Nico & Vinz: Where Are They Now? After ‘Am I Wrong’

Nico & Vinz: Where Are They Now? After “Am I Wrong”

In the spring of 2014, American radio did something it almost never does for a Norwegian act: it put “Am I Wrong” by Nico & Vinz into heavy rotation, and the song climbed all the way to number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. For Nicolay “Nico” Sereba and Vincent “Vinz” Dery — two Oslo kids who had started out under the name Envy — it was the kind of breakthrough most artists dream about exactly once. And then, slowly, the spotlight moved on.

So where did they go? The answer is quieter than the question suggests: they kept working, kept releasing, and never quite recaptured the lightning. But in 2026, the duo surfaced with new music — and the story of the quiet years is finally getting its ending written.

The Envy Years and the Name Change

Nico & Vinz did not arrive fully formed. They began as Envy, releasing the mixtape Dreamworks: Why Not Me in 2010 and the album The Magic Soup and the Bittersweet Faces in 2012. The rebrand to Nico & Vinz ahead of their international push was a deliberate reset — and it worked. “Am I Wrong” made its American radio debut in April 2014 as the number-one most-added record at mainstream radio, an extraordinary feat for a Norwegian duo.

The wave that followed was enormous. They performed “Am I Wrong” at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas and on Dancing with the Stars, were special guests on Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour in Vancouver, and released their album Black Star Elephant in September 2014. That year they were named Spellemann of the Year — Norway’s biggest music honour. The song’s video was deliberately built around a positive vision of Africa, a conscious counter to the continent’s usual news-cycle image.

The Follow-Up Problem

Here is the part nobody talks about: the duo spent the next decade trying to prove they were more than one song, and the industry made it very hard. Vinz himself said it plainly in interviews at the time — “the song is huge, but not everyone knows Nico & Vinz” — and that mismatch became the defining tension of their career.

The work kept coming, even if the hits did not. In October 2015 they released the EP Cornerstone, whose lead single “That’s How You Know” — featuring Kid Ink and Bebe Rexha — reached number 2 in both Norway and Australia. They featured on David Guetta’s 2014 album Listen (the track “Lift Me Up,” alongside South African legends Ladysmith Black Mambazo), appeared on Alesso’s “I Wanna Know,” placed “Find a Way” in the film The Good Lie and “When the Day Comes” in the FIFA 15 game. In November 2017 came the second EP, Elephant in the Room, with the singles “Intrigued” and “Listen.”

In 2019, they told a podcast they were working on a sophomore album. No updates on that album have surfaced since. The positivity that had been their trademark — the “inspirational cat poster” sound, as one American profile teased — had become, in their own words, almost unfashionable: “We live in a time where it’s corny to be positive,” Nico said. The market had moved; the duo stayed sincere.

The LA Years

One underappreciated chapter of the quiet years is the relocation. After the “Am I Wrong” breakthrough, the duo moved from Norway to Los Angeles — a deliberate attempt to plant themselves at the centre of the industry that had embraced them. In interviews from that period, they spoke about what the move taught them: encountering America’s racial and social tensions up close, and channelling what they saw into their music. The track “Not for Nothing” nodded to the Black Lives Matter movement; their “My Melody” video, released to align with National Black AIDS Day, wove in the stories of people living with HIV/AIDS.

It was the same sincerity that had always defined them — the duo’s bright, African-influenced pop had always carried a social conscience — but in the mid-2010s American market, earnestness was a hard sell. Critics called the positivity corny; the duo called it the point. They never quite cracked the code of staying famous in America, but they never compromised the sound either.

2026: The Return

And then, quietly, they came back. In 2026, Nico & Vinz released “Let’s Rewind” — a new single released via Black Star Elephant and Virgin Records, complete with an official music video. The song is a deliberate throwback: a summery, nostalgic track about rewinding to simpler times, living in the moment and enjoying it. The duo’s own framing said it all: “You might know them from ‘Am I Wrong.’ This is where they’re headed in 2026.”

It is too early to call it a comeback, but the signal is unmistakable. After nearly a decade of low-profile releases and the long shadow of a single global hit, Nico & Vinz are making music again on their own label infrastructure — the same Black Star Elephant imprint that gave their biggest album its name.

The Lesson of the Quiet Years

There is something honest about the Nico & Vinz arc. They never imploded, never feuded, never became a cautionary tale. They just kept making sincere pop in an era that kept rewarding irony — and they outlasted the silence. In interviews, Dery once described their real talent as perseverance rather than musicianship: “we really worked to it.” A decade after “Am I Wrong,” that perseverance is still the story. The duo from Oslo is still here. And in 2026, they are hitting rewind.

Nico & Vinz: Career Timeline

The “Nico and Vinz where are they now” story runs from an Oslo mixtape to the top of American radio and back again — here is the full arc.

Key Facts & Numbers

• “Am I Wrong”: peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 — a rare American breakthrough for a Norwegian act
• Radio record: the number-one most-added record at US mainstream radio on its April 2014 debut
• Spellemann of the Year: Norway’s biggest music honour, 2014
• Follow-up peak: “That’s How You Know” reached number 2 in both Norway and Australia
• The name: Nico is Nicolay Sereba, Vinz is Vincent Dery — two Oslo kids who started as Envy
• 2026 return: “Let’s Rewind,” a summery nostalgic single on their own Black Star Elephant imprint

What’s Next: Rewind or Reset?

“Let’s Rewind” is deliberately framed as both a look back and a relaunch — a nostalgic track about rewinding to simpler times, released on the duo’s own label infrastructure. Whether it becomes a full comeback depends on what follows: the long-promised sophomore album has been quiet since 2019, but the 2026 single proves the duo is writing and releasing again. After a decade of low-profile perseverance, even a modest second act would be a fitting reward for the sincerity they never compromised.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Nico and Vinz now?

Still together and making music: in 2026 they released “Let’s Rewind” via Black Star Elephant and Virgin Records, their first major new single in years, complete with an official music video.

Are Nico and Vinz still a duo?

Yes. They never split or feuded — they simply spent the better part of a decade releasing low-profile music in the long shadow of “Am I Wrong.”

How big was “Am I Wrong”?

Enormous: number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the most-added record at US radio on debut, Spellemann of the Year 2014, and performances from the iHeartRadio Festival to Taylor Swift’s 1989 tour.

Why did they change their name from Envy?

The rebrand to Nico & Vinz was a deliberate reset ahead of their international push — and it worked, with “Am I Wrong” breaking through within months.

What is “Let’s Rewind”?

The duo’s 2026 single: a summery, nostalgic track about rewinding to simpler times. Their own framing said it all — “You might know them from ‘Am I Wrong.’ This is where they’re headed in 2026.”

Do Nico and Vinz live in Norway or America?

They relocated from Norway to Los Angeles after the “Am I Wrong” breakthrough, in a deliberate attempt to plant themselves at the centre of the industry that had embraced them.

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