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Fame! Is it really
all that some make it out to be? Ask that question to many
of today's artists, and chances are high that they will
all answer in unison with "NO"! While it can truly
be the best thing that ever happens in the life of an up-and-coming
artist, it can also kick you down and keep you there. As
evidenced by many of the artists we've seen over the years,
fame and success comes and goes as the wind changes, and
sometimes quicker than that. I t's so hard to come by, yet
once you reach it, it's even easier to lose.
Take for example, new Dash Music
Group recording artist Nicole Wray. For those who may have
followed this Virginia-bred R&B siren over the years,
you know that she's no newcomer to the game. Hell, she had
one of the biggest hits in urban music back in the summer
months of 1998, thanks to the guidance of Missy Elliott
and Timbaland. Nicole was the first artist signed to Missy's
then newly formed Goldmind Records, which would be distributed
by Elecktra.
Success was almost inevitable for
Wray, who at the time was only 17-years old. Af ter all,
Missy had only recently stormed the industry with her ground-breaking
and trendsetting debut, "Supa Dupa Fly". Naturally,
it would be a big advantage for Nicole to be working with
Missy. Then came the idea that she would be produced by
Timbaland, who had already created success for a string
of other artists including Aaliyah, Total, SWV, & Ginuwine.
Despite their proven track record with everyone else, they
wouldn't have the same effects with Wray. Af ter a couple
of successful singles ("Make It Hot" & "Eyes
Better Not Wander"), Nicole seemed to vanish in thin
air. We would later hear her one last time via Missy's "All
N My Grill", only to vanish yet again.
Then in the year 2000, there had
then been talk of Nicole working on her second album, "Electric
Blue". That album, as you very well know, was never
released, although it did spawn the single "I'm Lookin".
While this track definitely showed a bit of growth f rom
her debut in 1998, it failed to build a buzz for anything
else. Nicole speaks very candidly about what happened back
then when she was on the verge of blowing up big time. "Well,
my label was Elektra and Goldmind, Missy's label through
Elektra, and we put "Make I t Hot" out. I went
across the world and learned a lot from Missy & Timbaland.
The thing about it was I was young. I had a young start
and I was moving a little bit, kinda before my time, and
it just didn't turn out good. The situation at Elektra folded
and Missy wanted to do other things. I had already had another
album [Electric Blue] written and recorded. It was, but
it never released.So, what happened was Missy gave me a
call, and wanted to take me somewhere else, because I guess
the situation going on at Elektra wasn't right, but it just
took long. Days became months and months became years. I
can't just sit around and wait. This is my career, and if
I don't take charge then I'm just going to be on the back
burner. I really didn't want that for my career. So, I gave
her a call, and basically thanked her for everything that
she had done for me, and let her know that I had to move
on. And she was cool about it. It wasn't no love lost, and
that's what she said."Go ahead and do your thing".
I just didn't think it would be another long ongoing process,
you know, waiting years and just waiting.But in the process,
I really got my writing game up. I was this artist that
came out underneath some really heavy hitters, and I had
almost a house-hold name, I do believe." Being on top
of the game one minute, and at the bottom the next, could
easily cause an artist to throw in the towel, as Nicole
almost came close to doing. "At that time, I had a
lot of people with me, and I had a crazy management team.
You know, I was under Missy and Timbaland. I was under the
best, and then one day, it's just gone. So I stayed in the
studio, and really started seeing life for what it was.
I started f inding out about who N icole Wray was. Everything
was mov ing so fast, and being an artist you just get drowned
out. It's just work work work. Shows, Interviews, whatever!
I needed a break to be me, and everything else seemed so
far away that I started to feel like a grudge, or a little
feeling against certain people. Like, why do I have to go
through this, but now, seeing my life now, I know everything
happens for a reason and I'm not mad at anybody. I t made
me stronger and I'm a better writer."
So how does one recover from such
an abrupt ending. There really is no direct answer. Sometimes,
it never happens, and then in other cases, an artist gets
a second chance at fame, which rarely every happens. While
Nicole agrees that's it can be nearly impossible to come
back, she has a different outlook on why she's still here.
"I will never fall off because it's a gif t that GOD
has given me. Some people use your talent, but you have
to be able to be in control of your own talent. Good music
is good music. If you keep doing it, you're going to get
somewhere. If you let up off the gas, the car is going to
stop, but if you keep your foot on the gas it's going to
keep on moving. I've been through so many situatuations.
I was with Missy and that folded. Then I was with Rocafella,
and it's always ROC for life, but I got into a whole new
situation, but if you check it out, the music is still moving.
I'm more focused on getting my face out there now, because
it's like out of sight, out of mind. So now, I want people
to see me and know what they are hearing and the person
I am. I look at a lot of magazines and you really get to
know what you're seeing and hearing. For me, I would like
that to be more expressed this time around, because I really
didn't have that last time. It was just music. People didn't
know who I was. They never heard nothing. What type of food
I like, what makes me happy……they just heard
the music. So I would like people to get to know who I am
because it makes them feel more at home. Like Mary J. Blige,
everybody knows who she is inside and out because she invited
them into her world. I'm not ashamed or af raid to invite
people into the life of Nicole Wray because I'm a regular
person."
And a regular person Nicole wants
to remain. During our interview, I really got a chance to
listen to Nicole speak more on her life outside of the industry.
So of ten, we hear f rom artists, and it's only about the
music, who's working on the albums, and so forth. Having
to read adjust to the simple life after leaving Goldmind,
N icole makes it clear that her life is not based on the
industry. "I like to cook. I just cooked some chicken
and rice today. I'm a home body. I like just relaxing and
enjoying life. If I feel like doing a hot song, you know,
it just happens. I don't like to be forced to do anything.
I don't like anybody trying to force anything on me. I like
to just relax and let it come. I like buying stuff for my
house and being around my two nieces. They make me happy.
They're like my two A&Rs. They help me decide on good
music. They say the kids are the future, and I'm always
around kids so they make me happy. I don't have no kids,
but I have two bad nieces that's always at my house. We
cook and we watch movies. We go in the studio. I have a
studio upstairs in my house and we just record. I might
make some cookies and we just, you know, regular life. We
might go shopping, and I live right around the corner from
Outback. I'm a family person. It's not about all the craziness
in life, because that's where stress comes in at. I want
to be relaxed, and I'm still on my grind. Don't take that
from me, I still grind, but I can grind and relax too."
She enjoys doing just the regular things, like shopping,
chilling, and so forth. "The other day, I went and
bought like 40 pairs of socks. The little stuff makes me
happy. I like to relax in the studio, and like I said, I
have a studio in my house so I be in a zone. I'll put my
pajamas on, I'm walking around and chillin. Then I'm into
producing now. I did like three songs, and I played it for
7 and he loves the direction I'm going in so I feel good
about that. He's one of the hottest to ever do it, so for
him to tell me he like's what I'm doing, I'm good."
So here we are, just over six years
after her debut album, and N icole is ready to hit us with
her second LP, sort of like her rechristening into the game.
She signed a deal nearly a year prior with Roc-A-Fella Records
af ter a chance move to New York. "I had done so many
songs, and I had a manger in New York. I called her and
just said I need to come to New York. I went by myself.
I didn't have no money. I just went with the songs that
I had, and went in her studio and grinded it out. Allen
Iverson had his label going on, and I was going to be the
f irst girl on the label, through his A&R. I met a girl
through him who knew an A&R at Roc-a-Fella. I went in
the office with the music and played it for Kenny Byrnes,
and we went right in the studio like a week later. I did
the Welcome Home record for Dirtt McGirtt (Rest In Peace).
That kinda took off in New York, and f rom there, Dame started
being there and they started hearing the music I had, and
f rom there we got in the studio and started working on
the N icole Wray project. Most of the recording was at Dame's
house. Everybody came over, and we just got into a vibe.
We recently made changes over at the label, and it's now
Dame Music Group, which he has a lot of artists he's giving
deals to. I'm still working on my album, which is titled
"Love Child", and I'm kinda excited about it.
I get a chance to be creative and they love what I do. I'm
in the studio now with 7 Aurelius, so we're cooking up some
stuff. I just left Miami, doing some stuff with Scott Storch,
and I got a lot of up-and-coming producers on the album.
First and foremost, I wanted to work with them because they
came to me at a time when I felt like nobody was on Nicole
W ray's radar. They was hungry like I was, and we grinded
it out. It's not that I don't like working with established
producers, but it's just something about the new ones."
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