Niqo P – Stick And Move

D.C. musician Niqo P wants you to know that you’re ugly …
with potential

Niqo P is ugly … but she has potential.

That’s not a slight against her. On the contrary, it’s her own personal slogan and the foundation behind all that she does – music, art, fashion and life in general. In fact, her “Ugly With Potential” motto is one that she champions everywhere she goes in the hopes that it will inspire others to overcome their insecurities and embrace the originality they were born with.

“’Ugly With Potential’ speaks to your insecurities and letting you know that even if people don’t see your beauty or potential, they’ll always want to come back once you glow up,” said the fast-rising musician from Washington D.C.

Niqo P’s new album, “If I Could,” is a bold testament to this motto. Told from the standpoint of a lesbian with a softer approach… the album shares stories of a woman hurt from the loss of a long relationship. Niqo P likened the emotion to that of a war veteran who returns home after being wounded and is given a Purple Heart medal for their sacrifice.

“This album is about getting hurt from being in love,” she said. “When you go to war you come home and you get a Purple Heart if you were wounded. But you can also be wounded from going to war for love. Love is war, and you can get wounded.”

Niqo P reinforces this idea with cover art that features a purple heart, and she lends her vocal talents to the songs between the bars she lets flow. Like most of her music, her lyrics tend to come from being hurt or being in love. She said she doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into the kind of artist who always make “sob stories” or “lament music,” but she does want to create music that people can relate to through their own real-life experiences. And more than anything, she said she wants to provide music that helps people understand that even when they get hurt they can know it’ll be OK.

In addition to the music, Niqo P is also advancing her message of “Ugly With Potential” through a merchandise line and videos. She considers the motto to be her “whole overall signature,” and she’s excited to share that motto with the world through this debut album.

“Back in the day I got turned down for being ugly,” she said. “All my life I’ve heard girls say I’m ugly. But when I started getting more into music, I had people approaching me saying it sounded good. When you start getting somewhere successful, that’s when people start to come around. People who doubted me before now want to be around me. But it took loving myself and believing in myself to get to that point – and that involved a lot of hurts. So right now this first album is about being hurt, but the next album will be about glowing up and loving yourself. And each album after that will be about the journey of realizing your full potential.”