Nico & Vinz

Nico & Vinz
Background information
Origin	Oslo, Norway
Genres	Afrobeat hip hop R&B
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	David Guetta Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Website	www.nicoandvinz.com
Members	Kahouly Nicolay Sereba (Nico) Vincent Dery (Vinz)

Nico & Vinz are a Norwegian singing/songwriting duo composed of Kahouly Nicolay "Nico" Sereba from Holmlia, Oslo and Vincent "Vinz" Dery from Lambertseter, Oslo. They formed in 2009 as Envy and are based in Oslo.^[1] They changed their name to Nico & Vinz in January 2014 after the international success of "Am I Wrong".

Music career

2010–11: Formation and debut mixtape

Nico Sereba of Norwegian-Ivorian origin and Vincent Dery of Norwegian-Ghanaian origin created their music as a fusion of genres as diverse as pop to reggae to soul,^[2] having been exposed by the various musical influences of their parents with whom they did recurring trips to the West Coast of Africa.^[3] The duo was launched as Envy with its main debut appearance at Emergenza Festival in 2011.^[4] They won first place at the Taubertal Open Air Festival World's "Emergenza Final" for new emerging artists. Following that success, the duo released the mixtape Dreamworks: Why Not Me under the name Envy. The materials were also made available online through WiMP.

In June 2011 the duo released their debut single "One Song" under the name Envy. The song peaked to number 19 on the Norwegian Singles Chart.^[4]

2011: The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces

Envy released their debut studio album The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces on April 27, 2012, peaking to number 37 on the Norwegian Albums Chart. "One Song" was released as the lead single from the album peaking at number 19 on the Norwegian Singles Chart. It was followed by "Go Loud" released as a follow-up second and last single from the album.

2013–present: Breakthrough and "Am I Wrong" international success

In April 2013 they released "Am I Wrong" under the name Envy. In January 2014, the duo changed their name from Envy to Nico & Vinz, in coordination with their signing to Warner Bros. Records in the United States to avoid being confused with other artists with a similar name.^[5] With international success of the single, the duo changed the credits of the single to the new adopted name. The song has peaked to number 2 on the Norwegian Singles Chart, the song has also peaked to number 2 on the Danish Singles Chart and number 2 on the Swedish Singles Chart.^[4] It also reached number 1 on the American Top 40 Charts. It was followed up with another release "In Your Arms" which also charted in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.^[4]

The music video for "Am I Wrong" was directed and edited by Kavar Singh. The video for "Am I Wrong" was filmed in Botswana and at the Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was put together in a deliberate effort to present a positive side of Africa when the image of the continent is too often mired in negative news stories.^[6] The music video was released via YouTube on June 20, 2013, and has been gaining much attention with over a hundred and thirty million views.^[7] The group played many major Norwegian television-shows and kept saying they would aim even higher and try to break through into American audiences. In 2013 they performed live at the Nobel Peace Prize concert (YouTube video link) in Oslo, Norway.

In early 2014, Nico & Vinz received the European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) at Eurosonic Festival, performed at the Spellemann Awards, completed a Scandinavian tour, and launched "Am I Wrong" worldwide.^[8] When "Am I Wrong" made its American radio debut in April 2014, it was the #1 most added record at the mainstream radio format with 90 adds, a rarity in first-week airplay for a new artist. As one of the most Shazamed songs worldwide, "Am I Wrong" reached #1 on Shazam's Top 100 Worldwide and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[9] It also reached #3 on SoundHound's hottest chart. They were in New York to promote Am I Wrong (song) at the promo day event. They met Reese Witherspoon at the premiere of The Good Lie in Washington DC. They visited the FIFA 15 launch party by EA sports which is a brand of Electronic Arts in New York. Then they performed Am I Wrong in Mall of America in Minnesota and at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas and for the television show Dancing with the Stars at Los Angeles.^[10]

Their album Black Star Elephant was released in September 2014 followed by the single "When the Day Comes" on October 2014.^[11]

Nico & Vinz was featured on a track of David Guetta's 2014 album Listen named "Lift Me Up" along with South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Honors

• 2014: Spellemannprisen as This year's Spellemann

Discography

Studio albums

• The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces (2012) (credited as Envy)
• Black Star Elephant (2014) (credited as Nico & Vinz)^[12]

Mixtapes

• Dreamworks: Why Not Me (2010) (credited as Envy)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nico & Vinz.

External links

• Official website
• Nico & Vinz on YouTube