Naïka

Naïka was born Victoria Naika Richard on March 2, 1995, in Miami. Her mother is Haitian with Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese roots, and her father is French, raised in Madagascar. Childhood moved with his work, taking her through Guadeloupe, Vanuatu, Nairobi, Paris and South Africa before she settled back in Miami at sixteen, having taken tamure dance classes in Vanuatu and two years of classical piano in South Africa.

She studied performance at Berklee College of Music, touring with Michael Bolton during her first year and later appearing on NBC's The Voice. In her seventh semester she took part in a songwriting bootcamp led by Kara DioGuardi, where she wrote the song "Ride", before moving to Los Angeles after graduation to pursue music full time.

A 2016 cover of the Haitian traditional song "Papa Gèdè (Bel Gason)" spread quickly online, and her 2017 debut single "Ride" reached second on Spotify's Global Viral chart and charted in twelve countries, leading to a contract with Capitol Records. A 2020 TikTok clip of her version of "Don't Rush" drew millions of views and caught the attention of the song's original artists, Young T & Bugsey.

She released the EPs Lost in Paradïse, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 in 2020 and 2021, and her 2021 track "Sauce" featured in an Apple iPhone commercial during the Grammys broadcast. She calls her sound "world pop", citing influences ranging from Britney Spears and Destiny's Child to Bob Marley, Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie.

Her debut album, Eclesia, was released in February 2026. Based in Los Angeles, Naïka describes herself as a "third culture kid", shaped by a childhood spent across several continents.