Nicolet Aleta Logan (née Heaton; born December 4, 1994, Geneva, Illinois, U… Read Full Bio ↴Nicolet Aleta Logan (née Heaton; born December 4, 1994, Geneva, Illinois, United States), better known by her stage name Niykee Heaton, is an American singer, songwriter and model. After writing her first song at age 5 and teaching herself to play guitar at 9, Niykee Heaton dedicated her entire childhood and high school years to making music. With her songwriting giving her an outlet and escape from her troubled home life, Niykee spent nearly every moment outside of school creating and sharing original songs that showed off her soulful vocals and powerful lyrics. Fast gaining a massive following after WorldstarHipHop picked up her acoustic-guitar-based rendition of Chief Keef’s “Love Sosa” in December 2012, the 19-year-old Illinois native is set to deliver a debut from Steve Rifkind and Russell Simmons’ All Def Music in partnership with Capitol Records, revealing her timeless sense of songcraft, intuitive grasp of beats, and a lyrical sensibility that fuses poetic finesse with pure emotion.

On “Bad Intentions”—a raw but smoldering R&B ballad whose lyric video shot to more than a million views soon after its January 2014 release, largely on the strength of her staggering social-media presence—Niykee’s near-lifelong devotion to sharpening her songwriting is more than evident. “I realized early on that the only way to make my voice heard and say what I wanted to was through music,” says Niykee, whose older sister Rachel battled cancer for most of her life and died when Niykee was 12. “It was less like a hobby for me and more like a lifesaver,” she adds. Since her family couldn’t financially support her musical education, Niykee gave herself vocal training by singing along to a Diana Ross greatest-hits CD, and learned to play guitar by holing up in her room with an acoustic handed down to her by a family friend. And when it came to her songwriting, Niykee relied on a natural sense of rhythm she attributes both to her South African roots and passion for hip-hop, yet also drew a great deal of inspiration from the bare-bones authenticity of singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits (two artists beloved by her sister and older brother).

In her early teens, Niykee began posting pop covers on YouTube while continuing to cultivate her songwriting. “On Friday and Saturday nights when all the other kids were going out, I was staying home and writing songs or, when I got a little older, driving hours to some broke-down bar and begging them to let me get up and play,” says Niykee, who struggled with bullying throughout her school years. “I was doing everything I could to move my music along, but nothing was working out at all.” Having promised her sister that she’d make an impact with her songs, Niykee told her parents that she’d put songwriting aside and go to college if her music career hadn’t made any major strides by the time she turned 18. Then, the day before her 18th birthday—and shortly after she’d ditched the pop covers and started posting her acoustic takes on tracks by hip-hop artists like Chief Keef, A$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne, and Pusha T—Niykee wound up on WorldstarHipHop and found herself fielding interest from a flood of record labels. Instead of aligning herself with a label right away, she graduated high school six months early and self-financed the recording of a host of her own songs, eventually signing with Steve Rifkind and Russell Simmons’ All Def Music and setting to work on her debut EP.

With her personal highlights so far including getting hand-picked by Snoop Dogg to accompany him onstage at the YouTube Brandcast in May 2013, Niykee has kept up a steady songwriting routine despite the whirlwind of recent years. Now a magnet for up-and-coming producers, she constantly combs through beats sent her way and finds that many end up sparking song ideas. “I’ll know if a beat’s good after the first five seconds, and then I’ll get a song in my head and start writing immediately,” she says. “I go out to my back porch with my guitar and the words just come, and usually it’s all done in under 30 minutes.” As she continues develop as a lyricist, Niykee notes that the pain of her past serves as an endless source of unlikely inspiration. “Even when I’m not writing literally about things that have happened to me, all the pain of my childhood and losing my sister ends up getting pushed into my music,” she says. “It shapes my songs and builds this deeper meaning under everything, which is one the most important things to me—I need to know that I could listen to any of my songs 20 years from now, and still be proud of what I had to say.”

Out The Mud
Niykee Heaton Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

24 hours
Yeah 7 days a week
Gee I dont get tired I let you other singas sleep
Turn up for the check and yeah i get it out the streets
Hustle like im starving going hard i gotta eat
I get it out the mud, yeah
I get it out the mud yeah
Watch i break my wrist make that water whip

Stretch it out and flip, I′m all about my chips
Get it out the mud yeah
I get it out the mud yeah
Watch i break my wrist, make that water whip
Stretch it out and flip, I'm all about my chips

Turn up in 2 seconds
Get it with music and coke, what I′m stretching
Across the street under a bando
And here with your ho, could get her to go fetch it (Here boy)
On the scale, but I call it the ruler
And that's what I'm using my method of measure
Got it jumping up out of the pot and
My clique-ity clucking surrounding my property
I meant to say my clientickity
Numbers officially rickety
Out the mud, nobody did shit for me
Arrogant often I′m bigity
All about money, like what done got into me
Breaking down bricks and we blowing good griggity
Say you ain′t feeling me, ought try to killing me
Neighborhood love me, it's hard to get rid of me
My baby mothers are sick of me
I put that dick on ′em
Now they ridiculously saying when I don't come in I′m with a freak bitch
I've been chasing my paper religiously
I′m really in the street, others pretend to be
Let me get off of my grind then I'm feeling me
No one repeatedly coming and getting me out of the mud
I'm the epitomy

I get it out the mud, yeah
I get it out the mud, yeah
Watch how I break my wrist
Make that water whip
Stretch it out, then flip
I′m all about my chips
I get it out the mud
I get it out the mud
Watch how I break my wrist
Make that water whip

Stretch it out, then flip
I′m all about my chips

Overall Meaning

The song "Out The Mud" by Niykee Heaton is a powerful rap anthem that celebrates the artist's rise from poverty and struggle to success. Throughout the song, Heaton describes how she works hard every day, never gets tired, and hustles to get what she wants. She contrasts herself with other "singas" who sleep while she works, and emphasizes her determination to "get it out the mud," that is to say, she is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, even if it means getting dirty and working in difficult conditions. Heaton shows off her skills as a rapper, declaring that she can "break [her] wrist" making a "water whip," and that she's "all about [her] chips." The chorus of the song emphasizes Heaton's commitment to her art and to her work ethic, declaring that she gets everything "out the mud."

The lyrics of "Out The Mud" are a testament not only to Heaton's skills as a rapper but also to her powerful message of determination and self-reliance. The song is a celebration of individuals who come from difficult backgrounds and are determined to make something of themselves, no matter what the costs. By emphasizing her own struggles and triumphs, Heaton inspires listeners to pursue their goals with the same intensity and determination that she has shown in her own life.

Line by Line Meaning

24 hours
I work around the clock

Yeah 7 days a week
I don't take days off, I am always working

Gee I dont get tired I let you other singas sleep
I am not like other singers, I keep pushing even when I'm exhausted

Turn up for the check and yeah i get it out the streets
I work hard and earn money through my music and other means

Hustle like im starving going hard i gotta eat
I work hard like I'm starving and need to eat in order to survive

I get it out the mud, yeah
I work hard and earn everything from scratch

I get it out the mud yeah
I work hard and earn everything from scratch

Watch i break my wrist make that water whip
I am skilled at making crack cocaine

Stretch it out and flip, I'm all about my chips
I am all about making money

Get it out the mud yeah
I work hard and earn everything from scratch

I get it out the mud yeah
I work hard and earn everything from scratch

Watch i break my wrist, make that water whip
I am skilled at making crack cocaine

Stretch it out and flip, I'm all about my chips
I am all about making money

Turn up in 2 seconds
I can start partying at any moment

Get it with music and coke, what I′m stretching
I make money through music and drug dealing

Across the street under a bando
I sell drugs in abandoned buildings across the street

And here with your ho, could get her to go fetch it (Here boy)
I could convince your girlfriend to go buy drugs for me

On the scale, but I call it the ruler
I measure drugs with a ruler instead of a scale

And that's what I'm using my method of measure
My unconventional method works just as well as a scale

Got it jumping up out of the pot and
My drugs are high quality and selling quickly

My clique-ity clucking surrounding my property
My associates are guarding my drug operation

I meant to say my clientickity
I meant to say that my clientele is constantly expanding

Numbers officially rickety
My drug sales are fluctuating

Out the mud, nobody did shit for me
I came from nothing and had to work hard to get where I am today

Arrogant often I'm bigity
I have confidence in myself and my abilities

All about money, like what done got into me
I am consumed by the desire for money

Breaking down bricks and we blowing good griggity
We are breaking down large amounts of drugs and selling them

Say you ain′t feeling me, ought try to killing me
If you don't like me, you might try to kill me

Neighborhood love me, it's hard to get rid of me
The people in my neighborhood like me and it's hard to get me out

My baby mothers are sick of me
The mothers of my children are tired of dealing with me

I put that dick on ′em
I am sexually satisfying to them

Now they ridiculously saying when I don't come in I'm with a freak bitch
They assume I'm with other women when I'm not around

I've been chasing my paper religiously
I have been working hard to make money

I'm really in the street, others pretend to be
I am truly a part of the street culture, others only pretend to be

Let me get off of my grind then I'm feeling me
If I stop working hard, I don't feel like myself

No one repeatedly coming and getting me out of the mud
I don't have anyone to rely on to help me get out of tough situations

I'm the epitomy
I'm the ultimate example of someone who has pulled themselves up from nothing

Writer(s): Andrew Harr, Jermaine Jerrel Jackson, Andre Davidson, Sean Winston Davidson, Kevin Gilyard, Maurice Nathan Simmonds

Contributed by David N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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