When you first see Ni Taylor, the caramel-skinned pretty woman with the short hair cut that reminds you of Halle Berry and her flashing Colgate smile, you expect her to be soft spoken. However, when the lyrically conscious femcee opens her mouth to reveal a tone that is raspy, yet commanding and welcoming, it is pleasantly surprising. It’s easy to see her versatility when listening to her song with SoSo Def’s newest R&B vocalist, Dondria entitled “Don’t Have Wings”. She comes on the track as if she was standing live at a spoken word performance, moving the crowd with words that make you want to applaud with affirmation.
Channeling the thoughtful wordplay of the early female empowering lyricists that came before her, Taylor captivates you with her wit and ability to make imagery come to life like words from a book. Rolling off of her tongue are the rapid delivery styles that force you to listen closely because the likeness to the great MC Lyte is unquestionable. Ni has cited Lyte and Monie Love as some of her influence for the thoughtful rhyming, but it is her “lyrical miracles” that set her apart from her peers giving her that modern twist.
On one track entitled “King And Queen”, with fellow Texas native J. Rhodes, we listen to the two exchange witty punch lines served over a sinister rhythm that borrow the melody from “Be Prepared”, previously recorded by the ultimate villain himself, Scar—Yes, Scar from “The Lion King”. At first, you are introduced to the hard bass line, next, accompanied by a heavy drum when you forget that by the end of the track that this was the same childhood classic that brought fear to children everywhere. The pair manages to revive and put an edge on the song that is sharper than any lion’s claws. Ni will tell you that she is a writer first, so it all comes naturally but it’s the blunt instinct that she has that coupled with her ease to express herself without being vulgar, much, that makes her a force to be reckoned with.
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