Tether Me,” and “New Orleans,” this masterful project is also available on CD and vinyl through her website www.nickirichards.com.
