Artist Profile: Nic.
Nic., the artistic alias of Wisconsin-based rapper Nicholas Harper, delivers smooth and lyrically potent tracks, etching out carefully-penned verses from the turmoils of his spirit.
His familiarity with music began as a child, surrounded by his parents’ musings on Tupac and LL Cool J and eventually developing his own love for the lyricism of Lil Wayne.
“It was Jesus, Tupac, Lil Wayne; that was it for me.”
Yet, his own love for writing came about in the classroom of one of his English teachers, who would put on Louis Armstrong as background music and tell her students to write freely on a routine basis.
Soon after he began writing, the songwriting process, however youthful and undeveloped it was at the time, came to him rather obsessively.
“I was just filling them up, asking my mom to buy me composition book after composition book, and just writing infinite bad songs. You know, you're 10 or 11 years old; you write songs about anything… But when I was 17, that was the first time I was in a studio and then I [realized]... that I could really record stuff and put it out.”
While all of that time spent writing creatively gave Nic. a head start on perfecting his pen, the serious challenges faced by all young artists were certainly present in his journey as well.
After heading to school in North Carolina, he needed to become comfortable with projecting his musical image outwards, both socially and online, in order to make the fact that he made music known.
Through people he met on campus, he quickly became involved in the burgeoning North Carolina rap scene, partaking in the tight community of local performers and the opportunities provided by an active and engaged audience.
“[North Carolina] was really exciting. Rap music, hip-hopness in general, R&B too was a big deal down there… People would show up to the shows energetic. I don't feel like people were hating and scared to show you love… It definitely helped me get much better at performing, and it also helped me to take myself more seriously.”
Yet, following the completion of his degree, Nic. moved to Wisconsin to pursue a job opportunity, isolating him from his community and, in a way, forcing him to reset artistically.
He realized that, although he had constructed a presence in North Carolina, he needed to maximize his output and, by extension, his artistic development in this new era.
“When I moved here, I think I had three projects, but altogether I had less than 25 songs out. I ain't even put in the reps, you know what I'm saying? Curry been in the gym how many times? He put up how many shots at night?.. I needed to put my head down and really work on the craft.”
His two most recent singles, “that’s not sugar, it’s salt” and “ilovedyouwaymore”, genuinely reflect the results of this mindset; across the two tracks’ languid instrumentals Nic. presents a renewal of confidence that allows him to expound his emotions in more dynamic and nuanced fashion..
As Nic. continues to grind and grow as an artist, he’ll certainly be one to watch.
