Ericka Streets

Ericka Ilizabeth Streets (2nd July 1985-c. 9th November 2010) was a Kuboian television personality, singer-songwriter, rapper and actress. She began her career at the age of fourteen, when she became a part-time presenter for Nickelodeon Kuboia, before later expanding her career and releasing music. At the peak of her career, Streets was one the most high-profile individuals in the country of Kuboia, and continues to be one of the most celebrated people from the country.

Early life
Ericka Ilizabeth Streets was born on 2nd July 1985 in Reichetto, Dominion of Kuboia (now a part of East Kuboia). Her Scottish-Swedish father Henry Streets (b. 1952) is a retired retail manager, whilst her Dutch-New Zealander mother Ashleigh Smith (b. 1954) is a retired university teacher. She also had an older brother, Hugh Streets (b. 1983).

Growing up whilst Kuboia was transitioning into an independent country, Streets' family struggled both financially and mentally. Her parents separated when she was three years old, with her mother taking Streets and her brother to live with her mother's family. As a young child, Streets was taught early education through a private tutor, before being moved into a mainstream school at the age of nine. At the age of twelve, Streets' school was shut down due to its poor conditions and reports that some of the teachers were physically and sexually abusing the children. Neither she nor her brother attended education afterwards.

As a thirteen year-old, Streets suffered from loneliness and had almost no sleeping routine. She mentioned in an interview that "all [she] was doing was playing computer games until three or four [in the morning] and then sleeping in until the afternoon. There was nothing better to do." Later, at the age of fourteen, Streets' mother encouraged her to apply for a presenting role on Nickelodeon Kuboia as she thought it would be a good job for her.

Personal life
Streets was a very passionate fan of Kubokartoonz, Nintendo and Disney. According to her family, Streets also enjoyed theatre performances, collecting fashion dolls, colouring and making arts and crafts.

Mental health
Having been diagnosed with autism at a young age, her agent Dominic Halls hired a professional social worker to "observe" and "monitor" Streets, who would often watch in the background when Streets was working. At the age of seventeen, Streets moved out of her mother's house into a special sheltered accommodation. In order for Streets to maximise her privacy, she would often get driven to her house in multiple different cars so the paparazzi could not recognise any recurring vehicle. She did not like talking about her autism in public nor in interviews. Tone Riddles expressed in a 2020 interview that he believes that Streets did not have classic autism, but instead had what was originally diagnosed as asperger's syndrome. She was also diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder shortly before her death in the Spring of 2010.

In the early 2020s, it was reported that Streets suffered from severe emotional abuse from Halls and other high-profile individuals with ties with TVVC. According to Streets' mother, her mentor Dominic Halls had sent Streets threatening messages, warning her that he would get his lawyers on her if she stopped working for him. Halls had also told Streets not to discuss matters surrounding their relationship to any of her friends and family, nor talk about them in public.

Relationships and sexual orientation
In 2000, Streets met Spy Fandel whilst doing work for Nickelodeon Kuboia and Tiny Vision. The two had an on-off relationship until early 2010, with the two regularly going back and forth between being friends and in a romantic relationship. Fandel mentioned in a 2018 interview that being in a relationship with Streets was "hard", and how she had difficulty moving on after they permanently separated. However, he also said "I have a lot of good memories with Ericka, some of which are some of the best moments of my life." Outside of Fandel, Streets struggled to find a romantic partner, though had close friendships with other men that were reported within the media.

During her lifetime, several sources speculated that Streets may be bisexual, noting that some of her songs appear to feature her singing about being attracted to another woman. In spite of this, sne never revealed her sexual orientation publicly.

Death
In the early hours of 10th November 2010, Streets was found dead in her home by her brother Hugh at the age of 25. Her death was revealed in a Vision News headline at around 6:00a.m. later that day. No cause of death was immediately given other than the fact that she had been struggling with poor mental health for some time. Several of Streets' closest friends and associates had cancelled upcoming public appearances shortly afterwards.

On 13th November, TVVC reported that Streets had committed suicide by hanging. She had allegedly had arguments with several of her closest friends and family in the weeks leading up to her death, including her brother Hugh and ex-boyfriend Spy Fandel. Rapper Kool Teazer, who had collaborated with and been close friends with Streets, noted that "something was not right" when seeing her shortly before her death.

A private funeral for Streets was held in an undisclosed location on 1st December, which was attended by people that were close to her. Her body was cremated shortly afterwards. Streets is the second person to work for TVVC in the 2000s to commit suicide after Aourine Esthers. Several sources showed concern that TVVC may be a "toxic work culture" that normalises and downplays mental health issues.

Musical style and influence
Streets marketed her music towards children and young people, with material releasd by her often being under the dance-pop, bubblegum pop and novelty music genres. She also incorporated hip-hop elements in several of her songs, including some with prominently featured her rapping. Because of this, Streets was referred to as a lipstick rapper by several media outlets, with Streets also citing herself as one on multiple occasions.

Streets took inspiration from music popular amongst children, including from British pop group S Club 7, Danish pop group Aqua, Belgian-Dutch girl group K3 and Australian children's group Hi-5. She also took inspiration from Britney Spears, Billie Piper and Antonia Morales.

Kool Teazer noted that Streets liked to write a lot of her music herself and did not like hiring ghostwriters. He also mentioned how she often liked to divide her lyrics up into sections, with many of her songs featuring a pre-chorus, bridge and middle-eights in addition to the verses and chorus, as well as several ad-libs and background vocals present through her main vocals. Streets preferred to not use autotune in her songs unless it fit the song theme. Teazer also acknowledged that she liked to "overtake" on songs she featured on, stating "if you let Ericka be on your song, it wasn't your song anymore".

Streets had strict rules about making music that was "appropiate", and refused to allow profanity or references to violence on any of her songs.

Fashion
Streets normally wore her hair in two pigtail bunches. She also normally wore dark vibrant colours such as magenta, crimson, navy blue and black. Streets was also known for wearing a lot of accessories, such as thick bracelets around her wrists, a necklace around her neck, a belt and a shoulder bag or bumbag which she allegedly rarely carried things in. A BBC article described Streets fashion sense as "a mixture of 1960s go-go fashion with a contemporary (and very girly) touch".

From the age of eighteen, Streets had almost all of her clothes and fashion accessories manufactured and custom-made exclusively for her.

Other ventures
Streets released a wide range of merchandise based on her, her music and her style throughout the 2000s, including posters, children's toys, and a cherry flavoured soft drink. She also launched a fashion line called Magenta Streets in 2004, inspired by her own fashion sense.

Studio albums

 * Here We Go: The Album! (2002)

Compilation albums

 * The Best of Ericka (2004)
 * Queen of Kuboia (2011)
 * Greatest Hits (2020)

As lead artist

 * 2001: "Dizzy"
 * 2001: "Step 2 U" (feat. Chloe Wallace)
 * 2002: "Here We Go" (feat. Kool Teazer)
 * 2002: "In My Head" (feat. Kool Teazer)
 * 2002: "Don't Be Shy"
 * 2003: "Ericka's Dance" (feat. RockRhyme and Kool Teazer)

As featured artist

 * 2003: "Seven Days" (Northern Project feat. Ericka Streets)
 * 2004: "Move Your Hips" (X-Treme feat. Ericka Streets)
 * 2004: "One Plus One" (Cyan River feat. Ericka Streets)

Other singles

 * 2003: "Let's Do It"