Almost every summer, there is a hot dance track which glistens in the clubs and is overplayed on radio. These songs are great for the artist because they are able to introduce themselves to the mainstream market. The only problem is most of these artists turn into the dreaded one-hit-wonders (think Baha Men, DJ Sammy, Los Del Rio).
This summer, Nina Sky’s “Move Ya Body” fits that mould. However, this identical twin sister duo has no plans to be forgotten after their debut single fizzles out. In fact, they’re not really even pure dance artists.
Originally, the song was serviced to urban stations, but it soon crossed over to dance and pop outlets. If it’s tricky to classify that first single, take a listen to their debut self-titled album. It doesn’t get any easier.
“We define our music by saying it’s a mix of all the genres that we’ve been influenced by. I couldn?t classify it under one type of music,” Natalie Albino tells andPOP, on the line from New York.
Because of their ability to crossover to several styles of music, they hope to avoid the one-hit-wonder curse.
“Hopefully people will feel us out and see that Nina Sky by no means are coming out and singing other people’s music or having a one-hit-wonder song,” explains Nicole Albino.
The girls were also involved in the writing process, penning the lyrics to every song. They tried to be a part of every step in the development of their album, which was released June 29 and debuted in top-50. They even showed up to the mastering sessions, a dull event artists rarely attend.
“I don?t want to sit here and say that I worked so hard on it and that it’s so personal when I didn?t really write anything,” says Natalie. “This record is us.”
Besides the usual topics like love and being teenagers (they’re just 18), the girls also delve into some personal topics, like the ballad “Surely Missed.”
“I had a couple of friend I lost, people who were really dear to me. It inspired me to write that,” Natalie says.
There next single is “Turnin’ Me On,” though the next song you might hear from Nina Sky could be “Time to Go,” a response to Mario Winans’ “I Don’t Wanna Know.” They recorded the song to hand out in New York during the Puerto Rican Day parade in June. They wanted to use a familiar beat and decided to respond to Winans’ song (who used The Fugee’s “Ready or Not” beat), which is about not wanting to hear about his cheating girlfriend.
Natalie explains, “Our do on it was, ‘you don?t want to know because you did it first. You talk about how you don?t want to know but really it’s because you cheated on me before’.”
With “Move Ya Body” becoming a fixture on the singles chart, the girls have been spending a lot of time on the road, promoting and touring. Almost every second of their day is spent together. Some twins would get sick of each other but these girls are getting closer.
“We’re best friends,” says Natalie. “We’re more than sisters. There’s time when we want time away from each other but it’s not long time. We don’t need days away from each other. We need hours.”
Growing up in Queens, their stepfather was a DJ and played music around the house from morning to night. “There was so much music being played in our house that we were singing everyday,” says Nicole. Four years ago, they started taking their music careers seriously, and this year, they hooked up with New York DJ Cipha Sounds to work on “Move Ya Body.” They recorded the song independently but it caught the attention of Universal, the label they to which they are now signed.
Touring North America and soon Europe means spending time without their mother, something they’re still getting used to. “But we have each other,” says Natalie.
They’re so close, that when asked if they would have turned down solo deals if working as a duo didn’t work, they both snap back in harmony: “Yeah!”
The girls want to spend a lot of time promoting the album and getting their name known. After that, they have plans for a second album and hope to write songs for other artists.
And after all that, as Natalie says, “you never know with Nina Sky.”
