Million Dollar Mano at Diesel XXX party in New York City
Million Dollar Mano
By Ferrari Sheppard
If you're not familiar with up and coming, dj and super-producer extraordinaire, Million Dollar Mano, allow me to fill you in. Million Dollar Mano has produced tracks for Kanye West's G.O.O.D. music artist GLC, DTP's ( Disturbing the Peace) Shawnna and fellow Chicago up and comers, Mic Terror and Hollywood Holt. Mano began his career, dj'ing at night clubs and parties in Chicago but has since then, toured with two of the biggest names in music, Lupe Fiasco and M.I.A.. Currently working on an ongoing collaboration with electro songstess, Drea, to form the music group, He Say, She Say, Million Dollar Mano, is looking to change the face of music. I caught up with Mano to ask him a few questions and this is what was said:
StopBeingFamous: Mano, what is your birth name?
Million Dollar Mano: Emmanuel Nickerson. Mano is short for Emmanuel.
SBF: You grew up on the South Side of Chicago, which is primarily black. Growing up, did you seek out cultural diversity, was it there?
M: I was brought up around it. I went to Catholic school from first to eighth grade. I made a big transition when I transferred from St. John De La Salle (103rd St. and King Drive), which was all black, to St. Anne (159th St. in Hazel Crest, South Suburbs), which was mostly white but became mixed. I found culture from the arts, being a graffiti writer and breaking (break dancing). My cousin and I found a big difference in breaking at The Point in Hyde Park, one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods on the
South Side, and where I'm from in the South burbs (Dixmoor, Illinois) where there is no culture, period. It was hard finding creative outlets in a town that has no creative diversity.
SBF: Describe your old neighborhood. What is it like when you go back?
M: It's still fucked up. They tore down this porn shop down the street from my crib to build an Aldi! Now, there are McDonald's, two liquor stores, a meat market, a car dealership, JJ's Fish and Arnie's Pizza! All they need now is a currency exchange for me to cash my check and I won't ever have to leave. It's really sad. I'm proud of where I'm from 'cause I've risen to the occasion and I'm not a "product of my environment," but I have my parents to thank also for keeping me out of all types of dumb shit a young black kid can get into. My friend and neighbor Bobby's oldest brother was one of the biggest Black Stone gangsters in the 90's. He was so respected he got his own Black Stones named after him, the Jibari Moe's. My other neighbor was a big, Black Disciple; I knew and randomly hung with a lot of "bad" and "dangerous" people and still managed not to get into dumb shit. When I started making music, I was gooning with those dudes or just on some chill shit and they were the one's telling me to fall back from them and to go hard on my music.
SBF: What does it feel like to be in front of a crowd of thousands? You obviously focus on the music but does the buzz of the crowd ever distract you?
M: No, I love seeing the crowd's reaction. It's amazing and I feed off of it. I don't like when someone tries to hold a conversation when I'm dj'ing. It's the worst. I can't focus and blend my records precisely.
SBF: How did you come to DJ for M.I.A.?
M: My friends, the Cool Kids were on tour with her and she was talking to Mikey (Rocks) about djs and he recommended me. I got a trial session at Fashion Week 2008 in New York City at the Marc Jacobs after party, one of the hardest parties to get into, period. She was scheduled to dj but asked me to dj with her. It was insane. I kind of blew up in NYC with all the taste makers after that. It was ill.That was in February 2008.
SBF: What's the craziest thing to happen to you while on the road?
M: Playing alongside the Beastie Boys and having them watch my set and give me props in Mexico was so dope.
SBF: You are working on a project with singer/songwriter Drea. The two of you combined to form the group He Say She Say. What can we expect to hear from the upcoming album? Are you experimenting with any new sounds or approaches?
M: God willing, our album will be done soon and dropping next year. Drea and I are just trying to make music we can be fans of and know that everyone else can appreciate.
SBF: At the end of the day, what is it that you feel most people don't know about you but you wish they did?
M: That I'm legit with everything that I've obtained and do now. A lot of whack third-tier backpackers think I'm some jerk kid that's trying to be on this 80's baby shit. My style is, indeed, throwback, but my appearance is new and innovative. I teach the youth and school myself by just being an incredible human being.
SBF: You have been around the world, is there anything you've experienced abroad that has had a lasting effect?
M: Yeah, the first time I went to Asia with Lupe (Fiasco) I felt a sense of accomplishment. Where I'm from, not a lot of people can say that they've been out of the country for creating art and being an individual. If they do go out of the country, it's from being in the army.
SBF: Searching for music used to be called digging in the crates, now that there is a digital standard is it difficult to find new sampling material? How do you go about finding new music?
M: I just get inspired by life. I can be in a store one day and hear a song that I used to hear all the time on the radio and get that same awesome feeling I did when I was young.
SBF: Critics have a way of putting musicians in a box with labels like "gangster rapper" or "backpack rapper." If you could make up a name to describe your brand of music, what would it be?
M: I make all types of music. I'm diverse and have a plethora of influences, so my style or genre is undefined. I make Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, Dance music, Electro, R&B, etc.
SBF: Ultimately, what is your goal in this music business? Is there any goal not related to music that you would like to accomplish?
M: I want to make the best music that I can and go harder than all of my peers. Kanye said it best, "I want to be in the books," the history books. I want to help design and influence an era and I want to be happy and financially stable enough to do anything I want at any given time and make opportunities for my friends and family. End of Interview.
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Million Dollar Mano and Hollywood Holt, Lollapalooza 2008. Photo by Clayton Hauck
M.I.A. and Mano at Marc Jacobs after party in New York City, February 2008.
He Say, She Say. Photo by Ten.
Hollywood Holt, Santogold, Jeremy Scott and Million Dollar Mano
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