J’Nique Nicole is an American singer-songwriter based in Tokyo, Japan. She is widely known for her songwriting and vocal contributions to the award winning video game from Square Enix called NieR: Automata. She has also gained notoriety as the backing vocalist for two prominent artists on the Japanese R&B scene, Kubota Toshinobu and Ai. 

 

Spending the first half of her childhood at Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo and the other half in Nashville, Tennessee, J’Nique decided to return to Japan in hopes of pursuing a music career in 2012. She began by singing in small clubs and lounges as well as at weddings and other special events. She did her first major gig singing backing vocals for the Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, Ashanti, in October of 2013.

 

Now, J’Nique has done 4 major tours including Ai’s The Best Tour, Ai’s Wa to Yo Tour, Kubota’s LOK Tour and Kubota’s The House Party Tour. J’Nique also sang and wrote the lyrics for NieR: Automata’s theme song called “Weight of the World”. She also lent her vocals to several other tracks on the soundtrack such as “A Beautiful Song” and “Memories of Dust”.

 

Nier: Automata has sold over 4 million units worldwide and is followed by an equally successful soundtrack and 2 concert DVD/Blu-Ray discs. It has been nominated for and won countless awards including one for Best Score/Soundtrack. J’Nique herself won the award for Outstanding Solo Artist for her contributions. 

 

J'Nique has the ability to sing in both English and Japanese, although her personal music catalog is predominantly in English. She is set to release her very first EP titled This Is Only The Beginning, abbreviated as TIOTB this year. The upcoming project will include her first official single, Black Girl Magic, as well as her latest single, BAE.