Maurice Hicks Jr. (born February 14, 1984), who goes by the stage name Uncle Reece, is an American

Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United ...

musician. He released his first album, 2014's ''Bold'', with Obed Music Group. This was a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart breakthrough release.

Early life

Uncle Reece was born Maurice Hicks Jr. on February 14, 1984, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

, to a father who served in the military, Maurice Hicks Sr. and his mother Cecilia Anita Hicks. He loves music. He graduated from Florida State University with an Associate degree in Mathematics.

Music career

His music career started in 2012, with the release of "Until I Pass Out" single on March 1 of that year, and it charted at No. 15 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart by ''

''. His second single, "I Cant' Help Myself", would chart at No. 19 on that chart and at No. 48 on the

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...

. His first album, ''Bold'', came out on June 3, 2014 on his own label Obed Music. This would chart on two ''Billboard'' charts, on the

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan Luminate (formerly Niels ...

at No. 30 and on the

Top Gospel Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

at No. 9. The album received a three and a half star out of five review by Dwayne Lacy of New Release Tuesday, and it comes "highly recommend d from Daniel Cody at Wade-O Radio. Rea Melissa Davis, writes for

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

, how "Uncle Reece is quite the musical melting pot. With ''BOLD'' ,Uncle Reece is not confined to the church, and there are no limits or boundaries to the way he can express his praise." He is nominated at the 30th Stellar Awards for the Rap Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year and New Artist of the Year.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uncle Reece 1984 births Living people African-American male rappers American male rappers African-American Christians Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida Musicians from Savannah, Georgia Performers of Christian hip hop music Rappers from Florida Rappers from Georgia (U.S. state) Songwriters from Florida Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people American male songwriters