DJ Nilla: Wikis

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DJ Nilla (aka NILLANE, born Natalie Richmond on January 17, 1987 in Erie, PA), is an American rapper, R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. She is also the host for DJ Nilla's Friday Night House Party, which is a part of the Super Soul Saturday radio programming on 90.5/WERG.

Biography ==
DJ Nilla was born and raised in the industrial city of Erie, Pa. As a child, she spent a lot of her time songwriting and performing. At age 14, she decided to pursue a career as an entertainer, drawing inspiration from Mary J. Blige, Aaliyah, TLC, and Tupac Shakur. At 16, she began interning at Gannon University’s college radio station, WERG. After years of dedication, DJ Nilla began hosting Super Soul Saturday alongside an industry veteran Deejay, Mike West. It wasn't long before she had her own radio program, DJ Nilla’s Friday Night House Party, which mixed a wide array of Hip Hop and R&B from the 1990’s with up to date material.

== Music

Once DJ Nilla began to pursue a music career, she immediately linked up with a wide range of Erie artists. She began to take piano lessons with the legendary Mary Alice Brown. She’d been songwriting since the age of 10, and decided to match that skill with music production. Practicing her stage shows all over the city, she was able to be one of the first artists to perform for the Urban Idol series, a production by InDaStreets Entertainment. At 16, DJ Nilla began recording material with a wide range of independent artists in and around Erie, including Ramone of Prozperous Traz Productions, Jay Pad of GPG Productions, and Doc Proto of Roswell Enterprises. In 2007, she released numerous singles, which all went on to build her name in the underground Hip Hop community, including “Warning”, “Gimme Room”, and a remake of Chris Brown's "Wall to Wall", which pushed her into the limelight. Also, she was featured on the Doc Proto underground hit, “Off My Chest”, where she was able to showcase her lyrical ability, which many critics acclaimed was reminiscent of the deliveries of Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Left Eye (of the Hip Hop group, TLC). She's continuing to build her name also overseas, where she was able to provide guest appearances on tracks produced by DJ Dave of Choice FM, in London. Her music soon began to gain her radio airplay and mainstream popularity around the Erie tristate.