Meet Nique Love Rhodes | Hip-Hop Artist & Social Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nique Love Rhodes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nique, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I decided to start my artistic and create career as a hip-hop artist, songwriter, and entrepreneur because I have a deep sense of using my gifts and ideas to be of service to others, to inspire people, and to add value to people – to contribute positive vibes to the world. I also wanted to design a life where I can make a living doing what brings me joy.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a hip-hop artist, cultural organizer, and social entrepreneur based in Detroit, Michigan. My music pulls from a wide variety of sounds and influences, but is still authentically hip-hop – music that is for the people to inspire the people. Infused with universal truths, my music elevates positive vibrations within the universal collective conscience, and promotes social awareness and responsibility. I’ve been doing music professionally for about 10 years now, and have independently released projects and toured with my band The NLR Experience.

In addition to running my music business as an artist (consisting of my record label/management company, NLR Entertainment and a publishing company Black Mayflower Publishing), I‘m the founder of 3 additional enterprises – Rise Up Higher which is my advocacy non-profit connected to my music, using it as a tool to empower youth and advocate for various social justice initiatives that I’m passionate about; Culture Since 88 which is my creative consulting company and brand house for products/experiences outside of music, and D.Cipher which I co-founded with my homies/sibilings-in-music. D.Cipher is a music mastermind collective dedicated to advancing and building a more sustainable music economy in Michigan through collaboration and partnerships. To date, we have invested about $50k into the local music economy (primarily BIPOC artists) through our activations.

I believe that I got to where I am today through relentless belief in the vision God have me and the work ethic to manifest and execute ideas. I also believe that I’ve been intentional in being my authentic self in every room I’m in, and learning how to translate skill sets and knowledge that I have to be able to create opportunities for myself has been the key.

I’m extremely excited about my upcoming music projects – my album series titled LOVE US, and the studio and sonic hub development that D.Cipher is working on. I want the world to know that I’m a black woman, a Detroiter, a wife, a new mommy, and I’m coming hard to represent my people and the culture. Not letting up any time soon, I’m just getting started.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Detroit, I would definitely take my friend to the Dequindre Cut and Detroit City Distillery to experience some live music. I would take them to eat at Hudson Cafe for breakfast, 7Greens for lunch, Vicente’s for dinner, and then Motor City Wine for post-dinner fun over great wine and sounds by Detroit’s finest house music DJs. We would also hit up some of my favorite parks off the Detroit Riverfront or Belle Isle to soak up some sunrise/sunset vibes.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to shoutout God for being the source of my life, vision, and ideas. I want to shoutout out my parents, husband, and tribe for always believing in me, pushing me, and being my foundation. Two books that changed my life are the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra and the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I highly recommend these books to creative entrepreneur.

Website: https://www.nlr.world/

Instagram: Instagram.com/niqueloverhodes

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiquemcampbell

Facebook: Facebook.com/NiqueLoveRhodes

Youtube: YouTube.com/NiqueLoveRhodes

Image Credits
Photos 1, 3, and 4 by Dan McDougall Photo 2 by Lizz Grams