Exposed Vocals Interviews NEM

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NEM (Born Rick Almeida) is one of the first Brazilian Hip-Hop Artists/Producers in American Hip-Hop. He was born on February 27th, 1991 in Minas Gerais, Brazil… in the city of Valadares known for having the largest Brazilian diaspora to United States in the world and famous for being the best place in the world for hand-gliding. He was born to a family of four: both parents and two older brothers.

While living in Brazil, NEM’s father was a Coyote (a term to describe people who transport illegal immigrants to United States). The pressures of this occupation led to family problems and competition with other coyotes and eventually this led to his family moving to the U.S.A. NEM was only six months old.

Growing up in Florida during the early 90’s, NEM grew up watching his brothers and cousins become huge fans of Wu-Tang,Biggie,Tupac,Mobb Deep,Bone Thugs and Nas. The Wu’s symbols and influence Grew large in Florida and they became an immense influence to NEM on his taste and style of music. NEM Credits his cousin “Netino” for teaching him the basics of Hip-Hop and its formats, and RZA as his biggest Role Model.

NEM attended Deerfield Park Elementary with childhood friend Kozmik growing up. The school was known for beating colleges with their marching bands at Martin Luther King Day Parades. (They famously beat FAMU with a song that local professor Mr.Gibbs taught them called FAMU) and NEM was apart of the Drumline.

Eventually at 14 years of age, NEM learned to make beats and engineer using an affordable computer, Fruity Loops 7, Cool Edit Pro 2.0, a USB Mic, and a Booth/Closet as opposed to a fancy studio and equipments.

NEM worked hard in various minimum wage jobs and sold weed on the side, helping him invest on his equipment and being able to work on his true passion: Music. For years NEM was trying to achieve fame with Kozmik and join a record label, Kozmik as the lead rapper and NEM producing (i.e Mobb Deep,Black Moon,& Pete Rock & CL Smoothe) but both were unsuccessful. At this time Hip-Hop was bubblegum/crunk raps and their music didnt go anywhere.

In 2010 Hip-Hop was making its way back with lyricism becoming more valued. At this point in time, the internet became a powerful tool for promotion such as YouTube and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Kozmik had moved back to Brazil but NEM regained motivation and started working on his debut album “Headphone MuZ1k” with no intentions on getting signed to a Major, just building a cult following. At this time he worked with Dizzy Wright before the Fame.

In July 2013, NEM made an entry for the Raider Klan Producer Showcase ran by Spaceghostpurrp. He ended up getting first place and a chance to enter the Allstar Producer Showcase featuring previous showcase winners a couple weeks later. NEM came out Victorious once again. His victories lead to numerous interviews and helped NEM get a small buzz in the underground Hip-Hop community.

By August 2013, NEM decided to focus on his production and took on the Psychedelic Ambient genre also known as “Ethereal” popularised by artists such as Clams Casino, XXYYXX, and Eric Dingus. He started the AlmeidaBeatz Series (Wordplay with his last name and “All Made Of Beats”) releasing 3 Volumes.

In early 2014, NEM met Diggy 1-D and an underground heavyweight called Lil WooFy WooF, who worked with several Raider Klan members and affiliates like Amber London, Nell, Pouya, Sdot Braddy, and Spaceghostpurrp himself. They partnered up and started working on an album that would later be called “Damn It Feels Good to be a Schema”. At first this album was going to be called The Chronic 2015 due to the heavy Dr.Dre/Snoop Dogg/Nate Dogg influence coming from the 3 members in their own way, but ever since joining the recently formed SCHEMAPOSSE in april 2015, the name was changed to fit the group, paying homage to Geto Boys “Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta”. This album features NEM & Lil WooFy Woof meeting Dr.Dre on the intro, getting advice, and passing him the CD. The Concept of the album is Dr.Dre listening to it.

SCHEMAPOSSE is a collective of MC’s, Producers, GFX Designers,and Videographers formed by DJ Paul and Juicy J’s protégé and former Raider Klan member, JGRXXN. The Crew consists of JGRXXN, NEM, Lil WooFy WooF, Diggy 1-D, DJ Killa C, GHOSTEMANE, Mr.Sisco, Lil Peep, Seed of 6ix, and many others. SCHEMAPOSSE is booked to perform at the 2016 SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas this year and is going on tour all summer.

2015 also saw NEM Partnering up with a female musician from Miami called Chan A-V for an EP that was a mixture of Hip-Hop, old school Psychedelic Rock and New Jack Swing, titled the ChaNEMTatum EP.

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

NEM: I was born in Brazil but I grew up in Broward County, Florida. I decided to become an artist when I joined the Drum-line at this performing arts Elementary School called Deerfield Park. I was in the 4th-5th grade and we’d compete with High Schools and Colleges during Martin Luther King Day parades, even winning a few times. I loved performing and the beats were crazy, it definitely influenced me later on when I fell in love with Hip-Hop.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

NEM: I went by Neme$1$ for many years, from 14 until 24. That came from playing a lot of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. The character “Nemesis” was the “boss” character and made the game almost impossible to beat. I thought it was a cool name so I ran with it. Last year when I joined SCHEMAPOSSE, I wanted to make my name easier to spell because nobody ever spelled my name right before, only true supporters…so I shortened it to NEM.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

NEM: I think it has its Pro’s and Con’s. I used to love waiting for an album, spending my hard earned money on it, and cherishing it for months. Nowadays you listen to an album and you’re on to the next one by Day 3. It’s bad for the listener when it comes to appreciating albums, but it’s great for the starving artist who just needs a platform to release music, whereas in the past you’d have to be signed and distributed to stores or pushing out the trunk. I give 100% of my music away for free…the last album we dropped was free but we did have a version you can buy athttp://www.BuyThisAlbum.Tk

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

NEM: Sure…learn to Build Relationships. That is the single most important thing in this game and Life in general. Who do you think will get the gig first, the godly artist who stays in his house making classics all day, or the average artist who knows the DJ, the Promoter, the Club owner, and built a following on social media. Hard work beats Talent any day of the week…If you have both, it’ll just be a matter of time before you make it.

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

NEM: I have to listen to the instrumental and try and imagine a scene. I tell people this often but I can kind of feel the Color of a beat. Some beats have a blue cold feel, and some have a yellow desert feel, etc…So that helps me decide the mood of the song. I love Movies..I went to school for film and one of my favorite artists is Biggie, who likes to paint Movie-like pictures with his lyrics. So that’s where I like to take it, to a point where you’re seeing what I’m saying.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

NEM: I used to, with an Online Radio and everything, but I realized I needed a lot more time on my hands to maintain that. I’m definitely getting a new site in the near future, just need to find the time. I use Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. Http://www.Soundcloud.com/DaOfficialNEM

@DaOfficialNEM

http://www.Facebook.com/DaOfficialNEM

Http://Youtube.com/RickalmeidaNemesis

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

NEM: I would start my own Record Label, sign Lil WooFy WooF, Diggy 1-D, and the rest of SCHEMAPOSSE. Buy a couple tour buses, promote all our videos on Worldstarhiphop and all popular websites/blogs attached with a tour Flyer. Buy studio equipment to use on the Tour buses. Invest in features/collabs.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

NEM: Mainly social media, just meeting people and collabing with people. I go to open mics every now and then and show my face, network with the locals. Videos are important, because of a video I gained a supporter who let me tattoo my name on her.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

NEM: Yes for sure, I have a few EP’s I’m going to drop and a joint beat tape with Chan A-V. I will work on my first movie later on this year so look out for that…oh and we released an album last November titled “Damn It Feels Good to be a Schema” where I got Lil WooFy WooF meeting Dr.Dre in the intro and handing him our CD. The concept of the album is Dr.Dre listening to it…this album is not to be slept on!

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

NEM: Either movies, stand-up comedy, or writing for a comedy show/sitcom. I can do some okay accents and impressions, I’m that friend that does the prank calls.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

NEM: Well I love making music and being productive. It’s fun to me. So after a hard days work, I have no problem making music because I don’t feel like making music is anything tiring, its like my version of getting home and playing video games.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

NEM: SCHEMAPOSSE taking over…and my first Movie. I’m influenced by Harmony Korine, Martin Scorsese, The Hughes Brothers and many more…so expect a thrill ride.