Nicole Bus on Signing to Roc Nation, Dutch Upbringing & 'The Writing's On The Wall'

For the next installment in our 2019 interview series, we catch up with Dutch-born, multi-cultural, multi-instrumentalist artist, Nicole Bus. From the start of our convo, Nicole's dope spirit, energy, enthusiasm and love for music were immediately apparent. Even though her new single, "You" has 2 Million views and remixes featuring Rick Ross and Ghostface Killah, plus recently entering Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart and preparing to join Cardi B on next month's “Femme It Forward Tour,” Nicole remains humble, grounded and tapped into her faith.

During our time together, we chopped it up a bit about her upbringing in the Netherlands while being a skater girl, albums that changed her life and the power of manifestation. Tap into the full interview below for more dope insights and get to know a true gamechanger: Nicole Bus!

Thanks for coming through to Hype Off Life. We appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule for this. First off, how was it growing up in Holland?

It was all I knew really, I was brought up in the village. We were one of the few people of color there so it was interesting because you don't see a lot of the culture. But, when we got older we went into the city area and then got acquainted with the culture, it was a really nice and interesting time for us.

What did you do for fun when you lived in the village?

I was a skater girl, I was breaking stuff on the halfpipe. Every time after school I would say, “Let's go to the half pipe!” After which I’d come home crying, and then do it all over again the next day.

Do you still skate?

Oh yeah, but only inline skating now. I don't do the half pipe, but I want to try even though it's been such a long time.

When did fall in love with music and realize it’s powerful for a change?

That's a good question. It started for me in Church. I was brought up in a Pentecostal Church in the Netherlands and I remember being six or seven and hearing the Band go bananas because it was the Caribbean style Pentecostal Church. So, there were a lot of influences. I was amazed that everyone was dancing like a scene in the movies and I liked it. Since then I was more and more invested in interesting in how music works.

So, I know you play a couple of Instruments. What are they?

I play the Drums, the Bass, and the Piano. All self-taught. The only ones I want to master next are the Trombone, Trumpet, and Saxophone.

Which artist and albums have had the most impact on how you view the world?

Definitely Lauryn Hill and her MTV Unplugged album, Bob Marley and one of his live albums that I don’t remember the name of, and Sadé. My Dad was a big Sadé lover, so we listened to her a lot.

How could I forget? I also love Destiny’s Child and their 'Writings On The Wall' album! I remember we were on vacation in the US in 1999 I think with family from my mother's side. My mother’s from Curacao, that's the Caribbean side, and my dad is Dutch. I think I was in Houston at the time and my relatives here like, “There’s this band that’s from this area, you should hear this”, and they played this song they recorded off the radio on cassette.

After hearing it, I asked them to rewind it because I was like, “I love this!”. I have never heard music like this as it was so new and fresh to me. When I came back to The Netherlands, I was telling everyone about this new style of music I was hearing. I was promoting it and nobody knew what it was until it was released there. We had to wait a while for it to come out of course, because of the translation of marketing and distribution especially in those days, it took longer for it to come to Europe.

So I was preaching Destiny’s Child, but nobody understood yet. But now they do. I remember hearing Kelis’ music in The Netherlands too as “I Hate You So Much Right Now” was big. I had the single and I think that CD was crumbled and had scratches because I played it so much.

How does it feel to be signed to Roc Nation?

It's a dream come true. Five years ago I started to work with Needlz, a producer from Atlanta, and I remember telling him that my goal was after we make legendary music hopefully for this generation, that we should get signed to ROC Nation. Four years later, the A&R for ROC found a snippet on Needlz’s Instagram and we got approached to come to a showcase. I remember Needlz saying, “Yo, ROC Nation reached out”, and I was like, “It’s about time!”. I’m a big believer in prayer, so I believe that when your heart is in the right place and you do it with the right motives, everything your heart desires will be given onto you.

So, you have a new album, your debut album. What are you most excited about? What about it excites you most?

First of all, it's the best work I've made so far in my entire life until now. I love the diversity on the album because everyone that was like, “OMG I hear the Lauryn Hill influence”. If you listen to the whole album, you'll hear Sadé and Bob Marley, but in my own way. It takes you down to memory lane, with a lot of throwbacks in a very tasteful and complimentary way to everyone that came before us. I'm excited to share that.

You have a remix of “You” with Rick Ross, how did that come about?

My A&R is totally responsible. He reached out, and I think Rick Ross’ A&R reached out too, and we were like like, “Okay, let’s do this!”. About three weeks ago or a month, we got the remix as a surprise. I was thrilled to hear the old school Rick Ross delivering on it. We all love it. We also have a Ghostface Killah remix that dropped last Friday that I’m also very excited about.

I know the original has 2 million views. How did that feel? Did you expect that?

I hoped for it because I was like, this brought me back to my high school years listening to The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, and all those Hip Hop artists. So it was like, I hope people receive it the way I intended it. I think it's time we got more of that old school sound from the soul.

So, you're going to be performing with Cardi B and also at Summer Jam. So I know you’re excited about that too.

I think it's amazing how you can be hoping for things and writing things down on paper, then you just slowly see it manifest piece by piece. It really makes me think.

Who else would you like to work with in the future?

You know what? I don't like to jinx things before it manifests. I believe that if you work, you should work in silence and then surprise. So, I'm gonna keep it a secret for now in a surprise for the readers and fans :)

What's the one message you want the readers and your fans to remember about you and never forget? What do you want them to take away from your music?

That God is love, and love is God.