I discovered rap in high school. Growing up as a gay man in a small town in South Africa, I had some personal struggles with my identity. It's strange, but I have looked everywhere to find someone to idolize, and then I found Nicki Minaj, my queen. I quickly became obsessed with her and analyzed every song she was a part of, including guest features. Soon I knew every lyric of hers, and she taught me about wordplay and the importance of bars. My life changed when I got to see her live in Cape Town in my 11th year of high school. My friends and I camped outside the venue from the early morning, and it turned out to pay off as I got on stage with her. At that moment, with the lights on my face and a million people chanting Nicki's name, I realized that being a performer is what I wanted to do. I realized then how much Nicki had done for myself and others, how special and included she made us feel.

As I said, high school wasn't easy for me identity-wise. Children can be so mean, and I hated being stereotyped in a way that I didn't see myself. I was gay but somehow hated people assuming something about my identity just because of my sexual orientation, and it was something I wanted to change. I ran for student council in my final year. I spent hours pining over my speech to get my message right, and I couldn't find what needed to be said. Then late one night, on YouTube, I stumbled across an old Kanye interview with MTV where he spoke about gay men in hip hop. He emphasized the importance of taking control of your narrative, something that became so clear to me. I realized there I wanted to change the taunts of being gay into something empowering. The toxic masculine world of hip hop was going to be something I dominated as I focused on my clever wordplay and entertaining flows. I would be so good at rapping that they wouldn't even call me the best gay rapper, just the best rapper. I started analyzing hip-hop culture more and more, trying to better my craft and discovered more artists to admire. There was IDK, MF Doom, Maxo Kream, DMX, Baby Keem, Andre 3000 (who became my dream collaborator), Doja Cat, Eve, and more.

I have done some work under my real name, which you can check out at https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-swart-1, but with my recent move, I wanted to start fresh and create a couple of alter egos, a part of the Hive Mind. Firstly there's Fork Tongue. He's aggressive, toxically masculine, and unapologetic. He's unafraid, unable to be hurt, and is the most resilient fighter I know. I picture him as a reptilian hybrid who hides his eyes in various headpieces and wigs to emphasize his sharp teeth and freakishly long forked tongue. I also have Powder Puff in the works. They're still a boss but a bit more delicate and feminine. Picture an overly flamboyant splash of pink drowning in multiple layers of tulle. There are many more characters in the Hive Mind created every day. You can see versatility means a lot to me, and I love to play with my voice and different flows.

I've been out of school for a couple of years now. I have explored my music options. I've written a lot, recorded some, and featured on a little, but I'm ready to start doing more. I want to prove myself and show that I can write and flow over any beat. I am open to working outside my genre. I love R&B, Pop, and Dance music, so I would love to explore that a bit more. I've recently moved to LA. I'm currently pursuing a post-grad course in creative direction, and like many, I would like to try my big Hollywood dreams alongside it. I write almost every day and have a lot of content to work with, but I lack the facilities and education in production. I want to collaborate with others as I enjoy team-orientated environments. It is all an exciting creative journey that I hope you will join me in along the way. My EP is coming. I'm manifesting it.

• Avant-Garde
• Crunk
• Dance
• Dancehall
• Disco
• Dubstep
• Electronica
• Experimental
• Funk
• Glam Disco
• Hip Hop
• Old School
• Pop
• R&B
• Rap
• Singer/Songwriter
• Soft Rock
• Soul
• Soundtrack
• Techno
• World

I have a lot of lyrics and crib notes, but nothing beyond that. I want to invest in a mic but am looking for people in production to collaborate. If you would like to contribute to my content creatively, I am open to that too.