The Bite Magazine - Spring 2016 - Issue 15

S treet savvy Brooklyn native Saika may seem like she has just arrived on the music scene but the 24-year-old singer-song- writer has been around since 2010.“I wanted to find a way of learning to express myself after having all these feelings bottled up inside me. I recorded my first song in a professional studio and fell in love with it ever since.” Now based in Atlanta, USA, Saika (her real name) is a first generation Haitian-American and this is perhaps where she gets her unusual name from. “I find it quite funny because my siblings are called Steven and Alexis which are completely normal names compared to Saika. I never really liked the name until I learned what it meant: ‘a flower that is colourful’. Then I just grew into it.” Living up to her name, Saika currently has bright blue coloured hair and could probably be compared to Nicki Minaj (in terms of this) who has a love for different hues of coloured hair. The singer who counts Beyoncé and Michael Jackson as her inspirations has learned from observing them over time that live instrumentation brings songs to life in a very special way. Speaking about the ‘Formation’ singer, the young songstress says, “I really admire Beyoncé and as far as my goals are concerned I aspire to be an entertainer like her.When I write my own songs, I try to channel the honesty and transparency of hip hop artists like Drake and J. Cole.” With her brand new single ‘Chemical X’ coming out on 25th April, an up-tempo track with heavy beats in the background, the singer has revealed the inspiration behind the song. “I went to a party and saw my ex for the first time in over a year. Not knowing how to handle the situation, I drank a little too much and ended up vomiting in the middle of the dance floor. So embarrassing.” ‘Chemical X’ co-produced by Darnell ‘D.McCro’ Sealy-McCrorey and Don ‘Don V’ Van Horn will be released by McCro Music Group on Concordia Records with dis- tribution via Universal Music Operations. As of yet, there isn’t a video for the new track but you can listen to it on Sound- Cloud: www.soundcloud.com/saikoworld but if you wish to see how Saika looks in a video, we have one of her earlier tracks ‘Part Time Lover’. www.saikoworld.com Jada Brookes checks out some of the recently released singles covering various genres of music. bitenewmusic SAIKA Chemical X Images courtesy of Matchbox Recordings