On April 26th, 2024, Honolulu based Filipino-American artist NIKO releases his first single of 2024 titled “CHEESECAKE”. This song is a fun Indie-Pop sounding summer song.

When asked about the overall meaning of “CHEESECAKE”, NIKO says, “’CHEESECAKE’ tells a story of “love at first sight”, where a guy catches a glimpse of a girl at a party and immediately falls in love. As the night goes on, his attraction grows stronger and he eventually musters up the courage to ask her to dance the night away with him. The song is a really easy listen and just a feel-good love song that looks at the anxious buildup before making that “first move”. For me, the song itself reminds me of something straight out of a ‘80s movie prom scene.”

NIKO wrote this song in his senior year of high school and it has been in his Notes app ever since. He says, “In terms of the [writing] process, I went in with the intention of making a really catchy, and kind-of-cheesy, summer song. I took inspiration from artists such as; grentperez and Rocco for this track, trying to encapsulate that “cheesy, love song-esque” indie pop sound that they are so good at creating.

Production wise, NIKO says, “One thing that really popped out to me about the beat was the bouncy drums and the electric guitar, and so I really wanted to play around them and let them mesh well with my vocals. The song was a lot of “Oh, let me add this here”, and vice versa “Oh, actually let me take this out”. The song was just a lot of figuring out space and seeing where background vocals and or harmonies would fit best, without overwhelming the listener.”

Since moving to Hawaii, I’ve taken a small break from music to focus on school. As much as I love my relocation, I miss having my home studio that I have back at my old place. Learning and upgrading to new software, as well as getting some new plug-ins, definitely made the production process for “CHEESECAKE” take a lot longer than normal. Despite that, it was for sure still a fun learning experience, and am excited to be making more music again.

We absolutely love NIKO and “CHEESECAKE”.

“CHEESECAKE” is now available on all digital streaming platforms so, make sure to listen to it here.