After surviving label drama, Nina Sky re-emerges with “Day Dreaming,” the new single from the duo’s sophomore album Nicole & Natalie, due in July. The alt-R&B record, produced by Beau Vallis, features a seductive beat and soothing vocals from the twin sisters.

“Close my eyes to find you/ You’re my little secret/ Whenever I decide to/ And that’s the way we’ll keep it,” Natalie and Nicole sing over the hypnotizing beat, for which an accompanying video was recently shot.

Ladies ruled the House of Vans in Brooklyn on Thursday night (Oct. 28) as Nina Sky and Kelis performed to celebrate the launch of MadeMe’s signature Vans sneaker. MadeMe founder Erin Magee teamed up with the veteran shoe company to create two stylish pairs of leather kicks dubbed “Life is a Mystery,” a line inspired by Madonna’s 1989 hit “Like a Prayer.”

The festivities kicked into high gear as Nina Sky took the stage. The Queens natives showcased songs from their EP, The Other Side, and even added in a classic cover of Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love.” During the bold track “On Some Bulls**t,” Nicole left Natalie to man the stage solo as she switched positions with DJ Yonny on the turntables. While the tattooed twin showcased her own scratching abilities, Yonny acted as a human beatbox under Natalie’s lyrics. Before welcoming Kelis to satisfy the hyper crowd, the duo brought out feisty Dominican singer Maluca, who performed the bass-heavy “Loca.”

Sparkling under the bright lights, Kelis gave spectators an eyeful by sporting a form-fitting green bodysuit, which caused her platinum-blonde ‘do to be a focal point. Much to the crowd’s anticipation, she gyrated her way into a version of “Milkshake” backed by Madonna’s “Holiday,” but not before serving up a teasing dose of electro-beats from her Flesh Tone album.

–Jonathan Reyes

Photos by Gavin Thomas for Rap-Up

The last time Nina Sky graced fans with visuals as a duo, they were partying with their “Beautiful People.” Now the Queens natives are roaming the streets of New York in the Treezy-directed clip for “You Ain’t Got It (Funk That),” the lead single off their EP The Other Side. The twins groove to a backdrop of funky colors, goof off on some scaffolding, and even tease an interested spectator into thinking he scored their digits.

“We wanted to shoot a video that was reminiscent of Sagat’s ‘Funk Dat’ video, which is the song we sampled for ‘You Ain’t Got It,’” Natalie tells Rap-Up.com. “It was important to us that Treezy captured the same vibe and grainy look as the original video, so we shot half in the city streets with our friends. To contrast the street element and give a softer, more modern feel, we splashed it with colorful shots, some green screen action, and bam! ‘You Ain’t Got It’ came to life.”

Rap-Up.com has your first look at Nicole and Natalie’s funky new video below.

Nina Sky’s career seemed like it was coming to a halt when their sophomore album was repeatedly delayed. But the twins—who graced the charts six years ago with their omnipresent hit “Move Ya Body”—decided to take matters into their own hands. After a public break-up with Universal Records in 2007, and a heated rant earlier this year regarding Polo Grounds Music’s lackadaisical attitude toward their album Starting Today, Natalie and Nicole continued to create music.

Even after a demo they recorded with Bruno Mars’ production team, The Smeezingtons, ended up in the hands of “Impossible” singer Shontelle unbeknownst to them, the sisters remained undaunted and treaded forward with their first EP, The Other Side. The 9-track offering fuses house, freestyle, pop, and R&B for a collection that transcends the Queens neighborhood in which they were raised.

A week following their EP release, the girls take a breather from digital promotion to answer Rap-Up.com’s 10 questions. Nina Sky tackles everything from losing their record to Shontelle to side endeavors and even putting their label exec on blast.

1. What was different about recording the EP versus your debut album?
Natalie: This time around we wrote everything. I mean we write everything that we’ve worked on, but we picked the producers. It was really about what we wanted to do. It wasn’t all the label stuff and everyone else telling us what music to make or influencing our sound. It was organic. It was us with cool friends that are actual producers, vibing out.

2. What were the highlights of the recording process?
Natalie: Every time we finished a song it was like, “Wow, we are one step closer to releasing a project.” It felt great. The most excited I’m going to feel is when everyone hears every song.
Nicole: Up until the last song we mixed—a cover that we did of The Cure’s “Lovesong”—that was when I was most excited. This is the final song, it’s done. The tracklisting is done. The artwork is done and we can actually release it.

3. “Only You” was produced by Double O from Kidz in the Hall, whose other half Naledge raps on the track. Have you always wanted to work with them?
Nicole: We’ve known them for a minute and we talked about it so many times. Everyone’s busy and schedules are different, but we finally got in the studio. We love the way the song turned out.
Natalie: It had to happen! Double O sent us some beats a while ago and I ended up writing a song [to one of them] and we never recorded it. So every time we ran into each other we would be like, “When are we getting in the studio?” This time we were like, “Double O, let’s get in and work on some stuff.” It turned out really great.

4. The EP is definitely influenced by freestyle music. What are your favorite freestyle tracks?
Natalie: “I Wonder If I Take You Home” by Lisa Lisa. I love that song. It reminds me of being young and hanging out with my friends. We used to listen to mad freestyle music.
Nicole: I think mine would be “Let the Beat Hit ‘Em” by Lisa Lisa because it’s a freestyle song with more of a house feel. My mom used to play Lisa Lisa so much when we were growing up.

5. You used Twitter to vent about your label frustrations. Why did you decide to give out Polo Grounds Music President Bryan Leach’s phone number?
Natalie: People think we did it to be spiteful. The reason that we initially decided to do it was to let him hear from our fans. It was important for us to show him that people are waiting for [our album]. We didn’t think he understood that. People sent heartfelt emails saying, “Yo, we want to hear that album.” That’s all we wanted.
Nicole: We had numerous meetings about [our sophomore album release]. When the project was done and it finally came time to put out an official single, our label president was unreachable. We couldn’t get a meeting or have a phone call. That kind of bothered us because we spent so much time—six years—recording all this music. Everyone asked us all the time, “When’s your project coming out?” We can’t just keep lying, “Oh, it’s coming soon!” The truth was we didn’t have an answer. So you want that answer? Hit up Bryan Leach. He has the answer.

6. Speaking of your fans, are there any encounters that stand out?
Natalie: A lot of fans have our lyrics tattooed on them, which I think is cool. I don’t think it’s scary or crazy.
Nicole: When we see people that were at our first show in 2004, when we were performing at a club called Bliss in Queens, [now] coming to a show this year that we did in New York City, still supporting, still singing our songs, still loving our songs—that’s cool.

7. Natalie, it’s been two years since you teamed up with the clothing line MadeMe for a series of T-shirts with your graffiti art on them. Are you going to continue doing fashion collabos?
We’re actually in the process of designing a T-shirt for a 21-city tour that we’re going on. I am dabbling more into fashion designing. If the opportunity came along again, I would definitely go for it. But for right now, we’re collaborating with MadeMe again on some T-shirts and some other fun goodies for our fans. So everyone can look out for that.

8. Nicole, you DJ worldwide as Ni** Sky. Is there a set that always makes the crowd go crazy?
When I used to DJ high school parties, I had this one set that went from In Essence’s “You Will Never Find” to Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me).” Then into a whole set of AV8 and Crooklyn Clan records, and this is when I used to DJ with vinyl. I would carry the crates and play that set all the time. Still to this day, when I DJ in clubs all over the world, I play that same set and it always works. The one hip-hop set that I play forever, since I was 16.

9. At your show at S.O.B.s in New York City last September, you premiered a song called “DJ Made Me Do It.” Months later, it was given to Shontelle for her new album No Gravity. What happened?
Nicole: We didn’t write the record. The record was written by the Jackie Boyz, Bruno Mars, and Phil Lawrence. We were in the studio vibing together. We just wanted to do something fun with a house feel, and that’s the song that came out. We love the record, it’s dope. I scratched on the record. Unfortunately, in this business you just have to accept that if something isn’t paid for, it doesn’t belong to us. We had a connection with that record because we felt it fit Nina Sky’s vibe. Shontelle has the record, which is cool, and definitely my scratches are on it, which is cool. Bruno, Phil, and the Jackie Boyz are very talented and Shontelle is doing her thing. It’s all good. No bad air about that record at all.
Natalie: [Shontelle] got a great record.

10. Natalie, what is Nicole better at than you?
Nicole is definitely the talker. Nicole is on her toes all the time. She knows how to answer certain things quickly. There are many things that she is good at that I’m not. And things that I’m good at that she’s not. We definitely need each other for lots of things.

Nina Sky’s digital EP The Other Side is available now for free. Click here to download.

–Robbi Ramirez

After dropping “You Ain’t Got It (Funk That)” last month, Nina Sky returns with The Other Side, a 9-track EP they’ve spent half of 2010 crafting. The Queens natives have ditched the bluesy sounds heard on their debut album and put forth a collection of spunky pop tunes fit for the dance floor or gym.

DJ Yonny, Salaam Remi, Kidz in the Hall’s Double O, Damien Major, and David Berrie handle production duties, while rappers Melo-X and Naledge of Kidz in the Hall are the only two guest appearances on the opus. One of the effort’s standout tracks is “Love Song,” the twins’ rendition of The Cure’s 1989 track “Lovesong.”

The Other Side Tracklisting

1. “The Other Side” Produced by DJ Yonny
2. “You Ain’t Got It (Funk That)” Produced by DJ Yonny
3. “Too Long To Let Go” Produced by Salaam Remi
4. “Beautiful People (Remix)” Produced by Damien Major and David Berrie
5. “Only You (Take Me Away)” feat. Naledge; Produced by Double O
6. “Never Look Back” Produced by DJ Yonny
7. “Love Song” Produced by Double O
8. “You Ain’t Got It (Remix)” feat. Melo-X

Download: Nina Sky – The Other Side

Nina Sky has been laying low, quietly recording new material after experiencing problems with their label. The twins fine tune their sound and image on “You Ain’t Got It (Funk That),” a dance-pop jam from their upcoming EP The Otherside, coming later this summer. “We sampled one of our favorite dance joints from the 90′s, ‘Funk That’ by Sagat and flipped it w/ some Na**Sky melodies,” wrote Natalie and Nicole.

Download: Nina Sky – “You Ain’t Got It (Funk That)”

Just like many of their hip-hop and R&B peers, Nina Sky utilize Twitter to promote their musical stylings and keep fans in tune with their movement. Recently, the twin duo took to the social-networking site to voice concerns over a stalemate they’re experiencing with their record label, Polo Grounds Music.

“Starting a new campaign today… ‘Nina Sky Doesn’t Play Polo,’” they tweeted on Wednesday (March 10). “For months we’ve had a complete album, ready for release. Y’all wanna know what’s really goin’ on? Nothing [and] that’s the problem. We released [two] videos and singles without support from our label. All good… Stayed positive. After months of no movement, we asked to be released [and] still nothing. No acknowledgment from the President of our label, Bryan Leach. Bottom line, we want to be released. If you’re really down with our movement, holler [at] Bryan Leach.”

Nicole and Natalie, who comprise Nina Sky, originally signed with Polo Grounds Music in 2006, after an amicable release from Universal Records. Since then, the sonic dyad feels label president Bryan Leach has not kept his end of the bargain after they formed a union. “Upon signing, [Bryan said] he wasn’t gonna do what Universal did and shelve our [second] album, [Starting Today],” Natalie reveals to Rap-Up.com. “He was gonna get us in the studio, we were gonna complete our album, and we were gonna release it. Now obviously we don’t expect that to happen overnight; it takes time and we have to get in with different producers. It took like two years to complete [the album] to the point where we were happy with it. He didn’t stay true to his word.”

Though Nina Sky admits Leach pushed their first single, “Curtain Call” featuring Rick Ross, the bulk of the work has since come from them. “Me and Nicole are not gonna sit on our asses and not do anything,” Natalie says. “On our own, we did a video for ‘On Some Bull—-’ to warm people up for what was to come. He didn’t move with that. Then we decided to do another video ['Beautiful People'] to help the push. Why be signed to a label if they’re not gonna help you?”

Failed attempts to reach Leach regarding their project resulted in the candid Twitter blasts. “We met with him, and he said, ‘I’ll give you a call in a week,’” Nicole discloses. “This meeting happened three months ago. We haven’t received that call yet. But we’ll get emails saying, ‘Call me now,’ then when we do, he’ll say, ‘I’m in a meeting for another two hours.’ He strings us along.”

As a result of the issues with Polo Grounds, previously recorded Nina Sky songs have gone to other artists, namely SRC Records pop singer Shontelle. Producers Bruno and Phil gave ‘DJ Made Me Do It’—originally composed for and recorded by Nina Sky—to the Bajan singer. “That wasn’t a record that we necessarily wrote, but we conceptualized it,” Nicole states. “That record screamed ‘Nina Sky’—singing, DJing. [Shontelle's] version is me scratching on her record. Records that we have done are getting given away to other artists because Bryan Leach hasn’t paid for them.” Natalie continues, “The fact of the matter is, we lost a great record that was something we put our heart and souls into.”

While some may criticize their choice to ask for a release from their label publicly, the group, currently the faces of Rachel Roy’s ad campaign and featured on Major Lazer’s single, “Keep It Goin’ Louder,” have only one agenda: pleasing their fans. “The reason we went to Twitter is because it’s our direct connection to the people who support the Nina Sky movement,” Nicole says. “On a daily basis, we get questioned about when our album is coming out. How many times are we gonna put up a front and lie to these people, like, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming.’ We don’t have those answers, so we’re gonna give you the contact information of the person who does. As an artist, you’re conditioned to think if you say anything you’ll get blacklisted. You have to be honest with yourself about what’s happening. Your career is not over when you put things like this out there.”

–Georgette Cline

Nina Sky gives their fans something to enjoy while they wait for their next album. Natalie and Nicole have released a video for their dance single “Beautiful People.” They described the concept on their new blog.

“‘Beautiful People’ is not just another video, it’s some insight into what’s been going on in our lives,” the duo wrote. “This includes rehearsals, live performances, and spending time with some of our FAVORITE people: family, friends, and fans. A lot of artists have a different definition of what ‘beautiful’ means. These are good times with the most important people in our lives and they represent the REAL definition of beauty.”

Nina Sky parties with zombies in the animated video for Major Lazer’s “Keep It Goin’ Louder,” which also features Ricky Blaze. This is the U.K. version. A second clip was shot over the weekend in Los Angeles.

New York City’s infamous music venue S.O.B.’s was buzzing Wednesday night with fans eager to witness the sights and sounds of Nina Sky. While the release of their long-awaited sophomore album, Starting Today, is soon to come, the Queens-bred duo of Nicole and Natalie unveiled new tunes and versions of old ones in a concert event. Nola Darling, another duo, comprised of singing femcees, set the tone for the evening with their own energetic performance.

Nola Darling

Once the twin sisters took to the stage in retro attire—Natalie wearing MC Hammer-inspired pants while Nicole donned a black-studded jacket—it would only be an indication of their new collection of songs. Opening up their set with “On Some Bull…” and jumping into the Rick Ross-assisted “Flippin’ That,” Nina Sky then set into introspection, performing a remixed version of “Faded Memories,” an old cut from their self-titled debut album, which was left nearly unrecognizable due to fledging guitars and harmonies.

Julissa Bermudez

One of the night’s showstoppers was the title track, “Starting Today,” which finds the versatile songstresses singing the line, “Starting today, I’m saying goodbye to the old me,” over a grandiose pop beat that can only be reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”

Nicole of Nina Sky

Ending what seemed to be the unveiling of a project that took five years to make, Nicole and Natalie sped things up with the evening’s second defining moment—their performance of “DJ Made Me Do It.” On this soulful track, the twins explain their running makeup to their man and declare innocence to the DJ’s good music. After one night with them, it should be renamed “Nina Sky Made Me Do It.”

Words by Robbi Ramírez. Photos by Nakeya Brown.