NotNice Talks Wanting To Help Alkaline’s Career, Not Make A Second Vybz Kartel

Many dancehall fans share the opinion that Vendetta singer Alkaline modeled the beginning of his career after Vybz Kartel. After all, he began indulging in tattoos and even bleached his skin. Fans placed the blame squarely on producer NotNice, who began working with Alkaline after he had stopped producing music for Vybz Kartel when the two had a confrontation in 2011.

NotNice recently spoke with fellow producer Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden on Diwali Broadcast during an Instagram live last week about his influence on Alkaline and the fact that he simply wanted to help the artiste not make him a second Worl’ Boss. The Diwali Broadcast is an online quarantine series featuring various players in the music industry.

He explained that he knew Alkaline from school days and so felt inclined to give him a push in the right direction. The two attended Ardenne High School.

“Mi know Alkaline from him a go school and mi did decide fi record him one time, and him never did a flow right so mi seh gwaan do yuh thing and you’ll ketch the thing little better,” NotNice said.

NotNice also said that Alkaline used gimmicks early on in his career because he wanted to get the attention of the public. The producer explained that at that time, he was recovering from no longer being associated with Kartel’s Portmore Empire, and the timing was just right for him to help out Alkaline.

“Him call me one night, I think him did deh pon Entertainment Report (ER) the night a seh him tattoo him eye,” he said. “When it done him call me and seh him never know seh mi have the same number… so him seh him a forward a di studio come link mi…mi give him the directions and him come. Him seh him deh pon ER and a do some interviews but him n’ave no song… him need material so if me woulda interested fi produce a song wid him and mi seh alright.”

The two got together and created Things Mi Love. He shared how they got the song on the airwaves and how much of a struggle it was.

“Alkaline did have a Rasta bredren around him at the time and mi tell him, ‘if you can go inna di party and get this fi play before or after Dye Dye [a Macka Diamond song], mi sure it a go buss. Dem a seh when mi out deh wid dem di ting more a get play so mi seh, ‘mi a go start forward a road wid unno a night time’ so is like people start associate mi and Alkaline and a ask if a mi artiste and mi seh yeah…”

The relationship would be mutually beneficial and the pair went on to create more music including songs like Move Mountains and Ready. Eventually, his music began penetrating the airwaves and NotNice also began to manage Alkaline.

“Mi basically get him out deh to where people start voice him now… inna da time deh Alkaline career pick up.”

However, things didn’t work out between the two and he explained why.

“Mi and Alkaline end up fall out too, mainly because him motive did different. Maybe the aim was yeah, mi fi help yuh come to the forefront and then afterwards yuh feel like yuh reach and mi nah go really tek dat so him go left, mi go right.”

NotNice has since said that his association with Vybz Kartel and Alkaline damaged his music career because other artists are apprehensive about working with him.

“The same thing that happen with Vybz Kartel is happening with Alkaline. They believe that I just want to work with a particular act, but it’s not like that. I just work with who will work with me,” he told the Jamaica Observer in 2014.

He also eventually parted ways with Popcaan.