Nikko Smith Set to Release Album “Revolution”

Remember Nikko Smith?  Son of Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, 9th place American Idol finisher from Season 4, is about to release Revolution, his first full-length album.

It’s been a long time coming, but as he tells the St. Louis Tribune, the road hasn’t been easy:

Since “Idol,” his road to “Revolution” has been full of bumps he didn’t foresee. Like being an R&B singer competing with rappers for attention. And legal entanglements and financial issues that kept the project at a standstill for more than a year.

Smith says his thing “is for people to be fair with me.”

“Everybody is really protective about their music and their ideas, and some people don’t really know how the industry works,” he says. “Sometimes when you do a song with somebody, they want $10 million upfront, and that’s not logical. They want to take the whole cake.”

Smith has been frustrated with the process but has finally moved past it and is “flying free,” he says.

Trouble indeed. You can check out some snippets from the EP, already available on iTunes at Nikko’s MySpace.

Nikko says the tunes are “edgier” than his clean-cut American Idol image, “A lot of what I’m talking about is kicking it and partying and having fun and getting messed up, then going out the next night and doing the same thing.”

One of the songs is called “Stickin.” I’m not kidding. “Girl I’m a sex fiend, I got to let you know…I’m an animal.” He says in “3 am.” Eh, I’ll pass. But if it sounds like your thing, you can pick up Nikko’s EP on iTunes:

• Nikko Smith – Revolution