Talking with Nita Kaja of SYT about New Single Yours For Life and Upcoming EP You Know Th
“Yours For Life,” the new single from SYTË, blends warm, sensual vocals riding over rich, synth-driven production, creating a danceable, shimmering earworm of a song.
Lifted from their forthcoming EP, You Know That, Right?, “Yours For Life” reveals the chemistry between singer Nita Kaja’s vocals and the production of Drin Tashi. SYTË, which means ‘eyes’ in Albanian, write and produce their own music, buoyed by love for their craft and each other.
Nita and Drin met in Kosovo, where Nita spent her summer breaks. When she returned to New York, the couple continued their long-distance relationship, writing the bulk of their debut EP. Nita then relocated to Kosovo altogether, where SYTË began developing their identity and forging their musical path.
Now based in New York, SYTË has embedded its sound in the city’s music scene. With a full live band, their electrifying performances have landed them festival main stage slots such as Sunny Hill Festival, Pop-Kultur, and Manifesta Biennale, and club slots such as Elsewhere Zone 1, The Sultan Room, Pianos, and Our Wicked Lady.
CelebMix spoke with Nita Kaja about SYTË’s singular alt-R&B/art-pop sound and the inspiration for “Yours For Life.”
What three things can’t you live without?
What inspired your new single, “Yours for Life?”
Despite being outspoken about pretty much everything, I’m quite shy when it comes to matters of sex and intimacy, so I stepped out of my comfort zone to talk my shit about what I genuinely enjoy in bed. I feel like a lot of young women (including my younger self) pretend to be so down for anything and just swallow unenjoyable experiences because it’s almost taboo for us to be honest about what we really like or want. And for what, to be deemed desirable enough to be called back for a second lame go? Anyway, I’m not talking about how hot or life-changing of a fuck I am because I’m not here to sell you on my sexual capabilities. I’m just going to take up the space that I’m entitled to and tell my man what I want because I deserve equally as much pleasure as he does. And it really is that simple!
Walk us through your mindset as you entered the studio to record the song.
Well, my mindset was to give sexy bitch, but that was not what I delivered in the early demos we recently stumbled upon. It took, like, three years for this song to be developed and released and I’m so glad we took our time. Those demos will never see the light of day, I can tell you that much. Anyway, I think I nailed the vibe in this final version, what do you think?
“Yours for Life” is from your upcoming EP, You Know That, Right? What can you share about the EP?
Not to get astrological but I just got out of my 12th house year (being 23 years old), and that was the end of a 12-year cycle that I kind of had to review and relive in order to move onto this next phase in my life. ‘YKTR?’ explores these different aspects of my life: our relationship, our journey in following our musical dreams, and my emotional struggles that were really highlighted this past year. New cycle, new me, and new, elevated sound!
Where are you both from?
I was born and raised in New York! But I am ethnically Albanian from Kosovo. Drin was born and raised there. Barely anyone ever knows what Kosovo is and we always have to explain it’s where Dua Lipa is from. Then it clicks for people. So thanks for putting us on the map, Queen!!
Did your hometown(s) impact your sound?
I don’t really think so. Of course, my environment inspires my writing and the themes I explore but I don’t really think it impacts our sound per se. I will say one thing, though. There’s a song on the EP (unreleased, coming soon), that, when Drin first presented it, it reminded me a lot of this Six Flags commercial from my childhood that had orcas swimming through the sky. Nostalgia for cul-de-sac-y American middle-classness in the early 2000s set the tone for my imagination on that one.
Which singers/musicians influenced your sound?
I grew up primarily listening to Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, and Julian Casablancas/The Strokes. I just love a Virgo artist, I guess. I developed my singing abilities by just listening to Beyonce and Amy especially, trying to mimic their runs and stretching my baby voice out to try and reach both ends of their ranges. I always wanted to have a rugged, rock voice like Julian’s but that’s just not me, unfortunately. He was a huge lyrical inspiration for me, though.
What inspires your writing? Do you draw inspiration from poems, music, TV, or other media?
I don’t know how to say this without sounding like the most pretentious person on this planet, but I am… deep breath… an open channel that allows all kinds of information serving as inspiration to flow through myself. Yeah, big shout out to my 11th-grade English teacher for introducing me to the concept of Romanticism and all the beautiful poetry that has informed my writing style today.
What can you share about your writing process?
Musically, I’ve learned that I’m not much of a creative initiator, I’m more of an editor. Take these terms loosely because I don’t really know how else to explain it hahaha. What I’m trying to say is, I need a point of sonic reference to work with or work around. It’s difficult for me to envision a song without hearing at least a semblance of a draft first, and that can simply be a bassline or a drum loop–just the most bare-bones demo, really. And then, the funny thing is, I’ll tear it down to ground zero if I don’t like it and come up with something completely different and unrelated, rendering that draft almost unnecessary. I just need that tiny reference to spark my decision-making. But it’s a good thing that Drin is such a great musical writer and producer because I’m almost always immediately in love with what he’s made, only mixing my little fingers in for some fine-tuning. Lyrically, I just have a reservoir of quotes and lines and poems (and sometimes even developing song structures) that I accumulate in my day-to-day. When sitting down and writing a song, I’ll pluck something out of the notebook or notes app and piece together a little quilt of words accompanied by Drin’s electric, ever-evolving production that I just love so much.
Which artists in your opinion are killing it right now?
Beyonce, as always, because she’s… Beyonce. Her talent, work ethic, discipline, commitment to perpetual artistic growth, and humble nature have solidified her as the gold standard forever. Renaissance blew my mind; it was the most insane show I’ve ever been to. Can you tell that I love her so much?
Jungle is also having a well-deserved moment right now. Drin and I have been fans for a while and I’m listening to “Back on 74” as I type these answers out. The choreo in their videos is top tier, not to mention how rich their production and vocals are. Very sexy music. We can’t wait to see them live soon, heart eyes emoji!!!!!
How do you define success?
So this just occurred to me last night as I was scrolling through Selena Gomez’s IG. She posted a picture of herself getting her glam, or something, done, holding an iced coffee. And something deep in my spirit yearned for that. Just that particular moment of being up, probably early as hell, having people tend to your appearance on one of your many important days, and having a delicious, iced coffee to sip on. I will be posting a picture of myself doing the same thing when I get there. That’s when you’ll know I’ve made it, okay?
What can your fans look forward to over the next six months? Music videos? Live gigs? New material?
EP release on November 3rd, EP release show at Baby’s All Right on November 6th, and other stuff we’ll be announcing along the way.
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