Name: Nicky Lawrence
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, artist, actor, playwright, director
Nationality: Canadian
Current release: Nicky Lawrence's debut full-length album Ugly Black Woman is out via Gypsy Soul.
Recommendations: Anything by Mickalene Thomas in terms of visual artwork. She is a marvel.
If you’d like to have a good read, The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett, I read it in a day and a half. I couldn’t put it down. What a riveting, fascinating, relatable piece of work.
As for music, Danielle Ponder! Run do not walk to get her masterful debut album Some of Us Are Brave!

If you enjoyed this Nicky Lawrence interview and would like to stay up to date with her music visit her on Instagram.



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing?

Absolutely. My early musical influences planted a seed that is now strong oak tree in terms of my interest in writing, poetry, lyrics, and music.

I’ve been writing since I was 13 years old. I found an old journal of mine recently, and started reading through it and realized that I would make a little sections dedicated to just talking about how I felt, but it was some sort of character speaking for me.

Of course, I was just expressing myself as a young child however, when I read it, I realize that that was the beginning of my writing journey.

It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that?

I love that, it’s so deliciously juicy to think about. I had a wonderful teacher who said to me when I was in college studying Music theatre "Nicky when we can no longer speak, we sing". I believe this to be true in positive times and in negative times.

As humans when words fail us, we wail and exclaim using the voice to express the emotion; whether good or bad the sound lets another human know through its tone and timber, whether or not we are happy or sad. The same can be sad of the musical styling and rhythm of a song.

On UBW I think the listener can hear the struggles I faced and the emotional craters that were created in my heart during the making. I couldn’t speak because it was too painful so I put it all to music.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?

I am drawn to hearing and feeling the loneliness we all feel, but so rarely are brave enough to admit to one another as humans. What drives me in writing is listening to and reading people's perspectives.

I really wanted to create a piece of work in writing UBW that allowed people to stop, rewind and listen again and again. I know what pulls me in with writing is when I have to read a passage over, then maybe take a few notes and think about it. There’s nothing better than being in the grocery store and all of a sudden a thought from a record you were listening to or book you were reading pops into your head and you’re able to spend time pontificating to yourself, in the line as you wait to pay.

You know that as soon as you get home, you’re going listen again, or open that passage and read it again as you let your imagination run wild.  

What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists?

Anita Baker, Sade, Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind and Fire, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Anything from that catalogue of artists is what inspired me early in my life thanks to my mom and my dad playing me the best of the best.

I think a common theme with all of these artists is singing about love, which is what I tried to do with UBW. These artists didn’t shy away from singing about the difficulties associated with falling in love, falling out of love, trying to find love, being burned by love and wanting love so badly they were willing to do almost anything. Lyrically it’s the way they told the stories that has allowed me to dive into the storytelling on Ugly Black Woman.

I’m always moved by lyrics that hit you straight, in the solar plexus and ask you the hard questions about where you are in life and where you want to be.

I have always considered many forms of music to be a form of poetry as well. Where do you personally see similarities? What can music express which may be out of reach for poetry?

I really do believe that music is poetry that we just sing. When you listen to the undulation that a spoken word, artist or a poet uses in their voice to deliver their material, it has a natural cadence, melody, if you will, allowing the mind to flow with the words as they orate. In my opinion, that’s where the similarities live for me.

I don’t think there is anything necessarily out of reach for poets when it comes to music, however. I do think that an audience needs to allow themselves to be taken on the journey that is the poet's musical voice welcoming them in for a ride.  

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it?

I really do see it as one in the same. You can have a melody and think to yourself later "I’m going to put some lyrics to that" or you can have lyrics and think "I can’t wait to create a melody". It’s how you say it, it’s how you relate to it, but I really do believe that music and words have a language almost akin to twins who speak to each other in a way that those around them would rarely be able to understand.

UBW was many times me humming melodies that I would then create lyrics for once I got into the studio. I was also fortunate enough that many of my experiences in life at the time immediately lent themselves to my work as a lyricist.

In the end, what you have is a committed relationship between the words in the lyrics on the record as they were happening in real time and were synonymous with the events taking place in my life. The mixture is beautiful and one cannot exist without the other.

What kind of musical settings and situations do you think are ideal for your lyrics?

I’m open to all kinds of settings for my lyrics! I really do love all kinds of music and don’t shy away from mixing it up whenever I feel like it. And that there’s no setting I’m not able to create anywhere. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing as long as I have a pen, paper my mind and my emotions I’m good to go.

When writing UBW I would find myself doing something unrelated and think "oh my gosh quick, grab that pen or record that lyric before you forget it". It really didn’t matter what I was doing, I was just living and I think that’s the best way to create art.

When working on music, when do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

I love writing lyrics and I love creating melodies. So for me they really do enter the picture immediately. Like I said before, my lyrics came from my lived experiences and quite frankly this record saved me so many times because sometimes the pain would be too much and so I would just sing to escape.

I’m a big believer that you can have an entire song that is lyrics and a melody in your head and that’s all you need to create something beautiful. No matter where they emerge from - once they’ve emerged you’ve created art and that is your gift to the world.

Do you feel like the music triggers specific words inside you? Or is more of a feeling or a memory? Would you say there is instantly an entire idea in front of you or does the story grow as you keep listening to the music?

I think music can trigger emotions inside of me yet, it’s my life experiences that allowed me to create, stick with and consistently work on UBW. With this record, it was definitely feeling in memory, which I recalled as I put the songs together.

I would say there’s definitely an idea that forms in me instantly, but the beauty of this record was the collaboration between me and the producers. I was really able to continue the growth lyrically as their ideas musically emulsified with mine.

More generally, in how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it?

I think the best part about writing is that it never has to be perfect and so you’re really able to relax and revisit.

As far as how far it has taken me and places I may not have visited remains to be seen because I’m not done being an artist.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

I definitely sense a connection between my voice and the text, however it’s my emotion in the moment that allows the song to feel and sound good. I’m not sure what "right" sounds like, what’s right is different for everyone, and I’m interested in you hearing how I feel when my voice relates to the text of a song. No matter what you’re singing, it’s all about emotion for me.

When I’m singing someone else’s song, I definitely take the opportunity to reinterpret how it sounds based on what I’m feeling that day and in that moment. While of course, I want to stay true to their original vision, I’m very aware that part of my gift is the ability to deliver my interpretation and connect people to a part of the song they had maybe interpreted differently before they heard me sing it.

In how far are you consciously aware of the meaning of the lyrics you're writing during the creative process? Do you need to have a concrete concept or can the words take the lead?

It took 10 years for UBW to come together, so there was no concrete concept during my creative process. As the years passed and I became more confident in myself as an artist, the direction of the blossoms and I knew I had something special.

Lyrics and melody can take the lead at any given moment, but you have to be fearless in terms of stopping taking stock and starting again.

When it comes to how I made this record - no fear in having no direction. I always knew it would come to fruition because I was dedicated and disciplined at my craft.

What is the value of song lyrics or hip hop bars outside of the music?

The value of song lyrics outside of music is massive.

It’s why I included poetry in UBW; they may not be the song lyrics, but if you listen closely, you’ll see how those words are closely correlated with the anguish that lies within each song.

How do you see the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? Do you feel that honing your sense of rhythm and groove has an effect on your lyrics-writing skills?

I’ve been a back up singer for many years and harmony is really, really important. I really enjoyed the choir vocals that I was able to produce on UBW! The feeling of singing harmony with others is astonishing and the feeling of singing harmony while being recorded with yourself can take you to places you’ve never been before. Listening to the best of best, R&B, soul, hip-hop and jazz really influenced how I wanted this record to sound vocally.

In terms of honing my skills, all the years that I’ve been performing on stage have had a profound effect on my lyrical writing skills. When you’re able to step on stage with someone great, you realize that it’s the work they put in when nobody’s watching, that’s the groove.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of poetry is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I really do think that you can express music through anything that you’re doing. I’m a tea drinker so making a really delicious cup of tea is music to my ears. Think about the sound that you make after you take your first sip of coffee or in my tea.

It’s musical no matter what we’re doing in life. We are all using our voice as an instrument to express how it makes us feel in the moment. Lyrics have come to me and melodies have come to me while I’ve been brushing my teeth or cooking or taking out the trash.

All this to say I think you find the most beautiful melodies in the most mundane tasks because that’s where some of the greatest songs have been written and will continue to be.