What do you get when you cross a pastor's daughter born in California, forbidden by her father from listening to anything other than gospel music, with a born-and-raised New Yorker who burst out onto the DJ scene at the ripe age of 16? The newest and coolest sound on the music scene. Nikki Leonti and Rich Velonskis-who goes by his stage name, Rich Skillz-have been writing and producing songs for some of the biggest acts in the industry for some time now, but they only recently came together to create the genre-defying duo Nikki and Rich. "We all met a few years back," Nikki said in an interview with the Justice. "We were writing for other people for about a little over a year, and so we started getting into a routine and writing all the time. At that point, the music that we had was stuff I didn't want to give away and he didn't want to give away, so we said, 'Forget this!' and we decided at the time that we should just do it ourselves and make Nikki and Rich. It's been about three years now."Soon to release their first album, Nikki and Rich are starting to gain popularity, but they received some deserved recognition well before this summer. Fans of Entourage and 90210 may want to rewatch some of the last season to hear snippets of the group's first track together, "Cat and Mouse." Rich explained that the song "helped define this whole process for us. ... It was so distinct that we [as a songwriting team] didn't even want to pitch it or know who we could pitch it to. From that song a bunch of different songs came. ... It grew to more R&B and into this kind of record."

Furthermore, the duo's track "Dreaming" was the title song of the brand new Queen Latifah film Just Wright, and their biggest song, "Next Best Thing," (which Rich called the group's "baby" in an interview with the Justice) was featured on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and on promos for ABC's new sitcom Romantically Challenged.

With such a quick rise in popularity and recognition, one would assume that hearing their songs playing on TV feels standard to Nikki and Rich by now, but Rich says, "I don't think it will ever get old or that it ever does; it's just, like, cool to see something you made then translate to the big screen or TV onto shows we actually watch." Nikki certainly agrees: "Oh, it's exciting," she exclaimed. "I think it's more exciting for me when my brothers and sisters see and they are like, 'I heard your song,' or they are blasting it and they are excited to hear, so it's fun to see how people react to it."

The people's reaction is exactly what will define the duo's place on the pop charts this upcoming summer, when its highly anticipated album, Everything, is slated to be released.

The duo's sound, a whole new genre of music that combines old-school doo-wop with a very modern feel, is one that has a lot of potential and might finally break the dance-pop mold that currently commandeers the Top 40. On their website, Nikki and Rich describe their sound as, "Lauryn Hill meets The Supremes while hanging out with Alicia Keys listening to Outkast's 'Hey Yah.'" If one thing is for sure, by description alone one can tell that they are definitely different than the popular songs and sounds of Ke$ha and Lady Gaga.

Integration into this singular sound is what will be the real test, but Nikki and Rich don't seem too worried. Nikki recognizes, "There are definitely a couple songs on the record, like 'Cat and Mouse' and 'Next Best Thing,' that incorporate some of that throwback sound in there, but it also has that modern appeal with Rich's production." For Rich, though, more than a diverse album is the opportunity to truly become the "Next Best Thing." "I think, in regard to Top 40 radio and all that, it always is the first thing that comes along that defines what the radio will be playing, . so it's sort of interesting for us that we can bring up this sort of sound and let that dominate. . It's about, sometimes, not doing exactly what's being played on the radio and fit it but being passionate and doing what we love, . and [we hope] there will be more of a mixed batch on Top 40 radio instead of it just being really similar, like right now."

Putting out an album isn't all about the postrecording process: Years of writing, recording, perfecting and deciding factor into the present album. While the two of them used to work seperatly, Rich as a producer and Nikki as a backup singer, they are both discovering the ups and downs of the collaborative creation process.

Nikki and Rich both agreed that the most difficult part of the process was condensing the material they recorded into one album. "It was hard, because we all have our favorites." Nikki said, "I go to that for certain songs that I'm really passionate about, and Rich goes to that for songs he is really passionate about. We think it is coming together and a meeting of the minds and deciding which 10 to 12 songs after all the work that we've done are the songs that we want people to hear."

Now that the album is almost out, the true fun begins. As much as they agreed that the studio experience was just as much about "bonding and a get-together and having a good time . and being creative" as the "6 a.m. drives home from a long night in the studio," summer tours are where the true talent of the group shines through. With such a plethora of modern voice-changing technology that many performers require to sound good on stage, Nikki and Rich are able, as Nikki put it, to "bring the quality of sound in the live performance that is as good as the record, if not better at times."

With a radio tour this June and more cross-country shows planned, there should be many opportunities for fans to experience the sheer power and talent of Nikki and Rich. After such a whirlwind ride, have they had their "big moment" yet? Rich put it perfectly when he said, "Well, we would like to hope so! [laughs] We are just really excited! I wish we could say about the future, but we just want to keep doing what we are doing and perform and keep making music and hope people respond to it and love it like we do." If their currently released tracks are any indication of what is to come, what they are doing should keep fans as well as music lovers responding positively for years to come.

-Hillel Buechler contributed reporting.