Nikita Kering releases her second studio EP, Lick Back, on May 29, 2026 — three years after The Other Side established her as one of East Africa’s most compelling voices and two years after she became the first Kenyan female artist to sign with Universal Music Group South Africa.
The project arrives after a period of deliberate quiet. Between The Other Side and now, Nikita released a string of singles, accumulated features, navigated a high-profile departure from her previous record deal, and signed one of the most significant label deals in Kenyan music history. Lick Back is the first full artistic statement since all of that happened.
“The EP is about getting my revenge — for everything, from everyone,” Nikita says of what drove the project. “Taking things into my own hands and being unapologetic. We’re all going through a tough time in this world. I think it’s time someone speaks on it.”
Five Tracks, Three Languages, One Clear Direction
Lick Back runs five tracks and pulls from the music that shaped Nikita during her formative years — R&B, dancehall riddims, and flashes of Gengetone — rebuilt for where she stands now. She moves across English, Swahili, and Patois across the tracklist, experiments with rap, and maintains a tone that stays playful without losing its edge.
Production came entirely from Kenyan hands. Hit-maker Vic West, Cap, and Brim handled the beats, giving the project a sonic coherence that keeps its genre range from feeling scattered.
The tracklist is both specific and thematically cohesive. Niwache — Swahili for “Leave Me Alone” — sets emotional boundaries with a directness that reads less like heartbreak and more like a decision. Give Me My Money confronts promoters and industry figures who undervalue her work, naming the dynamic plainly rather than dressing it up. Outside flips the post-breakup narrative, presenting someone glowing rather than grieving. Sema Ukweli, which closes the EP, pulls back into ballad territory — a meditation on a lover who keeps leaving and returning, as Nikita pushes for truth and clarity rather than accepting cycles of confusion. The title translates from Swahili as “Tell The Truth.”
Sofiya Nzau Joins on the Opening Track
The EP’s intro features Sofiya Nzau, the East African artist whose song Mwaki has accumulated close to half a billion streams on Spotify. The collaboration grew from a production instinct.
“I started working on the intro and it sounded quite tribal,” Nikita explains. “Then I remembered wanting to work with Sofiya for a while and it all just clicked. I hit her up and she was really willing. We got into the studio and the ideas just flowed. She showed me how to sing in Kikuyu, which was really cool. I’m so glad she agreed — she is the most perfect addition to the EP.”
The track draws on both artists’ roots, weaving together Kikuyu and Nandi influences into an opening that sets the cultural tone for everything that follows.
A New Chapter, Fully on Her Own Terms
The artwork and tracklist, teased ahead of the release, generated immediate excitement online, with fans across East Africa sharing their anticipation for the project.
Lick Back does not arrive as a comeback. It arrives as a statement from an artist who has spent three years accumulating leverage — creatively, commercially, and personally — and is now choosing exactly how to spend it. Sharper, freer, and working with producers and collaborators entirely of her own choosing, Nikita enters this chapter without apology and without hesitation.
The EP is out now on all streaming platforms.
