C-Nice-1, born Carlton M. Johnson Jr. in Poughkeepsie, New York. grew up in a "lower class" background. Living the "hard knock life" in and out of foster care and at times even having no shelter. His parents having both since deceased and being separated from his younger brother and sister, C-Nice-1 went on to graduate from Poughkeepsie High School in 2001. During his High School years, he was known for getting lunchrooms packed listening to him "beat bopping" while young artist would freestyle to his sounds. Taking beat bopping to a whole new level by enrolling in an extra curricular class after high school where he met David Woods, the man responsible for introducing C-Nice-1 to Cakewalk/Sonar and the Roland SC-D70 Sound Canvas. Quickly becoming Mr. Woods best student, he was recommended to continue working with music in his basement studio. Since, C-Nice-1 has also learned how to record artist and mix down vocals.
C-Nice-1 primarily looked into background music from videogames to come up with his unique style of producing beats. C-Nice-1's songs have a strong relation to videogame background sounds mixed in with hip-hop drums. He is very versatile with his beats. From producing hip-hop and r&b, to producing pop, trip-hop, alternative rock, jazz, and dancehall reggae. He does not sample. Everything he makes is all original. He claims that he was inspired by “videogame music and Dr. Dre.â€
He also attended Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, New York, but dropped out after his second year. There C-Nice-1 ran the club called R.P.M. (Rap, Poetry, and Music) which featured dancers, poets, rappers, singers, and stand-up comedians. He was awarded for running the largest and hottest club on the campus. C-Nice-1 used his produced beats for the freestyle battles and knew he had something special when he saw the crowds bopping there heads while also having artists contacting him for beats. C-Nice-1 has been producing music and recording artist for over 7 years now and still continues to do so today. He started selling his beats officially online when he moved out of New York to South Dakota with his best friend. Even though he did not graduate from college he has continued to grow as not only a producer, but an artist. In addition, C-Nice-1 is also a talented poet and has won an "Editors Choice Award" in November 2006 from Poetry.com. Since moving to South Dakota, C-Nice-1's beats have gotten recognition from around the world through Soundclick.com. He has been in the Top 5 for Hottest Unsigned Artist in all genres and has been in the Top 10 for hottest and Most Listened to tracks on Soundclick. He has been the number 1 unsigned artist on soundclick.com in South Dakota since 2006 and still is today. He has been since dubbed “The producer that people don't know about yet" and the "Hottest producer in the South Dakota state."
Also a talented hype-man, he has done many shows over the past 5 years. He has opened up for Lil Jon at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2007 with rap artist K.O.D. With high demand from his fans, C-Nice-1 has since started rapping on a few of his beats in 2008. He has been rapping for about 3 months and has two hit songs on his Myspace page, “Let Me See Ya Fingersnap" and "Put ‘Em Down," since he has been getting booked for shows across South Dakota. Ever Since C-Nice-1 has started rapping, fans know him for his catchy phrase saying, "Ayyyooooooo!!!" He continues to produce and sell beats while recording artist in the studio. Having a vision of getting hip-hop heard in the untapped area of South Dakota he has become a relentless promoter for himself and the state.
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