Although it's tempting to judge senior Keith Nimene merely by his appearance, one would be quite misled. A musician, writer and designer, he is a man cloaked with many layers.
He never ceases to amaze even those closest to him with the scope of his talents. An aspiring rapper who goes by the stage name Black Keef, he lets his music and fashion speak loudly, despite his initial quiet demeanor.
An English major, Nimene has always had a love of words that can be easily seen in his poems and raps. At the age of 13, he was influenced by Lil' Wayne and started rapping in his spare time. Since then, the Houston music scene has been the biggest influence on his personal style.
From Led Zeppelin and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Phunkadelic and Nas, the wide range of musical talents that Nimene draws inspiration from is reflected through his blend of rock and hip-hop.
"I think there's a strong blues culture, and it resonates in modern hip-hop," Nimene said. "There are different flows, [but] they evolved over time. I think I'm trying to bring it back to black music."
He recently released his first underground album, The Samples. The 15-track collection touches upon everything from sexism and crime to college life and partying.
In his song, "Black Prez," Nimene gives a "person-off-the-street's" perspective of the flaws of our government. He raps, "I'm that quiet cat, fightin' back/If you got a problem, usually I'm doin' me, so hopefully I'm resolvin'."
Junior Grant Bond, Nimene's good friend and fraternity brother, feels that Nimene's laid-back personality makes him a refreshing person.
"On this campus, people are very high-strung and concerned [about something]-grades, investment banking, the environment," Bond said. "When you talk to Keith, he's so calming and he'll bring you down [from the stress]."
Despite being extremely mellow, Nimene displays a great amount of passion and drive for what he loves.
"He's the hardest working man alive," Bond said. "He's trying to get out there. People talk about wanting to make it big, but he's [truly] determined. One time, a couple of us were talking about music, and this guy said he wanted to listen to some of Keith's stuff. Literally, out of his back pocket, Keith pulls out his CD."
Friend and DJ John Choi, who helped produce the tracks on Nimene's album, feels that Nimene's persistence has helped Choi himself grow as an artist and to be more open to unexpected ideas.
"He'll [envision] a musical idea and just stick with it," Choi said. "And sometimes he'll have some sounds, and I'll tell him there's no way it can be incorporated. But after working with it for a while, we produce something that's actually pretty good."
Of course, in addition to his dedication and musical creativity, Nimene has an instinctual ability for flow and delivery.
"He's motivated by his free-styling," Choi said. "He's a type of person that does not like to plan out musical ideas and [instead] just plays it. When he comes over to my place, he hears a beat [and] he'll just start writing stuff down."
Besides having natural talents, Nimene also expresses his creativity from head to toe. Adding to his varied musical talents-he also plays the guitar and bass in a couple of the tracks-Nimene is also known to express himself through his loud sense of fashion, most notably his airbrushed shoes.
Beginning sophomore year, he started coming up with designs to tag his kicks with. These "shoe tattoos" are inspired by everything. For example, his freshman-year experience of playing videogames in Gilbert-Addoms largely influenced his first creation, a pair of Adidas featuring Mario and Luigi. His latest sneaker concept, an image contrasting urban life with rural scenery, expresses how torn he was when he had to move out of his hometown of Houston to a suburb outside the city.
"For me, I don't like having the same thing other people have," Nimene said. "I want to make it so that when you see a person's shoes, you can tell what they do. It's for self-promotion."
Whether through his style, music or writing, Nimene expresses everything in a manner that is wholly representative of himself.
"I try to keep [my material] somewhat intellectual and 'real,'" Nimene said. "I try not to be like 'da hood' because I'm not a gangster. But at the same time, I don't try to be like bohemian or overly-conscious. I'm not a perfect person, so I try to keep it honest."
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