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Rika de Casier is not at ease. She is seated with her legs crossed on the floor of a construction site, with cables hanging overhead, an unopened box to her right, and an overturned sofa to her left. Despite the chaos around her, she apologizes for the mess and rearranges her laptop on the bare wooden floor of her recently acquired home in Copenhagen. As we video chat towards the end of 2023, she explains that she moved in a year ago but has not had much time to be there due to constant traveling. She lets out a sigh and mentions that she has been essentially living out of a suitcase.
De Casier spent most of the previous year either on tour with her Dua Lipa-approved collection of R&B songs inspired by the 1990s and 2000s, writing for other artists, or working on her upcoming third album, Still. The album features collaborations with Blood Orange and Shygirl. Completing the album has put her in a state of limbo, both physically and mentally. “I’ve been feeling quite scattered lately,” she admits. “Before releasing anything, I always get cold feet. When you first start making music, you have this excitement and freshness, but then you become critical of everything. I’m currently in that stage.”
The character on the screen appears anxious and out of place compared to the confident and boastful persona of De Casier as an artist. In her album Still, the 33-year-old exudes a superstar image in a leather outfit, being followed by paparazzi in a hall of mirrors. Her music reflects the alluring confidence of icons like Aaliyah and other R&B, hip-hop, and UK garage stars that she used to watch on MTV as a teenager. Her album titles, such as 2019’s debut Essentials, which caught the attention of Lipa and led to a remix of her single Physical, and 2021’s critically acclaimed follow-up Sensational, are reminiscent of Greatest Hits collections. The title Still was even inspired by the self-assured attitudes of J-Lo and Dr Dre. “It’s funny because I haven’t been in the industry for that long to say ‘I’m still here,'” she explains. “But it’s my way of keeping things lighthearted. I considered other titles like Platinum, but I thought that might be too much.”
De Casier created an alter ego named Bianka, who made her debut in the music video for De Casier’s single “Polite.” This was a way for De Casier to embrace a more bold and confident persona. According to De Casier, wearing a wig as Bianka helped her cope with the pressures of fame and allowed her to take a break from being herself all the time. While she may not be the most outgoing person, she is working towards becoming more comfortable in her own skin. When asked if Bianka will make a return, De Casier states that she doesn’t need her at the moment and has become comfortable being herself. She sits up straight, smoothing out her light-blue fleece, and declares that she no longer needs to pretend to be someone else as she is a multifaceted individual.
One of the sides is known as the most in-demand songwriter in pop music. In the previous year, she worked on four out of six tracks for the second EP of the highly popular K-pop girl group, NewJeans. The EP, titled “Get Up,” was released in July and sold over 1.65 million copies worldwide in just one week, surpassing the Barbie soundtrack and reaching No. 1 in the US. The invitation to collaborate came unexpectedly. “To be honest, I didn’t know who they were,” De Casier laughs. “When I received the email, I was like, ‘NewJeans? Who are they?’ So I looked them up and thought their music sounded fresh. They asked me if I was familiar with K-pop, and I had to admit that I wasn’t. But they were happy about it and said, ‘Perfect!’ They are open to new ideas and are constantly trying new things.” Instead of simply using De Casier’s talent for creating catchy hooks, songs like “Super Shy” (with over 390 million plays on Spotify) sound exactly like her own records: smooth R&B vocals, liquid drum and bass beats, and heartfelt lyrics set in a club atmosphere. “People were asking me, ‘Is this you singing?'” she says. “And I would reply, ‘Nope.’ It’s flattering that they enjoyed the sound and kept it true to my style.”
De Casier was born to a Belgian mother and a Cape Verdean father in Portugal. She attributes her humility to Denmark, where she relocated with her mother and brother at the age of eight. She states that janteloven, a Scandinavian characteristic of not wanting to stand out, is ingrained in her. She feels uncomfortable talking about herself. When she first arrived in Ribe, a small town, she was unable to speak Danish. She and her brother were also shunned for being the only mixed-race students in their school. De Casier turned to MTV for comfort, finding solace in the universal language of music and seeing people who shared her skin tone.
As she aged, she began experimenting with creating music on her computer and would borrow CDs from the local library by artists such as Destiny’s Child and Erykah Badu. Her quiet and contemplative vocal style developed out of necessity as she often sang at night and didn’t want to disturb her roommates. Despite this, music was never intended to be her career. She considered attending art school or pursuing a career in medicine or psychology. Even now, three albums into her musical journey, she struggles with labeling herself as a musician due to feelings of impostor syndrome.
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In her music, De Casier is the primary songwriter and producer, allowing her to let go of any doubts and tap into her true self. On the standout track “Polite,” she reprimands a date for their rudeness, while the overarching concept of the album “Still” follows the journey of a relationship from passionate beginnings to messy endings, with the sultry “Ooh” serving as an outlet for De Casier’s fantasies and seductive advances. The song “My Day Off” pays tribute to De Casier’s busy schedule while also reflecting her newfound ability to say no. In her own words, she explains that the song was inspired by a day where she didn’t feel like responding to any emails or messages and instead focused on mundane tasks like doing laundry. She describes the song as a playful rebellion, saying “I was just being a bit of a brat – it’s like, ‘I just need a day off’.”
There will be limited opportunities for time off in the year 2024. However, De Casier will continue to tour and write songs for others, while also working on songs for her fourth album. Despite this, these tasks are not at the forefront of her mind, as she is currently preoccupied with home renovations. “I haven’t heard back from the builders, my kitchen is not yet installed, and I am living in a construction zone,” she explains with a sigh as she surveys the dusty environment. “We are currently in my living room, where I had a wall knocked down,” she adds, clarifying that she did not do this herself. It seems there are some things she is unable to do.
It will be available on February 21st.
Source: theguardian.com
