Nikka Costa: Everybody Got Their Something : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

At the age of eight, Nikka Costa was already a pop star. The daughter of Rat Pack producer/arranger Dan Costa -- and goddaughter of Frank Sinatra -- topped charts in Europe, Israel, and South and Central America with her self-titled debut. Two decades later, Nikka's sound recalls the funky, rocking soul of Janis Joplin, Chaka Khan, and Macy Gray more than it does anything you might have heard from Ol' Blue Eyes. The twenty-eight-year-old's first American release, Everybody Got Their Something, weaves the histories of rock and soul into a collection of songs that somehow feel both retrospective and contemporary. Take "Like A Feather," for instance: The dance-worthy number generated a media buzz when Tommy Hilfiger chose it as the background music for his latest TV ad, in which hip-hop stars Eve, Jermaine Dupri, and Rah Digga bop around to the tune. Over pimped-out keyboards, jazzy beats, and funky electric guitars, Costa (who never physically appears in the ad) confidently croons in the high-pitched styling of old school soul.

Other standouts include the straight-ahead rock anthem "Tug of War," the anguished, Country-flavored ballad "Nothing," and the funk-laced "Some Kind of Beautiful." Lyrically, most of the songs explore liberation in its various forms. Whether she's singing about letting go of a pessimistic lover ("So Have I For You") or fear of her dreams ("Tug of War"), Costa finds a way to tell the listener that freedom lies in staying true to yourself. "Somehow I know there's a time for every star to shine," Costa sings on the title track. It appears that Costa's time is now. (KRISTIN ROTH - May 21, 2001)