Nico & Vinz are a Norwegian duo consisting of Kahouly Nicolay "Nico" Sereba from

Holmlia Holmlia is a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway with around 12,000 residents. It is located in the south-western part of Søndre Nordstrand, the southernmost borough in Oslo. The neighborhood is served by Holmlia Station on the Østfold Line, which ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and Vincent "Vinz" Dery from

Lambertseter Lambertseter () is a suburb of the city of Oslo, Norway, and is part of the borough of Nordstrand. Lambertseter was built over a short period starting from 1951, and was the very first modern suburb of Oslo. A Tram line was built to the neighbor ...

, Oslo. They formed in 2010 as Envy but changed their name to Nico & Vinz by the end of 2012. They are commonly associated with their biggest hit single " Am I Wrong", which peaked at number 2 in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, number 1 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and number 4 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Music career

2010–11: Formation and debut mixtape

Nicolay Sereba of Norwegian- Ivorian origin and Vincent Dery of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian origin created their music as a fusion of genres as diverse as pop to reggae to soul, having been exposed by the various musical influences of their parents with whom they did recurring trips to the West Coast of Africa. Sereba speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, Norwegian and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. Dery speaks English, Norwegian and

Dagaare Dagaare is the language of the Dagaaba people of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. It has been described as a dialect continuum that also includes Wali language (Gur), Waale and Birifor language, Birifor. Dagaare language varies in dialect s ...

. The duo was launched as Envy with its main debut appearance at the Emergenza music festival (Barelona) in 2011,Nico & Vinz Biography , MTV.com
MTV and won the final at the Taubertal Open Air Festival for new emerging artists. Their touring band consists of fellow NISS students bassist Halvor Rollag and Chriss Rune Olsen Angvik from Red Hot and multi-insturmentalist Magnus "Magnify" Martinsen, drummer Svein Inge Bjørkedal and keyboardist Daniel Strand from 2011 until 2015. Following their initial success, the duo released the mixtape ''Dreamworks: Why Not Me'' under the name Envy. In June 2011, the duo released their debut single " One Song" under the name Envy. The song peaked to number 19 on the

Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista is the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from Norwegian and international artists. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. The data is collected by Nielsen Soundscan International and based on the sale ...

2011: ''The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces''

Envy released their debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces'' on April 27, 2012, peaking to number 37 on the

Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista is the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from Norwegian and international artists. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. The data is collected by Nielsen Soundscan International and based on the sale ...

. " One Song" was released as the lead single from the album peaking at number 19 on the

. It was followed by "Go Loud" released as a follow-up second and last single from the album.

2013–14: Breakthrough and "Am I Wrong" international success

In April 2013, they released " Am I Wrong" after the duo changed their name from Envy to Nico & Vinz, in coordination with their signing to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in the

to avoid being confused with other artists with a similar name. With international success of the single, the duo changed the credits of the single to the new adopted name. The song peaked to number 2 on the

and also peaked to number 2 on the

Danish Singles Chart Hitlisten (), formerly known as Tracklisten, is a Danish top 40 record chart that is updated every Wednesday at midnight on the website hitlisten.nu. The weekly Danish singles chart combines the 40 best-selling tracks from streaming and legal mus ...

and number 2 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...

. It also reached number one on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart. It was followed up with another release " In Your Arms" which also charted in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Am I Wrong" was directed and edited by African Folk music composer Kavar Singh. The video for "Am I Wrong" was filmed in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and at the

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border betwe ...

between

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. It was put together in a deliberate effort to present a positive side of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

when the image of the continent is too often mired in negative news stories. The music video was released via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on June 20, 2013. In early 2014, Nico & Vinz received the European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) at Eurosonic Festival, performed at the Spellemann Awards, completed a

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n tour, and launched "Am I Wrong" worldwide. When "Am I Wrong" made its American radio debut in April 2014, it was the number one most added record at the

mainstream radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format and it peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. They performed "Am I Wrong" at the

iHeartRadio Music Festival The iHeartRadio Music Festival is a two-day music concert festival held every year on the third or fourth weekend of September since 2011 by iHeartRadio along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. From 2011 to 2015, the f ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, as well as for the television show ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In August 2015, Nico and Vinz were special guests on Taylor Swift's

1989 World Tour The 1989 World Tour was the fourth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her fifth studio album, ''1989'' (2014). It began in Tokyo, Japan, on May 5, 2015, and concluded in Melbourne, Australia, on December ...

Vancouver, BC Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

performing "Am I Wrong" at

BC Place BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a Crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently ...

. Their album ''

Black Star Elephant ''Black Star Elephant'' is the second studio album by Norwegian duo Nico & Vinz and their first album under that moniker, following a name change from Envy. It was released in Australia on 16 September 2014, and on 14 October 2014 in the United S ...

'' was released in September 2014, followed by the single " When the Day Comes" in October 2014. Nico & Vinz were featured on a track of

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

's 2014 album ''

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a TCP connection state on the server side indi ...

'', named " Lift Me Up" along with South African group

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

. Their song "Find a Way", featuring

Emmanuel Jal Emmanuel Jal (née Jal Jok, 1 January 1980) is a South Sudanese-Canadian artist, actor, author, former child soldier, and political activist. His autobiography, ''War Child: A Child Soldier's Story'', was published in 2009. Childhood Jal wa ...

, is featured in the film ''

The Good Lie ''The Good Lie'' is a 2014 drama film written by Margaret Nagle and directed by Philippe Falardeau. The film stars Reese Witherspoon in the lead role, alongside Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and Corey Stoll. ''The Good Lie'' was ...

''. "When the Day Comes" is featured the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

game ''

FIFA 15 ''FIFA 15'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on 23 September 2014 in North America, 25 September in Europe and Australia and 26 September in the ...

''.

2015–present: Extended plays ''Cornerstone'' & ''Elephant in the Room''

In October 2015, the duo released the EP ''Cornerstone''. " That's How You Know", featuring

Kid Ink Brian Todd Collins (born April 1, 1986), known professionally as Kid Ink, is an American rapper and singer from Los Angeles, California. His debut studio album, ''Up & Away (Kid Ink album), Up & Away'' (2012), was released independently and peake ...

and

Bebe Rexha Bleta "Bebe" Rexha ( , ; born August 30, 1989) is an American singer and songwriter. She signed with Warner Records in 2013, and was credited with co-writing releases of other artists—such as Eminem's Grammy Award-winning single " The Monster" ...

, was released as the first single from the EP and peaked at number 2 in both Norway and Australia. They also featured in Alesso's song "I Wanna Know". Nico & Vinz then released "Hold It Together" in January 2016, which is taken from their third studio album, due later in 2016. The second single from ''Cornerstone'' was "Praying to a God". In November 2017, Nico & Vinz released their new EP ''Elephant In The Room'' including their new singles "Intrigued" and "Listen". In 2019, Nico & Vinz revealed in a podcast interview that they were working on their sophomore album; however, no updates on the album have been shared since.

Honours

*2014:

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

as Spellemann of the Year

Discography

Studio albums * '' The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) Mixtapes * ''Dreamworks: Why Not Me'' (2010) Extended plays * ''Cornerstone'' (2015) * ''Elephant in the Room'' (2017)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nico and Vinz Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian musical duos Norwegian pop music groups English-language musical groups from Norway Norwegian people of Ghanaian descent Norwegian people of Ivorian descent Male musical duos