R&B and funk singer Nikka Costa got a jump-start in her music career with a run of successful childhood gigs and encouragement from her famous arranger/producer father Don Costa. An international citizen from an early age, Costa spent her teen years building a successful recording career in Europe and South America, before moving to Australia where she recorded BUTTERFLY ROCKET in 1996. EVERYBODY GOT THEIR SOMETHING (2001) showed Costa mining a fierce, sexy neo-funk style influenced by Betty Davis and Chaka Khan, and her profile was heightened when the single “Like a Feather” appeared in a Tommy Hilfiger ad. Costa toured with Lenny Kravitz in 2005 (he guested on Costa’s album CAN’TNEVERDIDNOTHIN’ that same year). PEBBLE TO A PEARL appeared in 2008.