the spotlight on the niceguys is now archived. please hit the sidebar to get a hold of that page.

this is an exciting spotlight for us here at wwm. our last few spotlights have spanned the nation, with the occasional festivals sprinkled in. this time, we have a hometown-hero type thing going on with the niceguys, a hip-hop collective out of the heart of houston, texas. the niceguys are a four-piece, comprised of the following: yves (emcee), producers christolph and free, rounded off with dj candlestick. i caught on to them mid-last year and have been following their progress ever since. from opening bigger shows like wale and j cole to headlining their own parties at local clubs, they’ve been building a strong name for themselves through a endless campaign of free music, promotional videos and most importantly – the songs that will kick the shit out of your speakers.

i recently had the opportunity to do an interview with the guys, in order to familiarize all of our readers with one of the very few local acts worth mentioning. now, let’s get acquainted with christolph and yves.

-grizzly

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[interview]:

Roshan Bhatt, weworemasks: I know a lot of people who read our site haven’t heard of you. Do you wanna give us a brief history on the group and how you came to be?

Christolph, producer: Man I dont even know where to begin. Let me summarize it for you: we were basically four friends who met at the University of Houston and shared a similar interest in music. We are all products of completely different backgrounds, too. I had just started making beats, and at that point, Yves had never recorded anything. Free and Candlestick were both perfecting their crafts, and Free just so happened to have a “studio” in his dorm room, so the rest kinda fell into place from there. Like anything completely new (in this case, us being a rap group) you don’t necessarily take it too seriously at first – but as time passed, we all just made it a priority and thus The Niceguys were born!

WWM: So you just opened up a show for J Cole – how was that experience?

Yves, emcee: It was like any other show. We don’t treat is as we are “opening” rather we look at every performance as own and however long that stage is ours is the length of that show. To answer, it was great. There was a lot of energy and fun. You gotta own every set and give every person a show, regardless of who we play before or if it’s a headline performance.

WWM: Word. Not too long ago, you opened up for Wale, too. Even though dudes like Wale and Cole have acheived a bit more fame, how has it been for a young band like yourselves to be opening up for artists that are on a similar playing field as The Niceguys?

Christolph: As far as opening up for other artists or even performing right alongside them, it gives you insight to what you could achieve if you put in the hours and stay on a straight path. But we always say you have to pay your dues first, and very few people with a huge amount of success have had anything handed to them and the ones that do have that buzz just fall into their lap, don’t last very long; We’ve set out to make timeless music. Music that never gets dated or goes ‘out of style,’ and when you’re on that playing field, you really have to bust your ass to get to where you want to be.

WWM: You guys just released The Green Room EP – aside from being a prelude to The Show [ed note: their upcoming full length album], what did you hope to acheive with the release?

Christolph: The Green Room EP was an accidental result of the album being pushed back so many times, and since we arent real big into “mixtapes” we just wanted something good and straight to the point. Ultimately, we wanted to hold people over until The Show dropped; like an appetizer, if you will. That’s why we titled it The Green Room, because it’s the one place you go to right before you go on stage. With 7 songs, we’d want you to actually be disappointed when its over, because you want more. We would rather have that affect on people than a “Shit, 7 down and 23 to go!” But honestly, it’s the best decision we’ve made, due to the fact that we have been getting such positive responses and it makes people anticipate the album that much more.

WWM: It also helps that you ended up getting a big blogosphere [2dopeboyz] co-sign with that one too. And speaking of The Show – how’s that process coming along? Everything on schedule?

Christolph: Yeah, it is. Technically we scheduled it be completed late last summer and release it in early fall, but there was still work to be done. We want it out as soon as possibly, but I will say this: The recording process is done, and now the hard work begins. Mixing, mastering and making sure everyone has on their iPods. [laughs]

WWM: Do you wanna shed any light on the project? For example, will you be dropping it for free, etc?

Christolph: All you need to know is that it will be a free album and that you will be in love with it when it drops. [In Mens Warehouse guy voice] “I guarantee it.”

WWM: You said you’re releasing the album for free – which is definitely commonplace these days. For a relatively unknown group to do that almost seems necessary these days. What are your thoughts on free releases and why do you want to release The Show for free?

Christolph: Free releases couldn’t be more necessary these days, even for known artists. My personal perspective is that people don’t even pay for Jay-Z albums as much, so you do the math. I would rather give it to 20,000 people than make 2,000 pay for it. Since we are in the fetal stages of the “rap game,” its necessary for us to get anyone and everyone to hear our product. The easiest and best way to do that is to make it available for free, and even then you are facing an uphill battle. Not that we want to be that “starving artist” forever, but the only people that will buy your music are the people that WANT to pay for it, and we still have a ways ahead of us, but not as long as you think. [Laughs]

WWM: You’re definitely a hometown group for someone like myself. Growing up here, we had our fair share of the Swishahouse movement and what not. The Niceguys are absolutely nothing like any of the artists we’ve grown up with. Have you consciously set yourselves apart from that genre?

Yves: Nah, we are just different. It’s not necessarily something we try to do. That just isn’t style of music we make. In addition, I’m not from Houston, but rather Queens. So me being the voice, things are immediately set apart in a way.

WWM: Aside from releasing The Show, what are some of your biggest goals in 2010?

Christolph: Traveling. Shows, shows and more shows. Music videos, and getting better. We just want to get better as a group. I mean, I think we are awesome now, as well as our live shows, but like anything else, there is always room for improvement. That means each one of us needs to be thinking outside of the box and pushing ourselves to make shit we wouldn’t normally make or be expected to make. We just want to travel and get the world more acquainted with The Niceguys.

WWM: Is there anyone in particular you would like to play shows with that you personally think is feasible?

Yves: We don’t really think about that. I guess it’s not a hard question but what would you base something like that on? Off the top of my head, I would be relating to other genres, but that’s the kinda thing that when and if the opportunity arises, you either feel it or you don’t.

WWM: You doin’ any shows at SXSW? You dudes should definitely try to get together with Fat Tony and set shit off in Austin.

Christolph: Yeah, man. We have a few shows in Austin for SXSW, but there are no details just yet. We will definitely hit a stage near you. Fat Tony is real nice man. I like what he has been doing for the Houston music scene, we’ll definitely need to do something soon.

WWM: That’s pretty much it, dude. Anything you wanna add to the readers of weworemasks.com?

Christolph: Not much else besides: Download The Green Room! Enjoy it and listen to it while wearing a Stackwell x Niceguys Collab Tee. Keep an eye out for more Nice Shorts and check weworemasks.com daily for all the shit that matters.

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download the green room ep:

if you want to catch up with older material, visit the group’s blog and hit the sidebar for more free goodness.

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check out this nice little intro promo the guys put together:

video by: evesborough films

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do not sleep on these guys. i will personally find all of you who do and shank you in the neck. keep a look out for more niceguys videos and tracks coming soon. much love to christolph/todd and yves for answering the questions.

peace x love

-grizzly