In a T-Pop world dominated by multi-member groups, JustmineNika emerge as a rarity – a female pop duo with a unique singing style.
The duo, which comprise 22-year-olds ‘Justmine’ Mali Marisar and ‘Nika’ Anika Hallman, first burst into the scene in August 2022. They were among the contestants in the singing reality competition Girl Group Star, which famously launched the careers of 4EVE.
While they were below the radar for their first year after debut, the duo achieved massive success with รักจริง (แค่เมื่อวาน), a mid-tempo pop-R&B track that features their signature singing style.
The MV gained more than 10 million views since its release in March, underpinning their success achieved.
Now back with their fifth single เพื่อนเตือนแล้ว (Ignore), JustmineNika hope to build on their earlier successes. Judging from how the song is steadily gaining popularity, it seems like the power of two are here to stay.
You have just released เพื่อนเตือนแล้ว (Ignore) – could you talk about the inspiration for the song?
Justmine: This is our 5th single, a medium-tempo track that Amp Achiriya, a very famous songwriter, wrote for us.
Nika: For this song, it’s about a friend warning another friend to be careful of a man who seems to be a playboy, but when the friend warned her, she still didn’t listen. In the end, she got her heart broken.
Justmine: So the lyrics represent the meaning of ‘I have warned you but you don’t listen to me then what happened? You get hurt! Because you don’t listen!’
You achieved much success with your previous single ‘รักจริง (แค่เมื่อวาน)’. How did that make you feel?
Justmine: Well it’s quite very unexpected for the last song (รักจริงแค่เมื่อวาน). We are very happy for the popularity of the song.
Nika: I would like to say that (it) was beyond expectations and I am very happy that more people know and like our voices.
Justmine: Also, it’s the first time for us to finally hear…(someone else) singing our song and talking about our uniqueness, that’s is the best part and I’m so thankful about it.
How did you both get into music? Who are your musical inspirations?
Justmine: I’ve been listening to music since I was a little kid. My dad loves music, so every day after work he will turn on the music from his own favourite artist like David Bowie, Iggy pop, or Pink Floyd. Then when I was growing up I liked to listen to music from artistes like Halsey and Lana del Rey.
Nika: When I was a child, my mother…often heard me singing alone in the bathroom. That’s when she asked me if I wanted to learn to sing. At that time, I was a shy child and didn’t really want to go to school, but in the end, I decided to take singing lessons and after that I’ve been singing all my life. The person who inspires me musically is probably my mother because she loves listening to music and singing.
You were both part of the Girl Group Star competition in 2020 – how was the experience like?
Justmine: It was a very challenging opportunity. I remember I was so stressful in every show but it was a good memory that made me being my self from that day until now.
Nika: It was something that helped me develop both my singing and dancing skills even more. It was a great experience and I also gained great friendships and great memories.
What do you think makes JustmineNika unique in the T-Pop world?
Justmine: I think it’s our differences in the style of our tone and technique, that when we combine it together we just blend into each other and help (make) the song unique.
Nika: I think our singing voices are very unique. Our voices are different but when we put them together, we have a very harmonious sound and unique singing technique.
What’s next for JustmineNika?
Justmine: We will definitely keep developing ourselves a better skills and keep producing music that reflects our uniqueness for our fans.
Nika: For this song เพื่อนเตือนแล้ว (Ignore) it is an R&B style and I hope you like it. For our next songs, we will try to produce the best work and will not disappoint all fans. Please follow us, JustmineNika!
Follow JustmineNika on their Instagram accounts (Justmine and Nika). You can stream เพื่อนเตือนแล้ว (Ignore) on all platforms, and watch the MV on Youtube.
