
By Kharisma McIlwaine
Born in Los Angeles and raised in El Paso, Texas, Aulsondro Hamilton, known to the masses as Emcee N.I.C.E., found his calling in entertainment early in life.
With over 30 years in the entertainment business, Emcee N.I.C.E. has successfully navigated being a hip-hop artist, record and film producer, actor, songwriter, co-creator of the animated music series “Da Jammies,” author, and owner of the radio station, God’s House of Hip Hop Radio. During his tenure, he has received numerous awards for his work, including multiple gospel hip hop awards, 12 gospel Spin awards, and became the first hip hop station in gospel to win the Gospel Hip Hop Station of the Year Stellar award.
Now he plans to use the knowledge he has acquired from his years in the business to create opportunities for children interested in the arts by opening a K through 12 performing arts school in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. Emcee N.I.C.E. spoke with the SUN about his journey and his plans to create the school.
Emcee N.I.C.E.’s road to becoming a rapper was sparked by admiration for hip-hop legends like Rakim, KRS-One, Kool G Rap, and Run DMC.
“It started when I was young,” Emcee N.I.C.E. said. “At that time, you had Run DMC and Curtis Blow. Me and my brother used to take these milk crates and stack them side by side and form a stage. On that stage, me and my brother would emulate Run DMC for the kids in the neighborhood and they would pay us in candy. From there, that love for poetry and that love for being a performer started to develop.”
Although Emcee N.I.C.E. initially planned to become a professional football player, his love for music eventually transitioned from a hobby to a true passion. As fate would have it, the right people noticed.
“In El Paso, there was a guy named DJ Freeze, may he rest in peace,” he said. “He was an older guy from New York, and he was putting this rap group together. Me and another guy were just some dudes that beat boxed and did b-boy dance. When Freeze came in, he was, like, “Let’s cultivate that. My love started developing there, and I started getting better, and before you knew it, people were saying, ‘We want to hear you’.”
The people got exactly what they wanted. Emcee N.I.C.E. went on to join the popular rap group Lighter Shade of Brown and officially began his music career.
“I went to Bible college and then after leaving, I ended up getting with Lighter Shade of Brown, which was the first Latin rap group in the history of rap music to hit the Billboard charts,” he said. “I’m Puerto Rican and Black. I joined them and we started opening up doors, and that’s when I really started coming into my own.”
Emcee N.I.C.E. has spent the last 30 years building a legacy that he could be proud of, and remains dedicated to that mission.
“I’ve gone 30 years without a blemish… without being attached to negativity,” he said. “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and that happened before I jumped back into the Christian hip hop space. I’ve only been in the Christian hip hop space for seven years; I’ve been in the music business for 30. I’ve always been an advocate for having a clear and free mind. My thing was always love. I could give you some fire lyrics, or I can give you something of substance from a love standpoint, so that was my angle.”
“When I signed my first deal, I was taken — my label put me on the shelf,” he said. “I could’ve easily quit. It made me stronger, and made me go, ‘I really need to understand this and see how I can help others navigate as I learn this stuff.’ My first hit came in 1994. We put out our greatest hits in 98’ and in 99’. I produced Tupac. From there I went to Nas, then eight motion picture soundtracks, one won an Oscar for a movie called “Crash,” and I also created the first African American animated music series on Netflix [called] “Da Jammies.” I was learning, and God was cultivating me in the sense of, ‘You’re going to need all of this information.’ I didn’t know what it was for, but I knew I was going to need this information. It wasn’t about me — it was about creating value for those that come behind me.”
Adding to his list of accomplishments, Emcee N.I.C.E. made his debut as a gospel artist in 2017, with five number-one hit records on the Billboard charts and his first solo project “Praise” reaching number one on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums list. Emcee N.I.C.E. is now using all of the knowledge he’s acquired from firsthand experience to help young people who are interested in pursuing a career in the arts through his school.
“I grew up in El Paso,” he said. “In El Paso, there were no outlets for me to become successful… nine times out of ten you had to leave. I left and became successful. There’s another artist from there — Khalid — [who] became successful. He blew up virally, but he still had to step out. There’s another guy there, Evander Grimm. We’re all different spectrums — Khalid’s R&B, Grimm is hip hop, and I’m hip hop and Christian hip hop.
I’m the first dude in El Paso to go platinum. At the end of the day, for me it was, like, ‘There’s so much talent there, but there’s no outlets.’ So, I said, ‘Let’s create an outlet for them.’”
“I want to create a school that would be a performing arts school [named] after my mother that would be a pipeline into Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Miami and even London,” he said. “Instead of going to LA to become successful, they already have a pipeline, so when they get there, it’s not unfamiliar. Imagine having relationships before you get there.”
Emcee N.I.C.E. plans to create the school without state funding, allowing him to be completely independent and free from state restrictions.
“Here’s the problem — when you’re funded by the state, they can come in and say “no” to this program or that program and before you know it the kids are back on the streets and there’s no telling what happens,” he said. “For me, it was, like, create a school, independent of state funding, that creates pipelines into these areas of entertainment — and it’s not just about being a singer, rapper or performing artist.”
Emcee N.I.C.E. is currently in the process of working with local architects to make sure that his school is built to the highest standard, as well as being energy and technologically efficient. Although the school will show deference to El Paso residents, it will be open to students from all over the country. To find out more information and stay updated on the school’s progress and all of Emcee N.I.C.E.’s upcoming projects, be sure to visit: www.emceenice.com and follow him on IG @emceenicela and on Facebook and TikTok@emceenice.
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