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Nyce da Future: Dollars and Sense :: The peripheral member of G-Unit/Mobb Deep, Nyce isn't your average weed carrier

By Matthew Kantor   Photography by URB

03/11/08 :: URB web

Nyce Da Future is a good dude. An impassioned new solider in the G-Unit camp, the Southside Jamaica native is loyal to his clique but also a determined individual who loves this hip-hop thing and wants “the beat to make sense.” Not just a play on dollars and cents, Nyce strives for intricacy and meaning amidst the most graphically violent lines and macabre tracks. Don’t get it confused; he has a sneaker deal with Kashi Kicks and has the work ethic of a natural hustler. But don’t dismiss him as some carbon copy gangsta rapper. His mind is on his money but it definitely goes beyond.

The Picture: “When you break down a lot of rappers’ verses or lines or look at their concepts, it doesn’t make sense. There’s nothing there. Every verse of mine, if you break it down and you look at it, there’s a message. Some rappers are only relying on the beat or a catchy hook. I go where the beat takes me but I write from the heart and I make sense out of it.”

Pressure: “When I say I have a boulder on my shoulder, when I was coming up in the hood I had a lot of problems. There’s always been a big weight on me. It’s easy for me to handle music though because if I went through whatever in the hood, this is nothing. This is the fun part where you get to do something you love, where this is your passion. I’m built for it. I can do an album a day.”

G-Unit: “I used to be on the streets with Banks and Yayo and I used to see [50 Cent] here and there. We’ve always had a realationship. I got locked up and when I came home they were already big. I said I’m gonna meet them at the top so I started to record. I was recording a song one day and Havoc from Mobb Deep walked in and fell in love with it. When [Mobb Deep] left Jive, they told me one of their options was G-Unit and I thought they should do the deal. Then when Fif saw me it was like a reunion. With such a powerful force behind me, people take the time to sit down and listen to my music.”

People: “Sean Bell [a Queens native killed by police in November 2006], rest in peace to my dude, I didn’t know him on a personal level, I knew him through my other peoples. I’ll always take them with me. They’re with me now. My message and my music really comes from the ghetto and from the streets. Our experiences, our ups and downs, I just paint the picture.”

Concerning another particularly negative turn of events, Nyce stays loyal to Mobb Deep as its rapping half heads away on gun charges. “It really hurts to see my brother Prodigy about to go to jail. He’s gonna be gone for such a long time. A lot of things can and will happen in a couple years. P was just simply protecting himself. A lotta rappers are very high targets.”

“There’s a pro and a con,” he continues. “Because [carrying a weapon] allows police to have the upper hand but there’s two sides. It’s like they put you in a situation where they don’t want you to win at all. When some dude runs up on you and sticks you and he’s mad that you’re doing good and he pulls out and starts shooting at you, you have to protect yourself.  But when you do carry it, you gotta look out for police and think about how many years you might get. It’s two sides of a coin.”

Indeed Nyce Da Future is a good dude. With more mixtapes on the way including a new Whoo Kid release, as well as his group NBK readying material and an album that should see the light this summer, Nyce is heavy on heart and output. He’s prepared to carve out his own space in the Queens murda muzik tradition, to connect with people, and to add his name to the rap legacy. “I love hip-hop,” he says, “To me that’s what it’s all about.”