Biography

Nance Nickels was born in Newark, NJ on November 13, 1970. His family then moved to the Bronx. His father left the family when he was a year old and never returned. At the age of seven, Nance bounced back and forth between his home and the home of his great aunts in Mount Vernon, NY. It is here he learned a great deal about music and the love of performing but his aunts were very secular and did not believe in any music outside of the church.

As an only child Nance developed many new talents to keep himself busy. He created his own comic books and short scripts as well as made his own songs. At the age of eight he developed a love for Rap Music and the Hip Hop culture. He became one of the youngest emcees in his neighborhood and was always asked to perform for the older kids who always expressed how talented he was but because of his large stature, his talent was overshadowed by a feeling of awkwardness and he would not show his talents again until the age of twelve.

When Nance was 11 years old going into his 12th year, he was approached in a convenience store by a young woman who asked him "what are you?" Confused by the questions she asked him again, this time Nance answered "I'm Me." The young lady then handed Nance a business card and said for him to have his mother call him if he was ever interested in doing some modeling. Nance tossed the card away believing that the lady was making fun of him being that he was almost 6 feet tall and awkward. Later, Nance would recall the company name on the card to read Wilhelmina Models.

In Highschool, he was friends with a young man named Tony when they were sophomores. When school let out for the summer the two said they would hang out over the summer but never did. When Nance returned the following school year he found out that his friend was shot and murdered in a store robbery. This deeply affected Nance and he vowed that he would never fall victim to the streets of NYC as so many of his other peers did.

In 1993, Nance joined a rap group called The Troubleneck Brothers,a seven man group that hailed from Harlem and The South Bronx in NYC. They made a local rap album that got them notoriety and a signed deal to Tommy Boy records through an imprint label called Stepsun records that was ran by Bill Stephney of Public Enemy fame. Their label mates were, Miss Jones, Chris Rock and Paul Mooney. The group released two singles under the label but never officially released either of their two albums commercially. After the group split Nance went on to become a producer working with artists such as Dr. Dre., Shaunta Montgomery, Truth Hurts, Da Brat and many others. He released a solo album in 2002, called "Situations and Circumstances". During his career as a solo artist he began to do extra roles in movies and TV. He has been on screen in both Angels in America as well as the movie Elf starring Will Ferrel. During this time Nance became reintroduced to cinema and decided to pursue a movie career but decidedly chose to be behind the camera.

He moved to Los Angeles in February of 2007 and currently resides there pursuing a career as a screenwriter and movie director.
- IMDb mini biography by: Phoenix Carravagio

He graduated from Los Angeles Film School in 2009 with a dual concentration in producing and directing.

His grandfather was a close associate of Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson.

Nance comes from a family lineage of talented musicians. His grandfather, Arturo Cruse was accepted into Julliard at the age of 12 for violin. His great aunt, Emelda Cruse sang at Carnegie Hall and his mother, Judy Carol Cruse sang at Lincoln Center.

He attended Mount Saint Michael in Mount Vernon, NY as underclassmen when Sean" P-Diddy" Combs also attended as an upperclassmen.

He is of Caribbean, Irish and European descent.