When it comes to Nick Cannon’s music career, the famed comedian admits that the journey hasn’t been a straightforward path. As timelines are filled with reports and commentary about Cannon becoming a father for the eighth time with a fifth woman, the media mogul chatted about the course of his music career with HipHopDX. This week, Cannon is set to deliver his R&B mixtape Raw N B: The Explicit Tape, and discussed his previous music industry aspirations and those in the industry who he had envied for being able to balance artistry and production.
“Music has always been an outlet for me,” he told the publication. “And that’s something I’ve always really, honestly, kept private. Because my public persona was always the nice, happy-go-lucky, always positive guy.”
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“So music has always been a place of therapy for me. And people don’t even know I was a trained musician and been playing instruments since I was kid. And really, I come from the church. So that’s where music began for me and where music is always laid,” he continued. “So even my rap career was … I was young and a little bubblegum-y and all of that. But the true musician in me was always somebody I’d be singing gospel music and singing my pain and singing. For now, just to be able to have the ability to display that and open that up, has really been a vision.”
He added that he dreamed of being more than just a performer, but a businessman like many other label heads and creatives that carved out legacies in music.
“I always envied the Pharrells and the Kanyes because they got to be producer/artists, where I was more of an artist/producer,” Cannon admitted. “I always wanted to be a producer first. That was always my dream. Even as a kid, I started DJing and stuff at parties and making beats. I never really wanted to be the front man in music. My dream was to be the next Jermaine Dupri or the next P. Diddy when I was a kid.”
Check out the tracklist for Raw N B: The Explicit Tape below.
1. A Player’s Prayer Intro (Midnight Service) f. K. Michelle
2. Weekend Girl
3. I Do f. Chris Brown
4. F*#k Me So Ncredible (Part 1 & 2)
5. Good D f. Hitman Holla
6. Lil Bro f. Jacquees
7. 7 o’clock
8. The Provider (Twerk)
9. Got Hoes f. TraeTwoThree
10. F*#k You Better
11. F.A.I.T.H.F.U.L. f. Brandy
12. Alone
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