Greg Nice Interview

Greg Nice is one of those characters in hip-hop that has stood the cruel test of time. His style, personality and entertainment value is as relevant today as it was back in ’86. He’s been the go-to-guy for any record lacking that party flavour not to mention his three classic albums as part of the group Nice & Smooth. He’s got more hits under his belt than most of his peers put together and many of those are simply records he made a guest appearance on. Whether it’s his show stealing verse on ‘Dwyck’ to massive crossover hits like his current smash appearance on O’Neal McKnight’s ‘Check Your Coat’, Greg Nillz has been a mainstay in rap. Still touring with longtime partner Smooth B and about to embark on some groundbreaking projects, we hooked up with the ‘fortune teller’ in person.

FL: What was the first record you beatboxed on?

GN: It was on a record by the Nasty Comedians, I think one of them passed away. Then I did it on ‘Bass Machine’, after that I did ‘Back To Burn’, T La Rock’s album then on Ultramagnetic MC’s ‘Bait’.

FL: How did you hook up with Ultra?

GN: I actually went to school with Keith. He was the same original type dude. We used to watch karate movies every Saturday at my mom’s crib. We used to mix Guinness Stout and Private Stock and eat Chinese food.

Ultramagnetic MC’s – Bait

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FL: How did you meet T La Rock?

GN: I was at a house party and some friends of mine told me to come down to a club where T and Special K were. We saw them dudes in there. My boy put me on the spot and I had to perform so I got on the mic or whatever, did a beatbox and Special K asked me for my number. A day or two later I came home from school and my mom told me I got a phone call from Special K. Next day I got home earlier and took his call. I met him downtown in Harlem and he took me to some friends of his O.C. and Crazy Eddie. They DJ’d for the Fearless 4. They took a liking to me and we became buddies. Started doing shows with T but O.C. would take me under his belt and I started going to studio with them. Peso took a liking to me too. T used to come by and pick me up. He’d take me to different parties out in the ‘hoods. He took me to a Mike & Dave jam where they had a beatbox contest. I got up there and ran up against Biz Markie and from there we became friends because I beat Biz in the contest. We exchanged numbers. I would pick Biz up at the train station and we’d go to jams. I remember I took Biz to the Disco Fever.

T La Rock featuring Greg Nice – Three Minutes Of Beatbox

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FL: When did you make the transition from Beatbox to rap?

GN: I have a friend of mine called John Porterfield (June Love R.I.P.), he passed away. I would do the beatbox for him and he’d do the rhymes. He wrote me a rhyme for a song we did called ‘Suckers’, he wrote me a four bar rhyme. It never got chance to come out on record because he was murdered. Then a friend of mine asked me to go to his house to meet a dude called Smooth. We all kind of hit it off. Smooth was with Bobby Brown, he was Bob’s MC, Bob just left New Edition. Smooth wrote all the rhymes for Bob. So he was doing all that. I was still doing shows performing with T La Rock. Me, John and Smooth hit it off and we were going to do a group together but John got murdered one night and me and Smooth continued on and that’s why I’m here right now.

FL: What was the first record you rhymed on?

GN: Other songs we did on our album we did before ‘Skill Trade’ but that was first one that got to public but we did the ‘Gold’ song before that.

FL: How did the deal with Sleeping Bag deal come about?

GN: I was already over there with T, we had formed the group but they wasn’t fucking with me before I was an artist. I used to hang out with Rockmaster Scott and the Dynamic Three, so Scott would take me different places with him. He would go to different labels like Next Plateau and he’d tell dudes about me and Smooth. He set it up for me to have a meeting with Next Plateau. I would be around Sleeping Bag all the time, I’d know ‘em all through T but they wouldn’t take me seriously as an artist. One day we going to a show with T and Joyce Simms in Baltimore. While we were riding in the limo I was playing my demo. They were asking who it was. I told them it was me and Smooth and we were going to do a deal with Next Plateau. They were like ‘we your family right here, why you wanna do a deal with Next Plateau?’ and that was it, we got a letter of intent but we never signed a deal. Eventually we did sign the contract. I remember seeing EPMD in there sat on the couch before they got signed.

FL: Who first played your records on the radio?

GN: Red Alert and Awesome Two. Red played ‘Skill Trade’. I was stood in front of the original Latin Quarter at 47th and Broadway. There was a pizza shop that’s connected to the Latin Quarter. They had the doors open and a radio on the counter and there was a car at the lights so I could hear it in stereo and we realised it was us on the radio.

3rd Bass featuring Nice & Smooth – Microphone Techniques

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FL: What was it like when the album dropped?

GN: I remember when Skill Trade was in the record store but not the album. People would go in the store and ask for the record but they wouldn’t know the artist. It was before we had videos.

FL: What was your first record that broke you through?

GN: ‘Early To Rise’. The Fat Albert sample was the whole catch. It was a big show especially with Black people.

Nice & Smooth – Early To Rise (The Nice Mix)

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FL: How did the deal happen with Def Jam?

GN: That was a buy about for $2m, a buy out for us and EPMD as Sleeping Bag was going under. We were the only ones of value with EPMD, they didn’t want no dance records. It was another level because it’s different to making a name on the street. Even with Sleeping Bag going under we was the shit. I’d hear cars going by the house and they’d be pumping ‘Kicking wicked rhymes like a fortune teller…’. It was crazy, especially as we produced that whole album. When they’re playing five or your shits on mix shows it’s crazy. It’s like the Grammy’s when you’re respected by your peers like that.

Nice & Smooth – No Delayin’

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FL: Dwyck was a big record on the underground right?

GN: Their record company didn’t care about that, that’s why it was on the B side. We just made it ours like every other track we featured on.

FL: What does Dwyck mean?

GN: Ask Premier.

FL: What was the biggest record you featured on?

GN: Lisette Melendez ‘Goody Goody’. That shit was big over here. We did Arsenio Hall. You don’t do Arsenio Hall if it wasn’t good. You see Fat Joe standing right there with me in the video. It was one of his first video appearances ever. I like everything we did for some reason. Everything got its acclamation.

FL: You did a lot of underground collaborations like with Preacher Earl.

GN: Hell yeah, he’s my homeboy. I helped a lot of those guys out. I didn’t want publishing they could have it, whatever they needed.

Greg Nice – Come Thru With The Click [Feat. Rich Nice, Phat Doug, Mo Crazy & Asu]

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Preacher Earl – Return Of The Body Snacha (Ra Ra Mix) [produced by Greg Nice, BV's by Slick Rick]

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FL: What about the 12 inches you released on Paper Music?

GN: They’re straight party themes now, I always liked doing them shits. Even when I was in Nice & Smooth. Like with Set It Off, I pressed those myself and sold them to one stops. I sold around 17,000 of those.

FL: What happened with Def Jam in the end?

GN: We had a listening party at their office. I called two days later for some information. They said the label was no longer there. We had 22 radio adds, we had a number one rated video. We went to Def Jam and they suddenly had no radio or video department. Suddenly you’re in debt with Sony for millions of dollars. They didn’t tell no artists about it. Suddenly Sony are asking for their money, they were like, ‘we’ll renegotiate when we get our money’. Then suddenly Def Jam got a new daddy. So at the time if you went to the record store to get ‘Old To The New’ you’ll find Warren G ‘Regulate’ pressed on there. That’s one of the reasons we managed to bounce. It got real crazy, I ain’t even gonna talk about it (making gun gestures with his hands) but we made it all peaceful. We took a break from that shit.

FL: You’ve done so much since then and added so much flavour to so many records.

GN: It’s called insurance. When our ancestors did this they weren’t able to own it, there was no publishing. I’ve never done a publishing deal in my whole life so whatever I’m on, it’s all there. I’ve never been the dude to ask for money to buy a fancy car but give me my rights and I’ll live for ever. I’m with the Clyde Otis Music Administration, I’m with ASCAP, I’m good.

C + C Music Factory feat Nice & Smooth – Do You Wanna Get Funky

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FL: Tell us about the production on the Nice & Smooth albums?

GN: I produced the first and second album with a little help. On the third album Louis ‘Fat Cat’ Vega (formerly of Priority One) helped me along with my buddy Mark Spark and Showbiz. It was about to be a whole different level but as I said the powers that be stepped in.

FL: What were some of the career highlights for you?

GN: Selling out the Apollo on Thanksgiving on the 7 o’clock show and the midnight show. Black Sheep and Cypress Hill opened up. We came out of the sky hanging from cables. They had a highway built and dancers popping out of the fucking manholes. We had Pure Blend singing in the background with different colour silks on. Nobody was sitting down, everybody was in the isles and going crazy. I finally got to bring my mom to a concert, Smooth brought his mom, we put on chairs on the stage behind the curtains. That was insane. We did shows with Big Daddy Kane, ladies night, we did ‘Pimpin Ain’t Easy’ and Bobby Brown came out. The whole shit going crazy. Daytona Spring Break for MTV, that was amazing. Doing Soul Train was a great feeling. We did In Living Color three times.

FL: Peace out Greg

GN: No doubt

What’s next for Greg Nice? Here’s a clue:

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