In His World: An Interview With Nico Bryant
Wilmington-born, Claymont-based Nico Bryant isn’t shy, at least not when he’s singing or posing for the cover of his latest album, “In My World”, released on May 21, 2024. Bryant is not just brawn but brain. He is currently attending The University of the Arts for Music Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology (MBET). “In My World” is a studio album featuring a fusion of r&b, soul, hip hop, and funk, which he calls "Jukebox Soul". We sat down with him in between shows, studio, and classes to get the inside scoop.
What drew you to music as a career?
My parents had a band when I was young. They played in different churches and cafes. I would always sit in on their rehearsals, and I’d either sit by my dad while he played keys, or I’d sit by the band’s drummer, Mr. Kenny. I naturally gravitated towards the drums, so I would sit by Mr. Kenny most of the time.
The other thing that drew me to music was the “Commissioned Reunion”. We had the video on VHS and I used to watch it at least 3 times a day if I could, up until I was 7 and the tape stopped working. I loved the harmonies and everything about the whole show. The vocalists were on point, the band was tight, and they had two drummers. Two drummers! Playing simultaneously. From that point on, I dreamt of playing beside Mr. Kenny, and the both of us playing for my parents’ band. It didn’t work out like that. He ended up leaving the band by the time I was 8, so I became the drummer of the band.
Then I was drawn to singing and performing after my homie Dan introduced me to New Edition, Boyz II Men, and Michael Jackson back in middle school. After that, I had put the drums down for a number of years and worked on my craft as a performer. I got back to the drums last year though, and I’ve incorporated it into my stage show.
What is a hardship or difficult moment you've faced in music and how did you overcome it?
… I think the most difficult moment was while I was working on “IN MY WORLD” and right before I started working on my live album “Manifesto”. In January of 2023, right before my last semester at UArts, my grandmother passed away. Her and I were super close, so that was a blow. Plus I was away from my family for the first time, I was staying on campus. So I was coming home every weekend for church, and seeing my mother so sad was rough on me. But I had to push through, put my band together, rehearse, and keep my grades up to graduate. By the grace of God, I was able to pull it all off. The live recording was dope, we mixed the record, and I graduated.
What inspired your third studio album "IN MY WORLD"?
Well I had the title for a while ‘cause it was actually supposed to be the title of “FOREVER FEELINGS”. But like a month before I dropped it, I changed the name of that record, just because I felt it fit the music better. So I went into this one with the mindset of asking, what does a record called “IN MY WORLD” sound like, you dig? That’s one question I asked myself, but the big one was, what if Usher was a Soulquarian back in like 2000 or 2001? Like what if he worked with Questlove, Raphael Saadiq, Dilla, James Poyser and D’Angelo, but he still had input from Jimmy Jam & Jerry Lewis and maybe Jermaine Dupri? If “8701” was made at Electric Lady Studios. That was the overarching hypothetical that was always in the back of my head.
The record was also inspired by my band, Vision Quest. After our first show, which was the live album, we kept on gigging together. Our energy on stage informed my musical choices in the studio. I’ve never had that before, it was always just me, and I was running tracks for my first projects. But during this process, I was always thinking about the band. I’m thinking about the stage show. The songs gotta have parts for everyone to learn and play. Prior records didn’t have that ‘cause like I said, there was no band. Just me. But the magic is, the band and I collaborated on their individual parts. Like one of my guitar players, Darius, he and I sat down and brainstormed his part for “L.B.D”. The other guitar player, Luke, completely came up with his own part for “Last Thing I Wanna Do”.
There’s so much magic that each of them cats bring to the live element, and I needed that to be captured on record so we could eventually elevate it on the stage. And if and when I came up with their parts myself, I played it for them and they would give the okay. I know I don’t necessarily have to run it by them. But I absolutely want to because I want them to dig what we do, so their stamp of approval is important to what I create. It would be a totally different album without Vision Quest and Virgo SZN.
(Photo Credit Jasmine Hunter)
What's one of your favorite moments creating the album?
My favorite memories would have to be when I got the features and the band members on the songs. I had done everything on my own up to a point, and I brought them almost fully fledged records that just needed some extra spice. The songs needed their energies to help bring them to life in a different way. Like Chloé and David did on “Make Some Magic”, or like Virgo SZN on “Special One”. Putting those final pieces together and letting the folks come add their sauce to the recipe made the record so much more special. I really allowed myself to open up and bring others in and add something different to the mix, which like I said, I hadn’t really done before.
If you could take only one album on a cross-country road trip what would it be and why?
Aww that’s a tough toss-up. There’s two albums I always go back and forth with. The “Commissioned Reunion” album and “Voodoo” by D’Angelo. Like I said, I grew up on the Commissioned album. It raised me as a kid. But “Voodoo” saved my life after a rough break up when I was in 11th grade. Then it led me down the Soulquarians rabbit hole and I learned about so many other artists and sounds because of it. And every time I go back to it, I find something new. Something else to be inspired by. It’s just so funky and raw and beautiful. But for the sake of answering the question…I’ll say “Voodoo” today. I can’t go wrong either way honestly.
What are you looking forward to in this moment?
I’m just looking forward to finding more ways to get ears on my music and building a fanbase. Then the money can roll in. And from there, I can gig more with my band, and sell merch and physical copies and all, and really give people an experience using the capital and resources that come with “blowing up”. I also really wanna create some cool content. I’m currently fleshing out the idea of a mini docu-series breaking down the album’s easter eggs and lyrics and stories behind them. A little similar to the Genius videos but more akin to Diggin The Greats. I love that dude’s content. And of course, music videos for songs like “IDon’tWannaSpeak2U” and “How Many Tears”.
