Nemesi

The crowd is thick on this sunny Mother’s Day as Nemesi steps onto the Harambee Stage at the famous Sweet Auburn Festival in Atlanta, GA. With his no nonsense demeanor - no doubt a product of his military background - commanding respect seems second nature to him. A sudden hush permeates the air as Nemesi walks front and center and commences to do what he does best…woo the crowd.

As always, he begins with a tribute to the ladies – more specifically, the mothers on this particular day – and begins his performance by passing fresh bright red roses out to various young children who he invites up onto the stage, now excited that they, too, have a gift for mom. True to form, Nemesi then pays special honor to his own mother by placing the two remaining roses on the gigantic speakers at the edge of the stage - one for his mother and one for her best friend who has just passed away the night before. Then, without skipping a beat he dives into his first song Hard Living – a heartfelt tribute to his mother and all single mothers struggling to keep their heads above water.

Unlike most underground artists, Nemesi shows no sign of intimidation as he rocks song after song, each more energetic than the first. Sincerity rings through his words and his posture as he suddenly stops the music and declares, “I love all y’all! I love Atlanta!”

Delving into his next track Rise, it’s clear that the intention of Nemesi’s music is to uplift the downtrodden and bring the People to a new level of consciousness. Even the host of the show, a young man of no more than twelve years old, seems to stand a little taller as he thanks Nemesi for having such a positive message. He, like the rest of us, seems to understand that Nemesi’s message is a dying one, and that if this message is left to die out completely, then we the people will be quick to follow.

It is next to impossible to get a full interview after this electrifying performance with so many people running up to Nemesi, full of appreciation, handshakes and hugs – all thanking him for his positivity.

We do, however, get a chance to sit down with Nemesi over dinner a few days later to discuss the direction that his career is headed.

The following is that conversation in its entirety:

BR: This is Black Rain reporting with diggdatt.com. I’m sitting here with Nemesi to discuss his sudden, unexpected success.

Thanks for coming.

N: You’re welcome, you’re welcome.

BR: Now, I said sudden and unexpected, but how long have you really been in the game?

N: I’ve been in the game for about eighteen, nineteen years.

BR: And you were rapping the whole time or did you have other entrepreneurial endeavors as well?

N: Well, believe it or not I started out as a dancer with this group called The Sounds of Music, and…this was out of Birmingham, Alabama just before I went into the army. So I started out dancing back in the late eighties and it went from there to joining an R&B group…but I was writing the songs. I was a writer. I went from dancing to writing, from R&B to [lyrics reflecting artists] like Public Enemy and Ice Cube. I loved the energy, the motion and movement and causes. It caused people to think, get pissed off and everything. Basically what they did was disrupted the system. Like Niggas With Attitudes disrupted a whole system. Before that people were like “don’t call nobody a nigga!” But for somebody to be so bold as to say “Well damnit, we niggas wit’ attitudes!” If that’s the way the system sees us, then that’s what it is. So I was ready to get it on from jump. That’s what got me hooked.

BR: And now you write and produce all of your own music or do you work with a team?

N: Actually I write and perform all of my art…all of my songs. For the most part I do all of the writing and all of the performing, but as far as production I work with a few producers that produce the music. We get together and we collaborate and that’s how it works. So that’s the deal on that.

BR: Ok. So how can you tell who would make a worthwhile contribution to your team?

N: When I can look into their eyes and I can see the sincerity and honesty in their energies, and get a good feel for them…I mean, when you’re talking to them and you can feel their energies…if it’s a snake, a snake can’t look you in your eye deeply for too long. They may take a glance into your eyes, but if they can’t look into your eyes for too long and speak and you feel what they’re saying, then those are the people I try to avoid. We have, like, short conversations.

BR: You’ve been in the game for quite a while. Any regrets?

N: I don’t have not one regret. Well…I guess if I had to have a regret it would be that I didn’t I didn’t start earlier.

BR: How much earlier are you talking?

N: I’m talking about when I was like three years old ‘til when I was about twelve, I saw my moms when she was…she was also a writer, and she played different instruments and all those things. So I regret not getting involved in what she was doing during that age. I just sat back and watched as opposed to saying, you know, “Ma, how you do this or how you do that?” But that would be what I regret the most.


BR: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

N: Completion. Probably completing a project. From the conceptualizing to the writing and, you know, just completing a project…that you can put a bar code on, and that you can say “ok, that’s not a garbage product.” So to complete something that is conscious, that has content, that has substance…that I can look back and say “ok, I made a contribution to whatever my gift was. I did the best that I can do, so that’s what I’m proudest of. Creative vision.”

BR: Your first c.d., Motion Picture, has been very successful in the underground scene. Where can the fans that don’t already have a copy of your c.d. purchase one?

N: Actually, I had about three other projects before Motion Picture…(we laugh)…and you said where can they pick it [Motion Picture] up? Well, they can go to the website (www.i-nemesi.com) and purchase it over the, you know from my website. Or they can go to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Performing Arts off in Stone Mountain, they can go purchase it there…but all of my marketing, all of my efforts have been on the Internet. I have a couple of places off of Auburn Ave. that wanted to do some distribution, so they have some. And I have some car washes that took on some c.d’s. So I have a couple of, you know…street marketing. That’s where I’m at right now.

BR: And where can they catch you performing live this summer?

N: Let’s see…this summer…right now, my calendar is like wide open. It’s wide open, so around the Atlanta area and I’m also looking at doing some performances in Mississippi, Savannah, Augusta, and the Midwest as well. So those are just some of the places.

BR: Are you planning a tour any time soon?

N: Well…I’m not so much planning a tour…not this year, but just to get out and do promotion and marketing of this album, this c.d., that’s my primary focus right now. So whatever venues that will have me do my thing…that’s what it’s all about, you know, this year.

BR: Anything on the back burner that you’re about to make happen in the near future?

N: Yeah, I do. I do…I’m actually almost complete with the next album…well, the next c.d.… and it’s hot (smiles proudly). It’s hot.

BR: So what are your ultimate future goals, musically and otherwise?

N: Ah! Well, my future goals are to get into film. See, I already did one short film called Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun, but the next project is going to be based off of a book…an autobiography…which basically plays [out] the lives of the album Motion Picture. But the title of the book is called When Love Leads Blindness. And that’ll be the title of the film, so I have started scripting it out and, um, you know going toward making that into a big production. So hopefully I’ll be able to get involved in the soundtrack and all of those things that come with the production of a film.

BR: You’re pretty busy. Where do you see yourself in five years?

N: In five years I see myself…I see myself being in a position to be able to give a little bit more. Um, and when I say that, I mean community-wise. I mean, (pauses contemplatively) I see myself being able to start systems as opposed to just trying to fight against systems that we’re in. To play more of an active role, and to be able to do empowering things for kids in the community, and just to be able to give back a lot better than I’m able to give right now. I’m talking about on a grand scale.

BR: So I know you have another c.d. coming out soon. What’s the name of it?

N: The title is Critically Acclaimed.

BR: What’s the first single going to be?

N: The first single is going to be Look Into My Eyes.

BR: And what’s that about?

N: That is about being able to look into my eyes and see what I see. So it’s um, dealing with the political system. Basically I wanted [the listener] to be able to look into my eyes and see yourself being able to move on those topics that I’m talking about…as I see them. Check out my views. If you don’t have no views, I hope you’ll move into views that, you know, I’m giving from my position. So it’s politically driven. Hopefully it will get people out to vote and get [them] involved in the political process.

BR: Is that song you did for your mom, Hard Living, going to be on it?

N: The song that I did…(smiles fondly at the thought of his mother) …no that’s not going to be on the c.d. That’s going to be like something that I’m holding on to. That’s going to be something that’s real dear to me, so that’s going to be something that I do for that occasion…an occasional thing…(grins) I want somebody to request that.


BR: I’m requesting it! That’s my favorite song!

N: (laughs and looks away, embarrassed)

BR: So, Nemesi, what does your name mean?

N: Nemesi…it’s a derivative on “nemesis” and Nemesis is a female that kept a balance between retribution and vengeance, and they sort of, you know, balanced things out. So hopefully when I speak forth these lyrics, they bring forth such a consciousness for those systems. That it will help people be more active and aware, so they can go and create a balance. Checks and balances. That’s what I’m about. So a lot of things that go unchecked will hopefully get what’s needed to put those checks and balances into place.

BR: I noticed that a lot of your material is pretty socially conscious. Any particular reason why you chose politics as your main focus?

N: Well, politics drives the economy. And the social fiber of America is rooted in politics. So the way we socialize, I think is based off of politics because it’s what this country basically lives off of. You know, off the sweat on the brow of American Negroes…and you know, it was some other minorities, but going all the way back to the Constitution and Articles of Confederation and all of those things that put all of these systems in place, you know, that’s what it’s all about.


BR: What else inspires you or moves you into action other than current events?

N: Other than current events is my position in my household. Uh…the way my kids view me. The essence of what I have left or what I have provided them with to be able to survive, that drives me. The thought of me failing them, or the thought of me failing my family as a unit, that bothers me. So, um, that’s definitely something that keeps me moving. I never want them to look back and say, “daddy failed me…I can’t function in society, I can’t have a relationship, I can’t, uh, have a marriage…I have lost all hope in the fabric of the institution of marriage…” I just don’t want them to not be able to manage or survive in those things.

BR: How would you describe your sound?

N: I would describe my sound as…it’s a…inspirational, street, spirit. Um…because I think the essence is what’s missing. Substance and content. I would describe my sound as…people always say “I’m keepin’ it real” or “I’m real,” but I would say that Nemesi’s sound is a real honest…it’s honestly being real. You know, I don’t have to create a hype sayin’ that I was, you know, poppin’ caps or been to jail or all of those things to make me real.

BR: I’ve heard several people say that your socially conscious lyrics are reminiscent of Pac’s (late great rapper Tupac Shakur) early days. So how does that feel to be compared to such a controversial artist? Was he one of your musical gurus coming up?

N: I’ll tell you what. That’s been one of the biggest, um, that’s been one of the greatest compliments anybody could ever bestow upon me to even put my content in the same breath that they would somebody that’s as complex as a Tupac…somebody that was such an aware person as to what was going on, and in American struggle…but that is, hey, (shrugs humbly) one of the greatest compliments that I could say I have received. It just shows me that I’m right where I need to be as far as being honest, because I think that’s what he was: truly honest about it. Whatever it was, he was real and he was honest about it.

BR: Who else has moved you musically?

N: Um…I tell you what…gospel music…I wouldn’t even say gospel, but I would say the old spiritual music like the Amazing Grace, like Don’t Let the Devil Ride (gets excited)…people don’t know about stuff like that. God Is Not Through With Me Yet, um…but, you know, Aretha Franklin, James Brown. It’s just a lot of the old Rhythm and Blues. BB King, you know, those type of artists that move me. Muddy Waters. You know, those type of things move me. Yeah, definitely Tupac, along with like Public Enemy, NWA…I wouldn’t even say just NWA, but Ice Cube is a figure that if nothing else has kept me gauged on the possibilities. Because I have never seen another artist come out in such a radical form and then conform to a mainstream type of system. But he could still go back to his roots and people would be like “oh well that’s still Ice Cube.” He’s still gonna have the brow raised, he’s still gonna be intense and he can still dig into some controversial subject matter and people will still respect that.

BR: It shows in your music that you’re not partial to one particular genre only. What types of music do you generally listen to?

N: I generally listen to Sam Cook. I listen to some Otis Redding. You know, I listen to some Maxwell, you know I listen to the neo-soul. Anything were the music…(stops in the mid-sentence and starts grinning as the first notes of Al Green’s So In Love With You suddenly float through the air. The entire restaurant seems to shift instantly from Monday blues to barbeque in Granny’s backyard festive) …like this right here! Al Green? Anything where you can feel like a…your spirit feels good when you hear it. You ain’t gotta hear the words yet, but mostly anything that makes your essence or your spirit feel good. Where you’re like “Ooh I like that!” and your body can’t help but move. And I mean…you can’t help it. When they start talking something with some substance like Al Green, you know, that’s what I listen to. So…whether it’s old or whether it’s Jill Scott. You know, whoever it is…if it’s not controversial. It’s enough controversy out there and I go through enough struggle. I just want to listen to something that can touch on that point without already making me radical…already stressing you, you know, taking you to a point…you know, so, that’s what I listen to.


BR: What were you listening to on the way over here?

N: I listen to a lot of talk radio. I was listening to 102.5 that Valentine show. And that leads into Al Sharpton and that goes into Michael Baisden. I try to keep my ears on…Michael Eric Dyson…I try to keep my ears on people that are in position to create dialogue that we need to hear. You know, to just keep us informed. So I like to be informed, I like to know what other people’s opinions are. They bring up a lot of topics and issues that you just don’t get on the other radio stations. So I’m an advocate of dialogue.

BR: Well, I’ve really enjoyed talking to you. What’s next for Nemesi?

N: Next for Nemesi is…getting in my car and going home, making sure my kids did their homework, making sure they’re getting their clothes together, doing their chores, you know. That’s what real is. That’s what it’s about. Real…I think people got it twisted. They think surviving is real. But it’s not. It’s not just survival, it’s providing. Providing is real. Providing for yourself and being able to provide for somebody else. That’s what real is. So…that’s what I’m gonna do next, is go and provide.

BR: Alright. Anything you want to say to your fans?

N: Yeah, I wanna say when you listen to my works…open your mind up to what I’m really tryin’ to say, and don’t compare it to what you heard. So…any of my fans, when you pick up any creative voice that I’ve done, open your mind up and try to assimilate what I’m really, truly trying to say. And thank you for all that support (smiles gratefully) because I soulfully, spiritually appreciate it.

BR: Well, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us and I wish you much deserved recognition and prosperity in the future.

N: Love peace and hair grease baby! Thank you so much! (laughs)


~ Black Rain is an artist and poet living in the city of Atlanta, GA.

- Kalilah Shambry "Black Rain"

NEMESI

I JUST HEARD NEMESI’S NEW CD “MOTION PICTURE” AND I LOVED IT! THESE TRACKS ARE HOT! MOTION PICTURE IS A LYRICAL VERSION OF LIFE’S STRUGGLES, KEEPIN IT REAL, WITH TIGHT BEAT S HIS MUSIC REMINDS US THAT SOMETHING WRONG IN OUR SOCIETY & THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. AND ASKS THE QUESTION WHO’S LOOKING OUT FOR THE CHILDREN; HE WANTS TO KNOW WHERE IS THE RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE?

HE’S CLEARLY COMING ACROSS WITH THAT PRESSURE. HIS SMOOTH BEATS AND POWERFUL SOUND, HE LET YOU KNOW; HE WON’T LET YOU HOLD HIM DOWN. HE’S A HUSTLER MISSISSIPPI ROLLIN’ HIS WAY, MAKING YOU MOVE. NEMESI DIFINATELY ON THE GRIND. I RECENTLY SAW HIM PERFORMING AT THE EDENU, CLUB APACHE’, CAFÉ 290, BARRAZA & TUPAC CENTER. HE MAKES THE LADIES GO CRAZY, WHITH HIS STRONG, BUT TRANQUIL, EASY GOING STYLE AND DEBONAIR LOOK. HE’S ALWAYS WORKING THE CROWD. NEMESI UNEQUIVOCALY IS KEEPIN THIS GAME ON HIS MIND. LIKE HE SAYS IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU KNOW NEMESI.


VETTE “B” ENTERTAINMENT
Atlanta, GA
- Vette B Entertainment