Robert Byrne (born 15 April 1987 in

Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...

, Dublin), better known by his stage name Nucentz, also known as Nu-Centz or Nuie, is an Irish rapper. In May 2011, Nucentz won ''Ireland's First Rap Superstar Competition'' to collaborate with world-wide hip-hop star

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

.''Rap Ireland Official Website'', Lupe Fiasco Rap Superstar- And the Winner Is, 21 April 2011
/ref>

Biography

Background

Nucentz was born and raised in Tallaght,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. At age 12, he began penning his own rap tunes under the alias Nu-Centz, a name he once joked that was given to him by his mother. He was a regular guest on 2FM's Friday night Hiphop show ''"The Big Smoke"''.

Hot Property

At age 15, Nucentz and fellow emcee ''Rawsoul'', set up the group ''Hot Property''. The group were also affiliated with Irish rapper ''Filthy Rich'' and Dublin singer-songwriter ''Paul Donnelly''. Over the next few years, Hot Property performed in several gigs across the country, and gained recognition for their controversial live sets. Nucentz and Rawsoul's ''Hot Property'' album was released in 2010 and featured popular page 3 model ''Claire Tully'' on the front and back cover.

Collaborations

In 2006, Nucentz performed with Brooklyn's underground hiphop emcee

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...

(of MTV

Lyricist Lounge The Lyricist Lounge is a hip hop showcase of rappers, emcees, DJs, and Graffiti artists. It has spawned the album '' Lyricist Lounge, Volume One'', '' Lyricist Lounge 2'' and '' Lyricist Lounge & Ecko Unlimited presents: Underground Airplay'', ...

fame) when he and his rhyme partner ''Punchline'' visited Dublin for their ''Art of Rhyme'' DVD promotion tour, alongside ''Craig G'' of the U.S rap pioneering ''"Juice Crew"''. Following this, Wordsworth collaborated with Nucentz on the track ''"Feels So Good"'' produced by Dublin's own ITF World Scratch Champion'' DJ Flip''. Wordsworth once again features on Nucentz' upcoming solo album entitled ''Tryin' 2 Build a Life on Curse Words''. Nucentz has also worked with a variety of the country's top urban DJ's and artists, including critically acclaimed Irish/English vocalist and rapper

Maverick Sabre Michael Stafford (born 12 July 1990), better known as Maverick Sabre, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and rapper. Early life Stafford was born in Stoke Newington, in Hackney, London. At age four, he moved with his family to New Ross, County W ...

.''Class A'z Online Music Store'', Sense The Terror, 2011

Gigs

Nucentz performed his first gig at 15 in the renowned Temple Bar Music Centre (now The Button Factory). Since then, he has performed in every major Dublin venue, including the O2. Nucentz has also supported

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, D12,

Asher Roth Asher Paul Roth (born August 11, 1985) is an American rapper from Morrisville, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his 2009 debut single " I Love College," which peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and foresaw the birth of frat ra ...

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip hop group the Lox. Formed with fellow rappe ...

Skinnyman Skinnyman (born Alexander Graham Holland, 9 November 1974) is a British rapping, rapper who was born in Chapeltown, West Yorkshire, Chapeltown Leeds, Yorkshire and moved to Finsbury Park (area), Finsbury Park, London at a young age. He is best ...

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hi ...

, Plan B and several other successful hip-hop acts in concert.

D.F.I Rap Battle League

In 2010, Nucentz appeared in two of the successful ''Da Fighting Irish'' Rap Battle League (D.F.I) events, winning both of his battles. Nucentz also featured on the DFI compilation mix-tape with his track "Win or Lose".

Ireland's First Rap Superstar Competition

In April 2011, Nucentz won ''Ireland's First Rap Superstar'' competition, securing more than half of the 67,000 votes. The competition was launched by popular Dublin radio station

SPIN 1038 SPIN 1038 (or simply SPIN; pronounced "spin one-oh-three-eight") is a local radio station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Bauer Media Audio Ireland and broadcasts on 103.8 FM under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Auth ...

's breakfast show ''Fully Charged'' with Ryan and Tracy, who teamed up with worldwide rap star

in a search to find Ireland's best hip-hop talent.

informed the entrants ''"if you bring a nice record, we'll narrow it down to three, we'll pick the best one and I'll do a verse on it"''. The search began on 7 March, with hundreds of entrants short-listed and eventually narrowed down to three finalists by Lupe and David Miller, Vice-President of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The three final tracks were subsequently put forth for a public vote.''SPIN 1038 Official Website'', Lupe Fiasco Finalists, 11 April 2011
/ref> Nucentz' winning track, entitled "Had Enough", was produced by Jamie Mc Peake, and features vocals from recently signed Irish R&B singer Gabriella Marsella and musicians Class B. The original track was featured on Nucentz and Terawrizt's 2011 collaborative mixtape ''Sense the Terror 2''. In January 2012, ''Had Enough'' debuted on Irish National Radio to much success. The popular radio single received ongoing air time and was play-listed on a host of top national radio stations.

Sin City

In late 2007, Class A'z released their ''"Sin City"'' video, produced by the ''Lambert Brothers''. The tracks itself, featuring Redzer, was lifted from Terawrizt & Nucentz' joint ''"Sense The Terror 1''" Mixtape. The video became an instant hit, earning over 300,000 plays to become the most viewed Irish rap video on youtube. The track also went Number 1 for 5 weeks in the ''Independent Irish Download Charts''.

Music style

Described by Ireland's biggest music website as ''"one of the standard bearers of hiphop in this country"'', Nucentz is also recognised for his easy-to-relate to lyrics, humorous punchlines, and ability to deliver a variety of styles and subject matters Nucentz is currently working on a long-awaited solo album ''Tryin' 2 Build a Life on Curse Words'', set for release this October. The album is set to feature prominent artists from both Europe and America. The video to the lead single "Do You Really Love me" (Feat. Funzo) was released on 15 October. Future Playboy model Shahira Barry starred in the Jonathan Lambert directed video which received over 10,000 hits in its first week. The song received extensive radio play in Dublin.

Return to Music & Final release

In August 2020, Nucentz announced via Social Media that he was returning to the studio to record music. Shortly after, he released a new single called "Feelin OK 2" which received the "Track of the Week" award on national Irish radio station 2FM. Nucentz appeared on the "No Shame" podcast with former UFC fighter Paddy Holohan, where he revealed that he is back recording and releasing a solo project soon. In August 2021, Nucentz released his final Single 'Pepsi in the Fridge' featuring Singer/Actress Kelly Thornton. The song peaked at Number 1 on the Irish Itunes charts .

Discography

Solo albums

* Music for the Open Minded (2004) * I Can Explain (2006)

Hot Property album

* Hot Property (2010)

Solo Mixtapes

* Hardest Working Man Volume 1 (2008): ''Free download'' * Hardest Working Man Volume 2 (2009) * Hardest Working Man Volume 3 (2012)

Collaborative Mixtapes

*Sense the Terror (2007): ''Free download'' *Sense the Terror 2 (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nucentz 1987 births Living people People from South Dublin (county) Irish male songwriters Celtic hip-hop musicians Irish male rappers