How did NotNice and Vybz Kartel met?
It’s no secret that renowned producer NotNice‘s career took off after he met Vybz Kartel. The two clicked, and the combination of beats with Kartel’s unmistakable lyrical style soon dominated the airwaves in Jamaica and overseas. What many don’t know, though, is that his first chance encounter with the Worl’Boss was actually set up by his mother, Avis Walker.
He revealed this bit of information while speaking with the Jamaica Star during an interview. He also revealed that he was always obsessed with working with Kartel, and that was a fact his mother knew all too well.
“Mi always play Vybz Kartel music inna di house, not while she’s there. But once she come home and hear the radio tun up she know a Vybz Kartel did a play. She always hear mi a talk about him and she always a say, ‘everything a Vybz Kartel’,” he shared.
He added that it was an unusual encounter that would bring the pair together. His mother was at the bank when she spotted Kartel and somehow got the deejay to agree to speak to her son on the phone.
“Mi nuh know how she know weh him look like but she was at the bank one Saturday and she call me and say ‘yow yuh boss inna di bank innu’. Me say, ‘who dat?’ and she say, ‘Vybz Kartel'”, he recalled. His mother’s persistence paid off, and she eventually helped NotNice to get an in-person meeting with Kartel on that same day.
He said he doesn’t know what was said, but from what he gleaned, she was somehow able to convince Vybz Kartel to speak with him on the phone. He said he told Kartel that “me rate him.” That was when Kartel had just dropped the album “Up To The Time.” Kartel then offered to give the producer’s mother an autographed CD.
“Him ask mi which part mi deh and me tell him Waterford and him a say dat near (to him) and if me can reach pan Portmore Mall before him leave the bank and mi say arite,” he continued.
That was all he needed to hear as he gathered himself and got dressed quickly before rushing out to get a taxi so that he could make the impromptu meeting happen. Even though that’s not when their musical partnership started, he still fondly recalls the memory as one of his favorites. NotNice also revealed that his mother has always been his number one supporter.
In fact, it was through her that he got his first computer. She financed it after he told her that he was serious about becoming a producer. He added that she was there with him through all the ups and downs, even when his career became frustratingly slow. He added: “Mi love my mother fi all weh she do fi me because if a never she, probably NotNice wouldn’t deh yah so. Mi respect her to the fullest fi di support.”
He also said that even though he knew his progress took long, he tried his best to make ends meet and to help his mother anyhow he could. That even led to him getting a diploma as he waited for his career to take off.
“We did destine fi make it inna music but the pressure did a build up from my side, especially knowing say me couldn’t provide the right way. One a di time mi mother a tell mi say me a run up the light bill and dem thing deh and mi know she did just wah better fi me. So me go do mechanical engineering and now mi have a diploma inna dat,” he said.
In 2011 the magic duo had a very public spat that led to them parting ways. NotNice alleged that the “Go Go Wine” deejay sent his crew to seize the producer’s engineering equipment which included a hard drive with most of his work. In 2017 they seemed to patch things up and appear to be on good terms now.
