This is the first installation in
a three part series with Nu’ The
Mayor, CEO of GOV Life Enter
tainment, rap pioneer, and mogul. I
was intrigued with him because he
is a rapper with the business savvy of a CEO, or he is a CEO with
a ridiculous flow that garnished
him the title of one of the DMV’s
best rappers? Either way Nu’ The
Mayor is a colorful character who
caught my attention. So I set out to
find out Who is Nu?
Who is Nu has been a question
asked so frequently that in 2010
Nu, The Mayor released the Who is
Nu? Vol.1 mixtape to try to answer
this loaded question. I call it a
loaded question because the answer
is not a simple one by any means.
Wait, let me start at the beginning
so I can really introduce Niles “Nu’
The Mayor” Numan.
Niles Numan, better known to
most as Nu’ The Mayor, hit the
DMV {DC//MD//VA} rap scene
in 1998 rapping under the moniker The Mayor. He got the streets
buzzing not with his distinct flow,
but with his unheard of marketing
tactics. Nu’ didn’t need media to
take note of him nor to beat down
his door for interviews as he was
interviewing himself weekly on his
YouTube channel. These interviews
quickly became the talk of streets
for a few reasons: 1) most couldn’t
believe dude was interviewing
himself, 2) because most thought
he was a genius for doing it, and 3)
nobody outside of his camp could
believe he had the balls to label
himself The Mayor of the city not
to mention the best rapper coming out of the city. Whatever the
reason, Nu’s marketing tactic was
working. The streets were buzzing
with talk of The Mayor.
Riding the wave of the street
buzz Nu struck while the iron was
18
hot and dropped his debut CD,
“My Life My Way.” The CD was
released in 2004 on his Grown A$$
Man Ent label and produced the hit
single “Whats Inyo Cup.” This single found its way into regular rotations on one of Washington, DC’s
top radio stations, WPGC. The CD
moved an astonishing 15,000 units,
an accomplishment never heard of
in the DMV by an independent label. Nu has been quoted as calling
the project his Reasonable Doubt.
With the success of “My Way My
Life” the streets were now roaring
with chatter about Nu’ and he was
quick to let all know he was just
getting started.
In 2006 The Mayor released the
follow up CD, “Politically Incorrect.” The 18-track offering was
once again released on his Grown
A$$ Man Ent label. He described
it as being “mid-East (mid-East
is DC/MD/VA in Nu lingo) tempo, 80 and 90 BPM, slow, funked
out, perfect to get high to music.
With East Coast lyrics, Southern
production, and West Coast swagger.” “Politically Incorrect”” was a
gallon of gas being thrown onto the
fire. Once released, The Mayor was
now considered undoubtedly on his
way to becoming one of the best
rappers in the DMV.
But the question persisted,
Who is Nu’? Even after founding
and becoming the CEO of GOV
(G.ame OV) Life Entertainment, a
company that specializes in marketing and branding management
while functioning as a record label,
as well as releasing two highly
successful projects, Niles Numan,
now known as Nu’ The Mayor, on
March 10, 2010 released the first
of three mixtapes titled “Who Is
Nu’?” Vol. 1 hosted by the legendary DJ Quicksilva. Nu’ called it
“the soundtrack to life” as he be-
lieved it had a song for every occasion or situation life threw at you.
He felt the project covered all bases
and had something for everyone. It
produced the #1 single that kept the
DMV partying, “Whole Time.” It
also gave us the “Where They Do
That At remix” that had a bevy of
top DMV rappers blessing the track
with killer verses. Coming off the
success of Vol. 1, on May 25, 2010
he released Vol. 2 which picked up
where Vol. 1 left off. Vol. 2 kept the
party going and once again contained something for everyone. Finally, on Election Day, November
2, 2010, he released the third and
final mixtape in the series “Who is
Nu’? Vol. 3” once again hosted DJ
Quicksilva and filled with hit after
hit! It was definitely a must have
project that closed out the series on
a strong high note.
So now that Nu’ The Mayor
released not one mixtape, but three
mixtapes, to answer the question
Who is Nu’? that was the end of it
right? Wrong! The three part series
only created more questions of who
Nu’ The Mayor is, what his secret
to success is, how to describe is
flow, and is he a rapper or a CEO?
With all these questions swarming
I thought it fitting to sit down with
the man himself and finally get
some answers.
On October 26, 2011 right on the
heels of the release of his current
project, “Mayor Back”, I caught
up with Nu’ The Mayor to discuss
the short lived merger of the DMV
powers know as The Celtics, the
severing of his ties with RaRa The
1st Lady, his body of work, and his
much anticipated upcoming project
“No Brakes.”
On August 18, 2011 the DMV
awoke to news of a major power
move by arguably 3 of the area’s
best rappers, Nu’ The Mayor,