Almost a year after dropping his highly- successful debut single “FWB”, singer-songwriter NYK, is ready and raring to give fans a taste of his latest single titled “Make It On Me” featuring Malaysian rapper Airliftz. The EP is slated to release later in July. Before that, let’s have a look at Nicholas Yungkit’s background story before he was known in the music world as NYK and a Sony Music artiste.
Tell me about yourself?
I am Penang born and moved to Subang Jaya after my early days and now I’m permanently staying right here in Bangsar.
I did my A- Levels in Taylor’s University and from there. I spent 3 years in Manchester, UK to study Economics. Later I continued my studies with a Masters in Business at Monash University in Melbourne. Throughout the whole period of studying, I started writing song lyrics and even did a bit of singing here and there to pass time. I accidentally wrote FWB and after a year of performing publicly, Sony Music Malaysia signed me to a recording deal and here we are now.
You’ve successfully released a track called FWB which stream 1 million on Spotify, how did you handle the fame?
I wouldn’t say I have made it in life as there are many things for me yet to learn and experience. I love music a lot, however, there is still more work to be done for me to achieve my goals and passion in life. In terms of meeting people who love my music, I would be humbled by it by at the end of the day, I’m just a normal human being trying to make good music and push boundaries of our local music scene here.
Make It On Me is your new EP with hip-hop rapper Airliftz, what makes this song stands out?
You get to hear R&B flecked vocals sit, front and centre, augmented by adventurous production and Airliftz’s spitfire rap. I sent him the track and he came back to me with a complete verse almost immediately. We basically an almost-finished product even before I left Sweden. Fans can expect a different sounding tune to every track. Each song in the EP, is in chronological order, telling a story about the different stages of a relationship between two people.
Who is your musical inspiration? Why?
I look up to artists like Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, and Mura Masa as my influences.
In your opinion, why do you think we need to urge people to listen to other local talents?
There are a lot of good talents in Malaysia itself and it wouldn’t hurt for anyone to start progressing or listening towards Malaysian made music. We should be able to accept the diversity that local music now brings.
What advice can you offer to other local talents out there?
Just keep writing good music and even invest in your music. It will be worth it. Now in this day and age, you can put your music out there where with various online platforms are available that’s being listened to by millions of people. Work for the money to produce your original material. Never be comfortable and always strive to push yourself forward to the best of your abilities.
Who would you say is your favourite local artist/ band?
Wow, this is a hard one because all of them are extremely talented but I’ll give my top three picks. Alex TBH, Talitha Tan, and Midnight Fusic.
Three words to describe yourself?
Self-aware, honest, overthink
What are your future plans?
Basically, I want to produce more great original songs and contribute to new music and art.
Listen to “Make It On Me” here: https://lnk.to/MakeItOnMe
FOLLOW NYK ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook – NYK
Twitter- Nick Yungkit
Instagram – nyk
Special thanks to The Bee, Publika who was kind enough to lend us their space for this interview. Head on over to The Bee to enjoy gigs of the freshest and most talented local artist.