These two are Nikki + Rich, a newly signed soul pop act from Warner Brothers Records.

While I was intrigued from the beginning, it was this slick, stylishly crafted intro video that sealed the deal for me.

And now, a brief summation:

Nikki & Rich are Nikki Leonti, a California-born pastor’s daughter who grew up singing in church, and Rich Velonskis, a Queens, NY-born former DJ and established hip-hop/R&B producer who got his start spinning in New York City clubs as a teenager. These two seemingly opposite characters first met in 2007. Nikki was based in Nashville working as a background singer for Carrie Underwood and Rich was in Los Angeles producing tracks for Eve, Robin Thicke, Mario, and Ludacris, under his moniker Rich Skillz…Rich was looking for a strong vocalist and lyricist to collaborate with and take his tracks to the next level and he found the perfect match in Nikki.

To put it simply, Nikki + Rich are to doo wop as Bitter:Sweet are to acid nu-jazz: a dynamic duo of two (rather attractive) musicians with a flair for the old-fashioned.

Though there’s been some backlash as of late for ‘revival acts’ that call upon the sounds of yesterday (Adele, Duffy, Winehouse), Nikki + Rich show the promise of staying true to today without looking back to the point of becoming a tribute band.

You can now stream the swinging “Cat and Mouse” and the deliciously sassy “Next Best Thing” right now.

I’m utterly obsessed with these two!

Maybe you didn’t notice, but there’s an official summer anthem around these parts. It’s called “Patron Tequila,” a five minute mess of in-your-face alcoholism and frivolous fuckery by a fivesome soon to be known as The Paradiso Girls–Aria, Chelsea, Kelly, Lauren and Shar, hailing from (not respectively) Barbados, England, France, Philippines, and the U.S.–all mashed together to create the Optimus Prime of multi-racial, multi-cultural girl group domination.

Right now, the girls are busy gallivanting ’round the country to promote their debut single, but they were kind enough to answer a few questions for me. (They, of course, meaning Aria, the French one!) And let me just say: If emoticon usage was any marker of success in this industry, these girls are on their way to tearing straight through the charts.

Read on to learn what the girls have been up to, why Space Cowboy is apparently not crazy (I’m still dubious), and what to expect on the upcoming record!

Alright, ye Girls of Paradiso, I have to hand it to you plain and simple–”Patron Tequila” is officially the MuuMuse summer jam of ’09. I LOVE IT. I really think you’ve got a hit single ready to skyrocket.

Well first thanks so much….I am so happy you like the song

I honestly love the dynamic of the Paradiso Girls: You’re five different girls from five different countries with five slightly different accents. It’s like a mini United Nations–if the United Nations were to form an all-girl pop group. Do you fight a lot?

We have known each other for 2 years now and we also lived together. We are all friends, but even more like sisters….we support each other and have a lot of fun together

My first exposure to the Paradiso Girls was through the music video for Space Cowboy’s “Falling Down,” another delicious summer jam. How was the experience making that video? Did you have fun?

We love space cowboy….so when he asked us to be in his video we didn’t hesitate to say YES:) he is so sweet and we had a lot of fun on set that day:)

Is Space Cowboy crazy? His Twitter account makes me believe he’s literally crazy.

You can call him crazy in a good way, but I will say he is an artist from his own planet He is very creative and I think creative people are living in a world of dreams some times I am also a bit like that too hahahaha but he is an amazing person with very good heart

And now you’ve got your own video! And what a video it is! Polished, sleek, sexy, and you all look absolutely gorgeous. How was it to tease that boy senseless? Seems like he couldn’t quite catch a break.

Hahaha our video was a lot of fun …it took us 3 days to shoot it:)…..a video clip is a bit like a short movie ….the guy that did the video with us was an actor, he was very good at pretending to be scared of all of us:) hahahaha…he was happy to work with 5 fun girls ….

How about the experience of filming your own video? Long hours?

It was very tiring, but when you see the results you realize that it was worth it

How about working with Eve? It seemed like you guys got along quite well during the performance at the LOGO NewNowNext Awards.

Wow EVE is Amazing….she is so sweet we all got along so well. She is like the 6th member of Paradiso now…

Speaking of, can you talk a little bit about the experience of that performance? It was your first major TV performance, right? You were the perfect act to close….some (I) might even say you stole the show.

Well like you said it was our first TV experience together so you always feel like you could have done better…I have been on stage my whole life and I am a perfectionist….I had fun with the girls and I am happy that people thought we stole the show I loved the energy of the crowd

And of course, it’s always nice to see an artist acknowledge the LGBT community. Did you have fun at the awards show?

Like I said everyone was amazing and we like to party a lot very very fun….

You’re debuting at a time where girl groups are seemingly having another moment of glory in the pop world: Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, The Dolly Rockers, The Sugababes, and The Pussycat Dolls. What do you think The Paradiso Girls are bringing to the pop arena that others may not be?

First of all, we have been compared more to the spice girls than another other group out there because we all bring something new and interesting to the group….We each have different styles, 3 of us sing, we have a dj and a rapper We definitely bring the fun factor to the music industry

Do you like any of those groups? You can totally rag on them if you don’t.

All the groups and artists in this industry work so hard that I don’t think it is appropriate to criticize We all have different taste in music and we have different artists that bring different vibes to music you can like it or hate it…..speaking for myself I really listen to all types of music depending on the mood of the day

If you’re not being compared to other groups, you’re probably going to matched up against the greats: En Vogue, TLC, and the almighty Spice Girls. Do you mind the comparisons?

I don’t mind people comparing us to TLC or the Spice Girls ….if we can have the same success as them, I will be happy When you are being compared with the best it means that you have something cool to bring to the table

So now that we’re all obsessed with “Patron Tequila,” what’s next for you lovely ladies? A new single on the horizon?

We have 12 new songs on this album hahahaha but for the meantime, we want to bring Patron tequila number one on all the charts, so we have some work to do

What is the typical Paradiso Girls schedule like these days? I’m sure you’re very busy. Lots of rehearsals?

Yes, we have been doing a lot of rehearsals for 8 hours a day and doing a club tour all over America for all the dates go to www.paradisogirls.com

And how about the album? Who have you been working with, what does it sound like, and when will it see the light of day? I want to hear more soon!

I feel so lucky because we have worked with some amazing artists on this album …like Will.i.am, Cee-Lo from Gnarls Barkley, the Dream and Tricky, Fernando Garibay, Polow Da Don, Sean Garett…and some others… This album is very eclectic It’s a mixture of pop, R&B, rock, and even opera Lots of fun fun fun….The album is coming out sometime this fall.

Finally, anything you’d like to say to the fans, as well as the newbies that are just now starting to hear about you?

I really want to thanks all the fans around the world….they have been so supportive and amazing….I am so happy they like the song and I can’t wait for them to hear the album “Patron tequila” is a fun summer song, so now everyone can dance on the tables…PARTY TIME much love ARIA

Thank you so much for your time, Paradiso Girls. I’m off now to go get drunk and start throwing up. Love you much and I truly wish all of you girls loads and loads of success in the future! Keep in touch! xx

DL: Patron Tequila (David Garcia & Jeff T Get Drunk Remix)

Click below to hear and see more from the Paradiso Girls.