My Nicopop & Kyan Palmer Top 10 Songs
Nicopop & Kyan Palmer are the kings of bops. Just about every single they release is not only great but makes you want to dance. Nicopop and Kyan Palmer both started their own separate careers in queer music before coming together in 2019 when they released a breathless string of bops that were some of the best pop music being released at the time. People also took notice because their songs started racking up millions of streams and reaching audiences outside the queer music community despite zero support from radio.
Now between the two of them, Nicopop was the first artist I discovered and I discovered them through another queer artist Josh Wood. Now this was the early days of my queer music obsession and I watched a playlist of music videos on YouTube over the fall of 2018 to discover more queer artists. One of the music videos to really grab me was Radio (You and I) by Josh Wood and I quickly started following them on Spotify. Josh only had a hand few of songs at that point and one of those songs was Elephant which a collaboration with Nicopop. I really liked the song but I was still listening to it through the filter of Josh Wood. A few weeks later Start Again by Nicopop with Tyler Mann got released and it grabbed me even more than Elephant and this was when Nicopop really started to standout from Josh Wood for me.
The moment I became a devoted Stan of Nicopop was when he released his first collaboration with Kyan Palmer at the beginning of 2019 with a song called What U Like. The beat to this song was so great it practically knocked me off my seat. I soon shared the song with other queer artists I was starting to get to know including Michael Medrano, Kisos & Davy Boi and they were all blown away by how much What U Like slapped. This was the point where Nicopop became one of my favorite queer artists. Kyan Palmer also now had my full attention as well.
Throughout the rest of 2019 Nicopop & Kyan Palmer kept unleashing bop after bop with Virtual Healing, Coo Coo Juice, Antisocial Socialites, Ms. Last Night and more. All these bops eventually led to the release of their album It's Called Branding, Sweetie in December of 2019. This album in my opinion captured the thrill and excitement of modern queer music as well as those final pre pandemic days before COVID changed everything.
Nonetheless Kyan Palmer didn't slow down at all after the release of It's Called Branding, Sweetie. He kept collaborating with lots of different artists & production teams and was seemingly unleashing bops every other week. Also, while Nicopop's name didn't always appear on the main artists byline on these songs, he would appear deeper in the credits as a producer. Nicopop and Kyan found their collaboration so fruitful that they continued to work together even as they were working with other artists. They were giving their songs a pass with each other before releasing them which showed how much they trusted each other as artists and collaborators.
As the 2020 pandemic started to take hold, I eventually started doing Instagram livestreams with queer artists and I ended up doing two livestreams with Nicopop. Nicopop was a joy to speak with on both livestreams. He was kind, funny and willing to share lots of behind the scenes stories about his songs and collaborations. He was a true professional who took his craft seriously and could explain in detail how he helped create & arrange his songs. We also talked extensively about Kyan Palmer too and Nicopop said of all the people he collaborated with him and Kyan had a special spark which is why they became such close collaborators.
By the end of 2020 Kyan released Stay at Home Celebrity, which would become one of my most streamed queer pop songs ever because I found it so addicting. Nicopop meanwhile released his next project the Deja Vu EP, which saw him collaborating with lots of different artists and going down a harder and darker road for his dance production. In my second livestream with Nicopop we went track by track through that album and Nicopop discussed how a lot of the songs were inspired by going to the underground dance clubs around Europe.
In 2022 so far things have been quiet for both Nicopop and Kyan Palmer so I figured now was the time to look back and take stock of their best songs together and separately. I'm going to countdown my top 10 songs by them and I can tell you that all 10 of these songs have been in constant rotation for me since they've been released. My husband also loves a lot of these songs because my husband loves bops and Nicopop and Kyan are all about serving as many bops as possible. Every song on this list is a certified bop and guaranteed to get you moving. So, if you need some feel good pop music that slaps in order to get you through your day then you're in luck because with Nicopop & Kyan Palmer bops are on their way to save the day.
10. Virtual Healing (2019)
Virtual Healing is one of many bops you'll find on the album It's Called Branding, Sweetie. Here Kyan and Nicopop mix English and Spanish lyrics together for a solid bop that seems to be about loving someone through a screen. Of course, in this day and age so much of our social interactions happen on screens now and this became even more commonplace after the pandemic.
9. Antisocial Socialites (2019)
Speaking of the pandemic, Antisocial Socialites, was another bop off It's Called Branding Sweetie that became more resonate after the pandemic. The song deals with the idea of those who want to party while not leaving the comfort of their home hence the title. In the song Kyan sings:
"Let's stay here at home
And pour up alone
The club ain't going nowhere
I bought some bottles to share
Everyone wants us to go
But tonight, we'll say no
The club ain't going nowhere
No more going out
Let's keep the party private
Antisocial socialites
No one else allowed
Let's keep the party private
Antisocial socialites"
These lyrics became even more relatable after everyone had to start quarantining in 2020 and I remember seeing people post this song saying it was their new pandemic anthem. Kyan loved seeing that people were responding to the song this way and a few months later he would release his first actual pandemic anthem.
8. Quarantini (2020)
Released when the pandemic was at its earliest surge, Quarantini was the first queer pop song I can think of that discussed the pandemic directly. Kyan starts off the song singing:
"It was the worst of times
In a way it was the best of times too
Just looking for a silver line
But was stuck in the house with nothing to do (Yeah)
If we're gonna make it then we gotta up the mood
And I don't think it's a crime
To try to have a good time
Given the news
Turn the weekdays into the weekend
Mute the TV, don't let it sink in
We, got plans to tonight (Got plans tonight)"
Kyan acknowledges that things are rough but he is also acknowledging that people still need to feel a sense of escape and have fun even in these dark times. He then hammers this home more as he sings:
"Times are tough, but it'll get better
Least we are all in this together
Let's, just clear our minds
I turned my room into a speakeasy
(Close friends only)
Sippin' on Quarantinis (na na na na)
Don't need a time, just let it flow freely
No one lonely
'Cause ain't nobody leaving (na na na na)
Here we just do whatever
Just do whatever
Just do whatever
For fun
We can kickback whenever
Stay up forever
Get busy chasing the sun"
Even in the darkest of times music can be a source of great solace and escape from the world around you. It's a big reason why I'm drawn to pop music in general and with Quarantini Kyan captured the mood of the early pandemic while still making a feel good bop to help dance your worries away.
7. Sleepwalking (2020)
A collaboration with Winn & Woo, Sleepwalking is another bop from start to finish featuring lots of vocal tics & production tricks that will run laps through your head as soon you listen to this song. Lyrically the song is simply about Kyan sleepwalking but he makes it sound like a party thanks to the hooks & production where Kyan sings:
"Closed eyes, seeing my life in hi-fi
Everything feeling, so fine, oh my, my, my
Nose dive, taking a trip through mind
Watching the night in half time, oh my, my, my
Just a little pick me up, got me dancing like thriller
Oh na na ayy, oh na na ayy
And if my body wanna slow down, I got a trick turn it all around
Oh na na ayy, go go again
I do it to myself, all me and no one else
I can't control it when the moon starts calling
The only thing that helps, is reachin' for the shelf
Night after night I keep on sleep, sleep walking
Walking, night after night I keep on sleep, sleep walking."
The song seems to be about a trip through the mind but that's just a jumping off point for this song to be as catchy as humanly possible.
6. Mind on Overdrive (2020)
This song gives me strong late 80s/early 90s vibes thanks in large part to the production where it uses 80s sounding guitar, early 90s sounding house piano and synth wave production that sounds like it could soundtrack Grand Theft Auto Vice City. The production here by Wave Wave & Lucas Estrada is flawless in my opinion. Every time this song starts it grabs me immediately and has my full attention until it ends. Lyrically the song seems to be about falling for someone despite not wanting to:
"I don't wanna fall in deeper, but I just might
Hotter than a fever with your skin on mine
Somethin' in the way you push my favorite vice
Every night, got my mind on overdrive
Cross the line
Take it like that
No lookin' back
(Slowly slippin' under)
Stay and drive
Cryin' on like that
I got it bad
(Solid ground above my ears)"
Despite Kyan's best efforts, resistance seems futile against this boy whom he seems to be addicted to. It's easy to relate to while listening because the song itself is so addicting that you can't resist it either.
5. Elephant (2018)
My first Nicopop song, which is a collaboration with fellow queer artist, Josh Wood, establishes Nicopop's sound which is pitch perfect dance production married to strong vocal hooks and melodies. The title comes from the saying The Elephant in the Room, which is when something is so obvious to all parties involved but they don't want to talk about it. In this song two people are obviously lusting after one another but neither wants to be the first to admit it so they have this standstill waiting for the other to make the first move. I liked this song when I first heard it and looking back I now see it as the beginning of a long string of bops that I would be listening to it constantly over the next several years.
4. Edge Off (2019)
Edge Off is a collaboration between Kyan Palmer and Syence, a dance production team I would get to know more of later on as they kept releasing their own bops with other artists. This is a song that has very interesting production as it starts slower and more methodical at first before unleashing the bop within by the time the chorus hits. This matches the lyrics of the song which discuss the drudgery & stress work gives during the verses before finding relief during the chorus:
"Coming undone, I need the weekend
Tied to a desk, I think I'm sinking
Only survive 'cause I keep on drinking
Fuck growing up, what was I thinking?
Yeah, everybody's stressed out
We gotta let it go, let it go
Throw back another round
Don't think we're going home, going home
When the week comes around
No one will ever know, ever know
'Cause we don't talk about
What we did the night before
I just need a sip to take the edge off, edge off"
This is a pretty universal idea that's been used many times throughout the history of pop music but it feels like it's given a fresh updated take here thanks in large part to the production by Syence. While it seems like alcohol is being referenced as the thing that takes the edge off you can easily substitute anything you want to including the song itself which always takes the edge off whenever I listen to it.
3. Start Again (2018)
Start again was my second Nicopop song and it had me as soon as that chorus swoops in. This is another song that starts off a bit slow and atmospheric but once that chorus takes off I'm in pop heaven. The piano used throughout the chorus is pitch perfect and it feels euphoric every time I hear it. My husband is also taken in every time that chorus goes off and I think you will be too. This is just such a well-produced and constructed song that it speaks volumes to just how talented Nicopop is.
2. Stay at Home Celebrity (2020)
Released at the end of 2020, Stay At Home Celebrity was another bop from Kyan that tapped into the zeitgeist at the time especially for me. Here Kyan sings about wanting to be famous while never leaving the house:
"The dream baby
Is doing whatever you want
Whenever you want
Tell me why leave baby?
When you could stay right where you are?
And still have it all?
Let everybody come to me
Casual notoriety
Everybody wants to be
A stay at home celebrity
Dreaming of being nineteen
Collecting that green"
Of course, this was something that was already happening for a while, but it seemed even more prescient in the pandemic. For my own self I was conducting 5 livestreams a week with queer artists while building my brand across social media. Now that I had the time to put all this work into doing this I really started enjoying it and this song captured my feelings perfectly. It's also one of the best bops of the queer music era period because Stay Home Celebrity just SLAPS right from the start and never lets up for a second. This remained in heavy rotation for a long time after it was released and I'm still streaming it a lot now. This is one never gets old for me.
1. What U Like (2019)
There's a few reasons this is #1. The first being that this was the first collaboration between Nicopop and Kyan Palmer. Up till this point I only knew Nicopop and not Kyan and I only knew 2 songs by Nicopop. This song though changed all that. As soon as it started, I was blown away by the beats and production of What U Like and I knew this was a duo that was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Nicopop and Kyan Palmer both vaulted their way to the front of the queer music class after this song dropped and they didn't disappoint over the next 2 years either, together or apart. It was one of those songs I had to share with others as soon as I heard it and they were as impressed as I was when they would hear it. This should have been even bigger than it was because this is the kind of song that should dominate top 40 radio. Yet, as I've said before radio is a dying field that doesn't take any risks or chances anymore. You've got to go to streaming to find the good stuff. This song is a perfect example of why I think right now this is one of the most exciting times for pop music but why radio at the same time has been dead to me for the last 5 years. If this doesn't get you moving then check your pulse.
