Enisa Nikaj

Enisa Nikaj (born March 5, 1996), known professionally as Enisa (stylized in all caps), is an American singer and songwriter.

She began her music career in 2015 performing cover songs and began releasing original music in 2016.

Enisa attended I.S. 259 William McKinley Junior High School and Edward R. Murrow High School, graduating in 2015.

Rapper Joey Badass was one of her schoolmates.

In 2015, Enisa began performing cover songs to artists such as David Guetta and Sia ("Titanium"), Hozier ("Take Me to Church"), Justin Timberlake ("Cry Me a River") and Adele ("Hello").

After graduating from high school she had wanted to get into the music industry, and filmed her first video with a photographer friend who wanted to get into videography.

Her cover of Hozier's song hit 100,000 views on YouTube within three months, while a reupload posted by a Facebook page amassed one million views in three days.

Enisa has stated in interviews that her lack of connections in the industry prompted her to post herself performing cover songs as a way to showcase her talent and she hoped that it would grab the attention of a music producer or a manager.

In 2016, she released her debut single "Burn This Bridge" on September 15, with the music video releasing on November 23.

Enisa had been inspired to write the song after being discouraged by someone in the industry who she thought would help her instead tell her that "I didn't have what it takes and I wasn't good enough basically ... I just took it out on the studio. I wrote a song and I was feeling it like 'I don't need you, I could do this on my own.'" The song went on to be used in a Beats Electronics advertisement starring soccer player Alex Morgan in June 2017.

In 2017, she released her sophomore single "Glory Days" on May 26.

A person connected to Highbridge the Label had heard Enisa's music in 2017 while at a Philippe Chow restaurant in Manhattan, New York.

A waiter had been playing "Freedom" and introduced him to Enisa's music after being asked about it.

She attended Brooklyn College, graduating early with a bachelor's degree in business administration in May 2018.

She plays the piano, and has done internships at advertising agencies.

Enisa grew up listening to Albanian music, in addition to artists such as Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone and Justin Timberlake.

She has cited Adele and Amy Winehouse as her inspirations.

Enisa released her fourth single "Reunite" and its music video on February 4, 2018.

It was a tribute song to her uncle who had died years earlier.

After graduating from college in May, she began pursuing her music career full-time at age 22.

On October 18, she teased a collaboration track with French singer Scridge, which went on to be "Karma (Remix)".

Enisa performed a number of cover songs from 2018 through 2020, one of which was her cover of "Mockingbird" by Eminem that she released on December 9, 2018, which went on to amass 10 million views on YouTube by December 2020.

Enisa was eventually invited to the studio by rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie and his team in January 2018.

Over a year later, while she was speaking with RCA Records, Enisa had a chance encounter with A Boogie and was invited to the studio again to play her unreleased music.

She signed to Atlantic Records and Highbridge The Label in December 2019, and competed in the American Song Contest in March 2022.

Enisa Nikaj was born in Brooklyn, New York to Albanian parents from Tuzi, Montenegro.

Her father emigrated from the SFR Yugoslavia to the United States at the age of 25, and was later followed by her mother.

Enisa is a middle child, and has an older and a younger brother, both of whom took up playing basketball while Enisa leaned towards music.

She began singing at home as a young child.

Enisa attended PS 130 The Parkside elementary school, where she participated in theater and the school choir, graduating as valedictorian.

At age seven, she played the role of Dorothy in a school play of The Wizard of Oz in the fourth grade.

It went on to be her first placement in a film soundtrack when it was featured in the opening scene of Miss Virginia (2019).

Enisa released her third single "Freedom" on August 25, with the music video releasing on September 10.

She was featured on Statik Selektah's single "Ain't a Damn Thing Change," alongside G-Eazy and Joey Badass, released on November 30.

Following prolonged delays, Enisa confirmed in June 2019 that the French label had canceled its release.

After the track was leaked in October 2019, it was officially released on November 15.

In 2019, she released her fifth single "Wait For Love" and its music video on July 6.

She released her sixth single "Something Beautiful" and its music video on December 15, being a tribute to the victims of the 2019 Albania earthquake which had struck on November 26.

She was later introduced to higher-ups at Atlantic Records and was eventually offered a contract in May 2019, and subsequently signed her first record deal on December 6, 2019.

Enisa was featured on Termanology and Dame Grease's single "Travel The World", alongside Bun B, released on September 19, with the music video releasing on January 29, 2020.