Nita Slay, a musician and rapper from Lynn, said she finds pride in the lyrics of “Cambodian Ties,” a song by Foule Monk in which she also sings.
In the song, Slay sings: “Cambodian ties / Cambodian in my skin / Breathing in this life / Rejuvenated skin / Cambodian gold / Cambodian sins / Breathing in this life to find the peace within.”
“It gives me another lane that I can use that no else can,” said Slay, who also goes by the name Soneta. “There’s no Cambodian singers in my city that I know of.”
But for those who are out there, Slay said, she hopes they too share pride in the lyrics.
Nita Slay sings, raps, and plays piano and the drums. She attributes her music to the likeness of Lauryn Hill, but growing up her main influences were Jazmine Sullivan, BJ The Chicago Kid, Rihanna, and Teyana Taylor. This blend of influence has created her unique sound, with notes of R&B, soul, hip hop, and rap.
But her most prominent inspiration growing up was English class — it led to her lyricism that is rich with metaphors and word-play.
“I loved writing essays, I loved literature,” Slay said. “I get real clever with it. I like to refer to myself as a writer more than a rapper.”
She said her lyricism is represented best in her song “Style,” in which she sings, “I found myself wasting time / I didn’t know at the time / This hunger won’t save me / I’ve had to go get what’s mine / Take me for granted / You’ll just enable my shine / What I bring to the table / It don’t compare to your shrine.”
Nita Slay started out singing in church, as a background vocalist, until her youth leaders left and she took the initiative to step into the spotlight. In 2019, on a whim, she released the song “Broken Child” on Instagram.
After releasing the song, she started to gain traction and her musician career path opened up. She now has two albums, “The Great Scorpius” (2021) and “Love Got Jaded” (2020) and several singles and EPs.
Outside of music, she does emcee work and, staying true to her gospel roots, runs a youth ministry. Although she prefers not to be in “mommy mode” at her shows, Nita Slay sometimes brings her three-year-old son to watch her practice and perform for the youth ministry.
She allows her experience singing in church to trickle into her songwriting, but said she doesn’t want to let it limit her.
“I have some metaphors here and there that refer to the Bible,” Slay said. “But I don’t always write with that in mind. It’s more how I deliver and how I sound in a song that translates into gospel that you can hear.”
In late February, Nita Slay was featured at Pao Arts Center in a celebration performance for the Lunar New Year. The event, Return of the Wood Snake, was curated by local musician Kold Kwan. According to Pao Arts Center performance and theater program manager, Ashley Yung, Kwan wanted to “bring in artists that he enjoyed as just a person who enjoys music, but also he thought would be really important to bring into Chinatown.”
It was Slay’s first time performing in Chinatown, an experience which she said was amazing.
“The lineup were heavy hitters,” she said. “And the coordinators were very professional and there to help with anything, so I knew I was in good hands.”
Yung described the way that Nita Slay parted the crowd and moved to the center during her performance, bringing her closer to the audience.
“She really looks to engage with the crowd. She reads the room,” Yung said. “She makes sure (the audience) knows they’re in the same room as her.”
Yung described arts as “essential to the well-being of a community,” which Pao Arts Center works to deliver to the Chinatown community.
“Arts are for the people and everyone has the ability to be an artist,” Yung said. “When people like Nita Slay and other musicians share that art with us, it is really special and connecting and good for the heart.”
Nita Slay said she believes music is “food for the soul.”
“Your storytelling and experiences can change and impact a lot of people who felt like they were alone,” Slay said. “I do think about making music that makes you dance, but it’s usually not my first pick when I hear a beat.”
She used to rely on a beat to write a song, she said, but now she can begin by focusing on the message she wants to convey. Throughout her evolving musical journey, her connection to her church remains. She’s considering the occasional cover performance there, because that’s how she started out.
“I always tell people that words create worlds,” Nita Slay said. “I’m already super metaphorical in the way that I deliver the gospel, the soul. I feel like it’s such a beautiful formula to making timeless, powerful music.”
Slay will perform April 11, 7:30 p.m. at Thirsty First, 103 Market St. in Lowell.
