J. NiCS
Miami, Florida, United States | SELF
Music
Press
"In our debut volume of Timelines we sat down with upstart Miami rapper J. Nics and asked him to define each year, since he started buying music, with one song. What we ended up with was his life, as an album." - Digital X (December 2011) - DigitalXWorldwide.Com
"Hip Hop itself is still such a young form of music. We kind of forget that. Right now, Hip Hop is just now seeing “older” rappers. If you look at other genres of music, they’ve had older artists come and go and years. Hip Hop is so young that it’s just starting to see its artists be in their 40’s or 50’s. The thing that keeps the other forms of music going is that you have artists that come and go. They have their time in the game and then new artists and styles form from the previous generation. I just wanna play my part in that whole cycle." - J. NiCS (November 2011) - KevinNottingham.Com
"J NiCS leaves us with some words of advice on the project’s final track. ”Always watch for rats, you know they love cheddar” and “always break bread if you got a full plate” are two of my favorite sayings expressed on Show You The Way." - Mike Boyd (2010) - HipHopAtLunch.Com
"Great decision by NiCS to work exclusively with Numonics on this release. The cohesion from start to finish is undeniable and the EP has the feel of a soundtrack and not just some random collection of songs." - DJ Z (February 2011) - DJBooth.Net
"The Stimulus Package is very sample driven on the production side of things. And lyrically, J. Nics stamped himself on par with the likes of Goodie Mob and Outkast. From the self-awareness of "No Love Lost" to the commercial appeal of "Show Me The Way," J. Nics has raised the bar high." - David Rosario (December 2010) - Miami New Times
"I wanna kick knowledge to niggaz. I don’t want niggaz to be like "he can spit". I want niggaz to feel like they done learned something from listening to my music so I consider myself somewhat of a scholar more than a rapper." - J. NiCS ( September 2010) - 24HourHipHop.Com
"Might be jumping the gun here, but I can almost surely say that this is the best mixtape/street-album I’ve heard in a LONG time. And that’s from any standard, local or national." - The 305.Com (December 2009) - The305.Com
"Florida’s J Nics has, what those in the boxing profession (and Fight Night Round 3) deem as, heart. Toughened soul-gimmick-free hip hop vulnerable to apathy from the masses, if not for a baritone lyrical repose and electric duck and weave constantly shielding it from irrelevance." - Wazid Abdul ( April 2011) - Mint Magazine
"Florida’s J Nics has, what those in the boxing profession (and Fight Night Round 3) deem as, heart. Toughened soul-gimmick-free hip hop vulnerable to apathy from the masses, if not for a baritone lyrical repose and electric duck and weave constantly shielding it from irrelevance." - Wazid Abdul ( April 2011) - Mint Magazine
"Florida’s J Nics has, what those in the boxing profession (and Fight Night Round 3) deem as, heart. Toughened soul-gimmick-free hip hop vulnerable to apathy from the masses, if not for a baritone lyrical repose and electric duck and weave constantly shielding it from irrelevance." - Wazid Abdul ( April 2011) - Mint Magazine
Discography
J. NiCS Presents ... Dirty Sneakers (2009)
The Stimulus Package EP (September 2010)
Champion Rizla EP (February 2011)
SNAS: The Tribute (November 2011)
Photos
Bio
J. NiCS (Born Justin Nicholas) was born in the heart of Miami at North Shore Hospital. He grew up bouncing around throughout different parts of Miami via Carol City, Liberty City, Norland (Uptown Dade) , & Little Haiti. Living in a single parent household, He maintained a very distant relationship with his biological father. His stepfather ended up going to prison when he was growing up so his Mother was forced to be absent from home slaving at work in order to provide for her 3 children. Being the oldest, NiCS felt a certain responsibility for taking care of his younger brother and sister, Which forced him to become a man before his time.
As a youth bouncing around through different neighborhoods, NiCS never got too attached to many people in his age group. A loner, He caught himself learning from the older individuals in whatever hood he relocated to at the time. Drawn to their knowledge, These Men provided a completely different outlook on everything. Even though society would never call these individuals “Role Models”, they were all his teachers in life. Pimps, Hustlers, Murderers, and Thieves all treated him with love and respect, and all helped mold him into the person he is today.
Like most who are forced to grow up fast NiCS started rebelling toward Society, his Family, and any other authority figure standing in his way, which is what initially drew him to Hip Hop. The art form embodies all those feelings and emotions of rebellion, and he felt like this was something he could relate to and call his own. As many other African American Males in America though, He couldn’t escape the easy access to Drugs, Alcohol and Violence in the streets of Miami. Growing tired of the “Street Life” a new passion burned in him to express himself through the art of music. Hip Hop gave him a new place to concentrate all of his energy, and also a platform to share his life with others.
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