Nicole Asked To Perform Here
ONE thing that strikes you about acclaimed American Gospel singer Nicole C. Mullen is her remarkable humility. Nicole was in the country last week to explore projects by Compassion International, a Christian international charity non-governmental organisation. That is a humanitarian cause and some
By Sebidde Kiryowa
Gospel singer Nicole warmed her way into the hearts of Ugandans with her groundbreaking Redeemer
ONE thing that strikes you about acclaimed American Gospel singer Nicole C. Mullen is her remarkable humility. Nicole was in the country last week to explore projects by Compassion International, a Christian international charity non-governmental organisation. That is a humanitarian cause and some artistes would want the world to know.
Not Nicole. She never even wanted to talk to the press. Reason? She would end up overshadowing the cause, a thing she did not want. While here, Nicole and her husband David Mullen, who is also her producer, identified two children whom they pledged to pay school fees for. These are Christine, 6 and Emmanuel, 5.
In addition, the couple is already looking after one child in Haiti, one in Dominican Republic and two in Kenya.
The couple has an adopted child back home, Maxi, 6, whom they took on when he was three weeks old. They have two children of their own, Jazzman 10, and Josiah, who is only a year old.
The other apparent thing about Nicole is her profound love for God and singing for Him: “When I sing for the Lord, I put my heart and soul into lifting His name. I do not hold back and if it takes me jumping around, shaking my hair on stage — if it takes me screaming at the top of my lungs, or dancing until I’m sweaty. Whatever it takes, I want to convince you that this Christ that I have is real.â€
Nicole warmed her way into the hearts of many Ugandan Gospel and secular music lovers alike with her groundbreaking Redeemer, off her 2000 self-titled album.
For a Gospel song, this track enjoyed unusually much airplay on mainstream radio stations in Uganda. When I Call On Jesus from her Grammy nominated and multi-Dove Award-winning 2001 album Talk About It also struck a cord with Ugandan music lovers across the board, making Nicole one of the biggest American Gospel singers in Uganda.
Her music is a blend of Rhythm and Blues (R&B), folk, gospel, and pop, a style she calls “funkabilly.â€
And we had an opportunity to hear the songstress belt out some of these hits at Leadership Development Programme graduation at Speke Resort, Munyonyo, on Thursday.
Nicole’s love for singing is as strong as her voice is captivating. We were all blown away by her soulful, multi-octave voice. First she sang Redeemer. Her performance of When I Call On Jesus had the guests yelling in approval.
Tim Lwanga, the state minister for ethics and integrity, who stood in for the chief guest, First Lady Janet Museveni, made no secret his admiration of the singer and asked her to come again. It is just as well because Nicole, who said she fell in love with Africa (this is her first time here), promised to return around September next year to perform.
“We have been overwhelmed by what we have seen here. We are going to enter into negotiations with promoters here, Cape Town, Nairobi and Ghana to see that Nicole performs here,†said her manager.
But ‘big’ is not a word you want to use with Nicole. “If a song that I write touches one person out there to Christ, it does not matter how many copies it sells. To me it is successful,†she asserts when I ask her how big Redeemer was in the US.
Nonetheless, Nicole admits that although the Redeemer album made her famous, Talk About Jesus sold more and generally was more successful.
Oh, and the other thing she does not want you to ask is her age. Her manager says she does not know how old Nicole is.
“When you ask how old she is, she says, ‘I am older than Brittany but younger than Janet or Celine sometimes’.â€
I am preoccupied with her initial success, so I steer the conversation back to Redeemer. “How did you come up with this song and did you have any idea it would be this successful?†I ask.
“I remember sitting on a couch one day and thinking about how Job (in the Bible) lost everything he had and went through a lot of suffering but still proclaimed: ‘I know my redeemer lives.’
“Then I was thinking about how I’d gone through a lot but nothing compared to Job. Then, as I held and played my guitar, the first verse came to me.... but I did not write the second verse until a year later (laughs).â€
In fact, Nicole did not set out to write the song for herself.
“It was more like a comfort song for me. I’d written Redeemer for a group called Point of Grace. But with time, I found that I connected a lot with it and decided not to let it go,†she confesses.
The Nashville-based singer/songwriter, minister and choreographer, who co-wrote On My Knees (a track recorded by Jaci Velasquez) that won her a Dove Award in 1998 for songwriter, had been asked by her record company A&R boss to write another song similar to it.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nicole started singing at a tender age of two.
Her maternal and paternal grandfathers were Pentecostal pastors.
She sang with her father, mother and sisters all throughout school. She sang back-up vocals for various musicians.
When she was a teenager, Nicole landed a record deal with a small record label in her hometown, Nashville.
“A few years later, I met David (her husband) at the Gospel Music Association. He was still a musician then. He hired me to do back-up vocals and choreography for him.
“One thing led to another as I started singing for various people. Three years later, we got married. I was signed to Word Records. That was when Redeemer was recorded,†she says.
In 2002, Nicole released a Christmas album, Christmas in Black and White.
Last year, she released a DVD, Live In Cincinnati...Bringing it Home, recorded at the Aronoff Theatre before an audience of friends, family and thousands of fans.
Today, she is working on a new album to be released later in the year.
Nicole has worked as a vocalist with Michael W. Smith, as a songwriter for Jaci Velasquez, and as a dancer and choreographer with Amy Grant for her Heart in Motion tour.
Gospel singer Nicole warmed her way into the hearts of Ugandans with her groundbreaking Redeemer
ONE thing that strikes you about acclaimed American Gospel singer Nicole C. Mullen is her remarkable humility. Nicole was in the country last week to explore projects by Compassion International, a Christian international charity non-governmental organisation. That is a humanitarian cause and some artistes would want the world to know.
Not Nicole. She never even wanted to talk to the press. Reason? She would end up overshadowing the cause, a thing she did not want. While here, Nicole and her husband David Mullen, who is also her producer, identified two children whom they pledged to pay school fees for. These are Christine, 6 and Emmanuel, 5.
In addition, the couple is already looking after one child in Haiti, one in Dominican Republic and two in Kenya.
The couple has an adopted child back home, Maxi, 6, whom they took on when he was three weeks old. They have two children of their own, Jazzman 10, and Josiah, who is only a year old.
The other apparent thing about Nicole is her profound love for God and singing for Him: “When I sing for the Lord, I put my heart and soul into lifting His name. I do not hold back and if it takes me jumping around, shaking my hair on stage — if it takes me screaming at the top of my lungs, or dancing until I’m sweaty. Whatever it takes, I want to convince you that this Christ that I have is real.â€
Nicole warmed her way into the hearts of many Ugandan Gospel and secular music lovers alike with her groundbreaking Redeemer, off her 2000 self-titled album.
For a Gospel song, this track enjoyed unusually much airplay on mainstream radio stations in Uganda. When I Call On Jesus from her Grammy nominated and multi-Dove Award-winning 2001 album Talk About It also struck a cord with Ugandan music lovers across the board, making Nicole one of the biggest American Gospel singers in Uganda.
Her music is a blend of Rhythm and Blues (R&B), folk, gospel, and pop, a style she calls “funkabilly.â€
And we had an opportunity to hear the songstress belt out some of these hits at Leadership Development Programme graduation at Speke Resort, Munyonyo, on Thursday.
Nicole’s love for singing is as strong as her voice is captivating. We were all blown away by her soulful, multi-octave voice. First she sang Redeemer. Her performance of When I Call On Jesus had the guests yelling in approval.
Tim Lwanga, the state minister for ethics and integrity, who stood in for the chief guest, First Lady Janet Museveni, made no secret his admiration of the singer and asked her to come again. It is just as well because Nicole, who said she fell in love with Africa (this is her first time here), promised to return around September next year to perform.
“We have been overwhelmed by what we have seen here. We are going to enter into negotiations with promoters here, Cape Town, Nairobi and Ghana to see that Nicole performs here,†said her manager.
But ‘big’ is not a word you want to use with Nicole. “If a song that I write touches one person out there to Christ, it does not matter how many copies it sells. To me it is successful,†she asserts when I ask her how big Redeemer was in the US.
Nonetheless, Nicole admits that although the Redeemer album made her famous, Talk About Jesus sold more and generally was more successful.
Oh, and the other thing she does not want you to ask is her age. Her manager says she does not know how old Nicole is.
“When you ask how old she is, she says, ‘I am older than Brittany but younger than Janet or Celine sometimes’.â€
I am preoccupied with her initial success, so I steer the conversation back to Redeemer. “How did you come up with this song and did you have any idea it would be this successful?†I ask.
“I remember sitting on a couch one day and thinking about how Job (in the Bible) lost everything he had and went through a lot of suffering but still proclaimed: ‘I know my redeemer lives.’
“Then I was thinking about how I’d gone through a lot but nothing compared to Job. Then, as I held and played my guitar, the first verse came to me.... but I did not write the second verse until a year later (laughs).â€
In fact, Nicole did not set out to write the song for herself.
“It was more like a comfort song for me. I’d written Redeemer for a group called Point of Grace. But with time, I found that I connected a lot with it and decided not to let it go,†she confesses.
The Nashville-based singer/songwriter, minister and choreographer, who co-wrote On My Knees (a track recorded by Jaci Velasquez) that won her a Dove Award in 1998 for songwriter, had been asked by her record company A&R boss to write another song similar to it.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nicole started singing at a tender age of two.
Her maternal and paternal grandfathers were Pentecostal pastors.
She sang with her father, mother and sisters all throughout school. She sang back-up vocals for various musicians.
When she was a teenager, Nicole landed a record deal with a small record label in her hometown, Nashville.
“A few years later, I met David (her husband) at the Gospel Music Association. He was still a musician then. He hired me to do back-up vocals and choreography for him.
“One thing led to another as I started singing for various people. Three years later, we got married. I was signed to Word Records. That was when Redeemer was recorded,†she says.
In 2002, Nicole released a Christmas album, Christmas in Black and White.
Last year, she released a DVD, Live In Cincinnati...Bringing it Home, recorded at the Aronoff Theatre before an audience of friends, family and thousands of fans.
Today, she is working on a new album to be released later in the year.
Nicole has worked as a vocalist with Michael W. Smith, as a songwriter for Jaci Velasquez, and as a dancer and choreographer with Amy Grant for her Heart in Motion tour.