‘Knowledge Nick’ Breaks the Stereotype Box
With Music and ‘The Suburban Itch’ Film
So many people told
“Knowledge Nick” Hicks they did not think he was from Memphis that the popular
Memphis hip-hop artist wrote a song about it.
“The
M” chronicles Hicks’ view of his city, “from the ‘burbs to the hood” and
“blessed, from East to West” and explains that people think he is from “up
North.”
“People want to put
you in a box,” laments Hicks, who also says he is "excited" about being part of "The Suburban Itch" film.
Knowledge Nick and
his music were, therefore, a perfect match to be featured in “The Suburban
Itch,” a comedy short film which attacks profiling with humor and
music.
“The M” and
“Leaders of the New School,” written and performed by Hicks
and Bartholomew Jones will, respectively, open and close the
film. “The Suburban Itch,” a Moore Media & Entertainment
film, was shot and produced entirely in Memphis.
Hicks does not have
a Southern accent – at least by local standards – and he is thoughtful and
well-spoken. A slender fellow, Hicks has a wide smile that flashes
out from under his ball cap and black-rimmed glasses, which bring to mind a
young Spike Lee.
Through music and
his desire to shape a better community, Hicks is striving to break out of any
stereotypes and lead a “new school” of citizens and performers.
BALANCE SHEETS OVER
TATS
You want your hip-hop
artists to fit a stereotype? You think a message-focused emcee is
the same as a commercial rapper? Knowledge Nick may not be the guy
for you. Hicks has no tattoos, and he makes music with a message of
guidance for the people, rather than boasting about his cars, chains or
“shorties.”
Perhaps
the most un-rapper-stereotype about Knowledge Nick is his day job – Hicks is an
actuarial analyst for a consulting firm.
“I like working
with balance sheets,” says Hicks, age 26, who has a bachelor’s degree in
finance from the University of Memphis. “I would like to work more
with investments.”
While he has no
tattoos, Hicks says, “If I ever got a tattoo, it would say, ‘Discipline.’”
TEACHING FROM THE COLLEGE
OF MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge Nick’s
musical themes include uplifting the community and “using knowledge” to break
out of constraints imposed on oneself or by the larger society.
“I can’t stand to
see the ignorance,” Hicks raps in “Listen to This,” and he knocks rappers
who “compromise your soul to get a record deal.”
In “One Time for Ya
Mind,” Hicks sings, “This is a state of emergency” and a “wakeup call for
grownups and adolescents.” He decries crime, low-hanging pants
and gang signs. He raps a message about “getting a bachelor’s or an
MBA” and implores listeners to “help in the community…
“I preach, because,
the youth we got to teach -- we are more than entertainers and athletes,” he
raps, and, use “knowledge of self to combat what we was taught…instead of
thinking a lack of intelligence is fine.”
LEADERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Hicks
and some friends had a bad experience with profiling and being hassled by
police on Oct. 25, 2013, after a South Main Trolley Night
downtown. After the organized musical entertainment was over, Hicks
and others continued a good musical vibe, “ciphering” a flow of improvised
lyrics.
Police showed up
and said someone had complained about the noise – although it was about 10:30,
not especially late for a Friday night downtown.
Hicks describes
what happened next:
“The police came
and immediately told the DJ to cut the music off, and the DJ complied.
“One of the onlookers
joked to the police, ‘Let me see your license and registration,’ and that’s
when all hell broke loose. The police tried
to arrest the onlooker, who was obviously joking. Then, another individual accidentally bumped
into one of the officers. That’s when
MPD began being rough with that individual, even using pepper spray.
“At this time a lot
of people were pulling out their cell phones to record what was going on, and when
the police asked one of the onlookers to ‘give me your phone,’ and the person
refused, the officer took him to jail and confiscated his phone.
“That violated the
consent to search or take seizure without a warrant,” Hicks says.
The musical gathering
and fun vibe that turned into a police confrontation made the news, and
Knowledge Nick was named as the “local rapper” who was leading the party.
Not satisfied with
how things went down, Hicks later trekked to the Memphis Police Department
Internal Affairs office to complain and talk things over. The MPD
representative said, according to Hicks, “’Well, you did this, and you did that,’
but they never showed signs of accountability from the officers.
“He did not have
the picture right, and did not want to,” says Hicks, who left disappointed, but
determined to step up as more of a leader.
“I’m big on people
knowing their rights, and on leadership and accountability,” Hicks says.
Still, Hicks says
there is room for improvement on the part of police and citizens, and he says
there needs to be sensitivity all around. “A policeman could be
having a bad day, anybody can.”
Hicks’ experience
and that of others who have been hassled or arrested while taking video of
police gave rise to a movement to resurrect and strengthen a Civilian Law
Enforcement Review Board, which had been abandoned and de-funded while it
continued to exist on paper. The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center
and other groups have been leading on this issue.
“The Suburban Itch”
takes on racial profiling by police and others, and it opens, tongue-in-cheek,
with police hassling a white jogger for running out of his element in North
Memphis near Chelsea and Hollywood.
“This reverses the
familiar story of police hassling young black men, and it challenges people to
examine if their emotions change, when only a person’s looks change,” says Gary
Moore, writer, director and producer of “The Suburban Itch.”
“Nick has
experienced this sort of thing first-hand,” Moore says, “and it makes him an
even more ideal artist to have as a partner in delivering a moral message about
how we treat one another.”
PERSPECTIVE AND
SPIRITUALITY
“I have been able
to see multiple perspectives on life,” Hicks says. “That has molded
me to understand different things and people. I like to think,
community first. What can we do as a community to bring us
together?”
Hicks’ experiences
have included working as an intern his entire senior year for the US Army Corps of Engineers and a summer growing beans,
squash, tomatoes and corn on his grandparents’ farm outside Covington.
Yoga and meditation
are also among Knowledge Nick’s
interests.
“I am a spiritual
person,” he says. “I have this spirit about helping people.”
Hicks says, “It’s
character, values and standards, that attract you to good people. I
don’t mean that in just a boyfriend-girlfriend way.”
MUSIC MAKING
Released
last year, The New Memphis was the fourth and last of Knowledge
Nick’s albums, and he has a full-length album, The Diary of Knowledge Nick, ready to be released soon.
Hicks puts down
musical artists who have “sold out” their principles for fame and money.
“To me, music is
therapeutic. “
PUBLISHER
Knowledge
Nick’s publisher views Nick as a “different breed,” just like his line in “The
M.”
"What
sets Nick apart from other artists is that he's a change agent,” says Kevin Youngblood,
CEO of Artist Tree Entertainment. “The
trolley incident proves that. Most
artists probably would have ranted on social media for a few weeks, recorded a
song to post on Soundcloud or Bandcamp, voicing their displeasure. That would
have been all.
“Nick
took the issue beyond himself and his music,” Youngblood says. “He could have easily used that to promote
his music -- one person actually suggested that was what he was doing with
everything surrounding the incident.
Nick didn't let this define him, and he didn't use this as promoting
himself. He was genuinely looking for
answers and looking to be the change he wanted to see.”
Artist
Tree’s artists, including Knowledge Nick, Iron Mic Coalition and Max Ptah,
recently donated their performances to Hip-hop Fam Jam Vol. 1, a night of
family-friendly hip-hop at Crosstown Arts. WMC-TV aired a story about the Fam Jam in its
“good news” segment. Link to story: http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/28253601/hiphop-famjam-vol-1-brings-recording-artists-families-together
“Mainstream
media tends to give hip-hop such a negative connotation that it hurts the hip-hop
scene here,” Youngblood says. “When a
music venue hears ‘hip-hop’ or ‘rap’ or ‘rapper,’ they think we are bringing in
a rowdy crowd, maybe a vulgar or violent element.
“Actually,
it is the total opposite,” says Youngblood.
“We are socially conscious – but having fun is one of the principles of hip-hop. We represent integrity. The stories that we tell, we know about. We are living it or have lived it. Integrity is the cornerstone of Artist Tree.”
THE SUBURBAN ITCH
In
the film, an African-American college student, Mary Beth Miles (played by
Charisse Norment) comes to the rescue of the white jogger when police hassle
him. Police handcuff the two together,
calling it “street justice.”
When
Mary Beth must come home in handcuffs and face her irascible father, things not
only do not go well – dad James Miles (played by Delvyn Brown) discovers the
young man is an out-of-work reporter who wrote negative stories about Miles’
company.
“James
Miles would love for his daughter to bring home Nick Hicks,” Moore says.
“The
Suburban Itch” is coming out of post-production this week, and the film will be
submitted to U.S. and foreign film festivals, including Indie Memphis.
Those
who question that Knowledge Nick is from Memphis have it backwards, says Jenni
Moore, executive producer of “The Suburban Itch.”
“Memphis
is open to creativity and gives people room to be who they are, without having
to follow a pattern, more than most places,” she says. “In that way, Knowledge Nick is very much
from Memphis.”
FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
Gary Moore
Moore Media & Entertainment
Moore Media Strategies
Business, Non-Profits, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Public Policy
615-579-8658
MooreMedia@att.net
www.MooreMediaStrategies.com
"If not you, who?
"If not now, when?"
Moore Media & Entertainment
Moore Media Strategies
Business, Non-Profits, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Public Policy
615-579-8658
MooreMedia@att.net
www.MooreMediaStrategies.com
"If not you, who?
"If not now, when?"
OTHER KNOWLEDGE NICK
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