#219 - Nickelus F INTERVIEW

Nicholas F., how are you doing today? I'm

doing good, man.

How are

you? I'm good.

Real honor to have you on the show.

You're a real legend who's, you know, given so much to rap over your career.

And I really feel, honestly, right now, you're still at the top of your game, showcasing such a impressive longevity that is just so cool to see.

So really glad we could do this.

Thank

you, man.

I appreciate it.

So something that comes across in everything you do that I appreciate is this real respect and pure love for hip-hop culture.

And it just shows in the music, in any of the media you've done.

What was the catalyst for your love of rap and kind of the formative connections that created this bond between you and the culture ever

since? I think part of it is just like who I was just born to be, like the type of person that I was, right? This genetically, right? I think I was probably predisposed to like fall in love with some sort of art form or whatever it is.

But I think, you know, I just think it was those formative years.

I think I came up in the right time listening to the right artists like, you know, that that mid, early 90s era hip-hop, the first Nas albums, Busta Rhymes' first album, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's first albums, you know, like, that was just like a magical time period.

Tupac, you know, All Lies on Me, Machiavelli, just like those years happened at a real formative time for me in life, right? Sixth, seventh, eighth grade.

You know, also it's kind of like, you know, being a military brat, moving around a lot, being new to different, you know, always in a new school, new state, new city.

I like... you know, I guess like the hip hop was kind of like the one consistent, you know, like that was the one constant thing.

And so like, you know, I never had a problem making friends, um, meeting people and all of that.

But a lot of times before that would happen, you know, it's just me and my headphones, me and my Walkman, you know, like, and I got it on and, uh, I just like consumed and learned and it's like thought about it and, uh, visualize what I was hearing and all of that.

And I just think like, between that, comic books and kung fu movies, like, how was I not going to be a rapper? You know, like, you know what I mean? I'm like, I'm reading Marvel.

I'm, you know, writing Bruce Lee flicks every weekend.

I listen to it, but I'm going to end up rapping.