New EP Release “The Strong Survive” From Nikki Lynette (Music from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” & “The City”)

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(Los Angeles, California – September 14, 2010) – When the zeitgeist of the day is hustle over talent, it’s increasingly rare to find an artist with the ingenuity to seamlessly intersect these seemingly uncorrelated criteria. But with a salacious flick of her tongue and a flip of her middle finger, Nikki Lynette steps out of her spacecraft fresh from a planet called Chicago. Envision a rapper/ singer/ producer/ songwriter/ on-air personality/ multi-media visual artist sporting fishnet stockings, a black leather corset, heels, and a flowing mane of dreads with a pink teddy bear in tow. Truth be told, you’d be hard pressed to find another artist who can flip so fluidly between spitfire flows and melodic vocals flaunting a sass & brash mash up of electro, hip-hop, rock, and pop. Male or female.

The Strong Survive EP finds Nikki flexing her production skills over seven tracks of artistic autonomy. Songs like “Love U Crazy” offer a soft pop-rock ditty with a sly twist while the poetic “Chicago Sunrise” is a stunning vocalese tribute to her hometown. “Chicago has a prominent place in American musical history,” she muses. “But Chicago is also a city that is very much divided. The South Side, West Side, North Side, and Chicago Suburbs all have their own individual struggles, identities, and aesthetics.”

The EP serves as a primer for her debut full-length album, The Popularity Contest, which features production from Da Internz (Justin Beiber, Robin Thicke), Brian Prokopow (I Fight Dragons), film score composer Ethan Stoller (V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes.) With the success of the past 8 months in Nikki’s palm, it’s easy to see why The Popularity Contest may be one of the most talked about albums of the coming year.

After years of incessant grinding, Nikki subsequently secured a licensing deal with MTV Networks. Before the ink was dry on her contract, songs like “Model In The Mirror (Fashion)” and “Whatever I Want” both landed on the second season of MTV’s spin-off reality series The City while the title track and lead single from her upcoming EP The Strong Survive was featured on the second season premiere episode of MTV’s hit reality show Jersey Shore.

Nikki took home the 2010 Chicago Independent Music Awards for “Best Alternative/Hip Hop Artist” and “Performer of The Year” as well as receiving nationwide recognition winning 2nd place in Ourstage/New Music Seminar’s competition “Artist on the Verge.” As the only solo artist, black artist, or female artist to make it to the finals, Nikki definitely stood out to the judges. “I was competing against all male rock bands,” she recalls, “and I still managed to come in 2nd. Black girls know how to rock too!”

Losing no ground, Nikki released the formidable Roses N’ Guns: The Totally Bad Ass Mixtape That Rocks in early 2010. Roses N’ Guns hit the internet with the force of a sonic boom, racking up in excess of 6,000 downloads. A scrumptious smorgasbord of her dynamic musical prowess, featuring drops from Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, guest appearances by Mickey Factz, GLC, Naledge of Kids In the Hall, and Atlantic Records’ newly signed rock/power pop group I Fight Dragons. With songs including the searing sociopolitical commentary (“Civil War,” “72 Virgins”), epic ego tripin’ (“So Bad Ass,” “Best In The World”), and purple reinterpretations (“Darling Nikki”) she received a mounting buzz on sites such as XXL.com, Vibe.com, ThisIs50.com, OkayPlayer.com, 2dopeboyz and AfroPunk.com. Additionally her weekly video segment on Chicago’s entertainment news show, RAW TV, helped garner the program a Chicago Music Award for “Best Video Show” during it’s first season.

Her impeccable dossier includes voice over and jingle work (McDonalds, Nationwide Insurance, Secret Deodorant) as well as song placements (Marlboro, DeVry) in nationally syndicated commercial campaigns. Her prolific output also includes a string of EPs –including her 2006 debut The Hard Candy Mixtape: Volume 1, hosted by local comrade Lupe Fiasco who officially dubbed Nikki the “Queen of Englewood,” bestowing her with a title appropriately fitting for her musical reign over Southwest Chicago. In 2008, Nikki stormed the stage at New York City’s long-running CMJ festival. The following year, she found herself opening up for Lupe Fiasco, The Game, KRS-One, Trina and Gym Class Heroes as well as performing at the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. But 2010 would prove to be a landmark year for her budding career. When it comes to her upcoming album instead of divulging specifics about her highly anticipated project, she simply restates her tried and true mantra: “My record is gonna be bad ass!” But I don’t want to talk about the new album too much, because if I decide to trash the whole project and just release an entire album of me covering songs by Vanity 6, I wouldn’t want anybody to be surprised.”