NICOLE C. MULLEN
Biography (courtesy of Word Records)
Nicole C. Mullen has emerged as one of this generation's most compelling singer/songwriters. Her new album, Talk About It, continues the journey that Nicole began with her breathtaking, self-titled, multi-Dove Award winning debut effort. Blessed with one of contemporary Christian music's most distinctive voices, she is also a songwriter of rare insight and sensitivity. With songs that run the gamut from soaring praise ballads to intimate worship arias; from gritty hip hop anthems to sinewy, Gospel barnburners, Nicole has the uncanny ability to build bridges over those boundary lines that separate cultures; young and old, black and white, pop and urban. Indeed, the songs on Talk About Itcreate a space of unity in this often-fragmented world?a place where everyone can wrap Nicole's mellifluous vocal interpretations around their shoulders and feel welcome.
Nicole's fearless insights as well as her ear for authenticity infuse her songs with a visceral and emotional resonance that connects with her audience on multiple levels. The scope of her remarkable appeal was recognized earlier this year, as she became the first woman in fourteen years to receive the Gospel Music Association's Songwriter of the Year title. And when her incredible worship song, "Redeemer" was named Song of the Year, she joined the ranks of Gloria Gaither and Michael W. Smith as the only songwriter ever to have two songs honored with that distinction. In fact, she is the first African American ever to win a Dove Award in the Song of the Year category, and she often finds herself performing in churches that have never invited an African American guest before!
But rather than fostering feelings of pride and self-importance, these accolades merely reinforce Nicole's conviction that God has chosen the weak things in the world to confound the strong. It is a conviction that is not only inextricably woven throughout the fabric of Nicole's eagerly awaited follow-up project, Talk About It, it is a conviction she walks out in her everyday life. Long known as a mentor and advocate for teenage girls, Nicole frequently keeps teens at her home outside of Nashville and teaches a dance class at her studio in Franklin, Tennessee.
While her semi-autobiographical debut project served to introduce the world to Nicole C. Mullen, Nicole is just as quick to point the world toward its Maker. "I have seen God do extraordinary things in my life," she insists. "I am ordinary, but I get confidence when I call on Jesus. I see the contrast between the ordinary and God doing something extraordinary; the mundane joined to the glorious. That's what this album is all about. Talk About It is a group of stories about life, and about people. It is a celebration of a big God who works through everyday heroes."
To help her with the task, Nicole enlisted the aid of her husband, David Mullen, who also produced her first album. The collaboration resulted in 11 handpicked tracks, all written or co-written by Nicole and delivered with just the right blend of passion and grace. Marked by the same multi-layered, no-boundaries songcrafting that launched "Redeemer" and "On My Knees" to the top of the charts, Talk About It offers a delicious collection of shimmering pop ballads, book ended by funky, urban-inflected cuts which perfectly display Nicole's unbridled creativity.
The result of their efforts is reflected in riveting songs like "Sometimes" with its caroming drum track, and "Baby Girl" which combines Nicole's compelling storytelling ability with her signature musical arrangements and fervent gospel rhythms. Cuts like "Let Me Go," sport street-wise beats mixed with smoky bass and string lines that make you want to dance. But it is when Nicole gets mellow, as on the gently lilting ballad "Come Unto Me," that everybody has church.
Nicole's sociological insights are also prevalent in Talk About It. The unity-evoking "Black Light" celebrates the triumphs of the civil rights movement, as it encourages all of us to stand on the shoulders of giants and shine as lights in a dark world.
As fresh as the music is, it is once again the lyrical depth of Nicole's songs that captures the hearts of her listeners. In the tradition of her Dove Award winning Song of the Year, "Redeemer," Nicole offers "Call On Jesus," a scintillating ballad in which she expresses her own fears and doubts before surrendering to the glory that is Christ in us. "But when I call on Jesus, all things are possible," she exults. "And it is not just for me. The same strength and power that I can tap into is available to everyone."
She penned "When Heaven Calls" as her ultimate prayer. "To me, "When Heaven Calls" is more about life than it is about death?even though it is about death. There is going to come a time when this life will be over, and I will have to give an account as to how I lived. I will stand before my God and Savior, and because I know that He awaits me, I do not fear death."
Although Nicole started writing songs as a shy, young teenager, it was the explosion of her classic song, the Dove Award winning "On My Knees," that catapulted her to the top of the Christian music charts and established her as a songwriter to be reckoned with. Nicole quickly followed with the release of her stunning 2000 debut release which would eventually earn her four more Dove awards, including a repeat Song of the Year award for "Redeemer" and the coveted Songwriter of the Year award.
Nicole's reputation as a live performer has also garnered her acclaim throughout her career. She has toured with some of Christian music's most legendary performers, including Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith, and provided background vocals on scores of projects. She has choreographed for The Newsboys and acted with Carman. And, of course, she is the voice of the Larry-Boy Theme Song.
Still, it is Nicole's ability to create tales of conflict seen through compassionate eyes that evokes respect from her peers and fans alike. With "Witness," Nicole struts with more attitude than David confronting Goliath. "You might just be a little kid," she chants, "but you can slay giants just the way that David did." On "The Ring," the hip-hop anthem Nicole penned as an encouragement to girls to save themselves for marriage, she admonishes, "If you want to step to me, you better know one thing?this love I got you'll never get, without a wedding ring."
The title song, like the album, invokes multiple meanings, capturing both the subtlety and complexity of the aural canvas on which Nicole chooses to paint. "Talk About It is filled with songs about ordinary, everyday people," Nicole insists. "And, to be honest, I fit in that category too, because I don't have any special talent. When God decided to use me, I didn't have anything special to offer Him. We are all like Clark Kent outside the telephone booth: when we take off the suit and the cape, we look just like everybody else. But when we call on Jesus, and His power and His strength, then we are bad to the bone! We get to put on His armor and His light. We get to do things that we would never have been able to do in our own strength."
"There is a scripture that says 'The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,'" Nicole declares. "Talk about it! We cried out for His mercy and grace. We cried out in our affliction and He came and helped us. He rescued us. We should talk about it."
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Biography 2
"The world is looking for someone who believes in something," says singer/songwriter/ choreographer/actress/youth advocate/mentor Nicole C. Mullen. "What do you believe in? I believe in Christ. And for that I will not apologize." It is a confession that pulses with a white-hot intensity through every song of Nicole's major label debut, NICOLE C. MULLEN.
Produced by Justin Niebank and Nicole's husband David Mullen, this long anticipated album captures the heart and soul of the Cincinnati, Ohio native. Set against a sonic tapestry that Nicole describes as "funkabilly", NICOLE C. MULLEN explores themes of self-worth ("Homemade"), racial harmony ("Black, White, Tan"), and her defiant faith in Jesus ("Shooby"). "Musically, this project is a hybrid of a lot of different styles," Nicole explains. "Funk, R&B, pop, and black gospel mixed generously with folk and hillbilly, but with urban grooves running throughout. A lot of the songs are in story form; stories about my family, my childhood, my faith."
The album, like its author, is vivacious, joyful, and relentlessly enthusiastic, while maintaining an uncanny ability to speak with honesty and vulnerability about life as it is. And about life as it should be. Born into a loving, nurturing Christian home, Nicole knew the stability of a mother who prayed for her daily and a father who worked at the same job for thirty-eight years, sacrificing his own dreams of a music career to provide for his family. With grandparents on both sides of the family who were Pentecostal preachers, Nicole both heard and received the Gospel at an early age. And from an early age she found herself singing. "It was something that I loved to do, that I felt called to do," she says. "I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I always knew that if doing music was the Lord's will for me, then I wouldn't have to strive for it."
While Nicole's home life was secure, life outside the loving confines of family could be cruel. "I wasn't cute," she says bluntly. "And I didn't have a lot of stuff. Ladies from church would make clothes for me. They were decent, but you could tell they weren't store-bought. There were some girls who rode on the school bus, who would make fun of me. 'Homemade.' That's what they would call me," she muses without animosity. "Every morning, without fail. 'Here comes Homemade!' But I remember thinking, 'God still has a plan for me that these girls cannot touch.' I came to the conclusion that it really wasn't up to the perpetrator to determine how I was going to turn out. It was up to me. The choice was mine. I could choose to forgive, and allow the Lord to heal the hurt, or I could choose to be a victim. I chose to forgive those girls, and because of that, God has changed me." Nicole recounts the event in her semi-autobiographical song, "Homemade." She does not deny the hurt or the heartbreak. Instead she allows love to do its perfect work. "It is amazing what Love can do," she sings. "Ain't it amazing what Love can do?"
NICOLE C. MULLEN struts confidently into dance-pop territory with cuts like "Butterly" and the funk-tinged "Freedom." And "On My Knees," the song recorded by Jaci Velasquez that earned Nicole, the writer, a Dove Award, for Song of the Year in 1998, is delivered with enough passion and emotion to drive those with the hardest of hearts to their knees. Nicole captures the inherent tension of each song on the project, wrapping her delicious, mellifluous vocals around each, imbuing them with warmth and charm. She invites, cajoles, compels you to join her in the dance of life. "I want you to know this Christ that I know," she insists. "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 'til I'm sweaty, whatever it takes, I want to convince you that this Christ that I have is real."
While NICOLE C. MULLEN focuses the spotlight on Nicole the singer/songwriter, there is another side of Nicole that is equally comfortable in the footlights. She honed her performing skills singing backup, dancing, and choreographing for such chart-topping acts as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and the Newsboys. Kids around the world recognize her as "Serena the Cat" on the Dove Award, winning video series YO! KIDS, and as the vocalist on the Larry Boy Theme Song from 'VeggieTales'. And she recently wrapped up a role in "The Story You Can Believe In", an episode of THE VISUAL BIBLE FOR KIDS from Tommy Nelson.
Nicole has not just spent the past few years polishing her skills as a performer. She has also focused her attention on her role as wife/mother/minister. Married to singer/songwriter David Mullen, the couple has two children, Jasmine and Max, who occupy center stage at the Mullen homestead. Together David and Nicole act as youth leaders in their local church, tutor inner-city kids on a weekly basis, and participate in the Kids Across America summer camp where they model the family unit to inner-city kids.
With NICOLE C. MULLEN, this multi-talented woman truly comes into her own, expressing her own musical ideas in her own inimitable style. But for Nicole Mullen, ministry is more than a hit record. It is a way of life. "I travel around the country singing to young people," she explains. "I encourage them to give their lives to Christ while they are young. Live it. Talk it. Christ is real. Without Him I would have nothing to sing about."
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