NEME$1$ (Born Rick Almeida) is a Multi-Genre Artist and Director, focusing primarily on Hip-Hop, Ambient, and EDM. He was born on February 27th, 1991 in Minas Gerais, Brazil… in the city of Valadares known for having the largest Brazilian diaspora to United States in the world, and famous for being one of the best places in the world for hand-gliding. He was born to a family of four: both parents and two older brothers.

[EARLY LIFE]

In the 80’s, NEM’s father was a Coyote (a term to describe people who transport illegal immigrants to other Countries). NEM’s father Manoel Almeida was responsible for hundreds crossing the border of various countries, helping develop Governador Valadares faster than most cities in Brazil. The pressures of this occupation led to family problems and competition with other coyotes…one day his parents woke up with a Hitman holding NEM as a baby and threatening them to leave town. This lead to his family moving to the U.S.A. NEM was only six months old.

NEM loved his Dad and described him as a “Positive Hippie type”. When NEM was 5 Years old, his Parents divorced and his Mom met a Brazilian Construction Worker by the name of Milton Silva, who used to be a Farmer in Brazil. They fell in love and years later he would legalize and give NEMs whole family Dual Citizenship except for one of his Brothers who had a felony drug charge. NEM says this about Milton: “My Stepdad was a hard ass, he was like Beau from that show The Ranch on Netflix, like he gives you “Tough Love”, we’d fight but I always wanted to make him proud and he made me the man I am today”. Between the ages of 6 and 16, NEM would visit Brazil about 6-7 times and stay whole Summers there thanks to his Stepdad.

Growing up in Florida during the early 90’s, NEM grew up watching his brothers and cousins become huge fans of Wu-Tang, Biggie, Tupac, Mobb Deep, Bone Thugs and Nas. The Wu’s symbols and influence Grew large in Florida and they became an immense influence to NEM on his taste and style of music. NEM Credits his cousin “Netino” for teaching him the basics of Hip-Hop and its formats, and RZA/DJ Paul & Juicy J as his biggest Role Models.

NEM attended Deerfield Park Elementary with childhood friend Kozmik growing up. The school was known for beating colleges with their marching bands at Martin Luther King Day Parades. (They famously beat FAMU with a song that local professor Mr.Gibbs taught them called FAMU) and NEM was a part of the Drum line. During this time NEM got a restraining order on a person for hitting them with a Golf Club, him and the victim were only 9-10 years old.

NEMs biological father died when he was 12 due to Alcoholism and Diabetes.

NEM during this era had aspirations of winning a World Cup for Brazil, playing Soccer daily and joining various leagues. After a few years of that he injured his left knee and could never play for more then 25 minutes without feeling excruciating pain.

Eventually at 14 years of age, NEM got into smoking Weed and learned to make beats and engineer using an affordable computer, Fruity Loops 7, Cool Edit Pro 2.0, a USB Mic, and a Booth/Closet as opposed to a fancy studio and equipment. NEM was once again arrested at a young age, but this time for shoplifting. He had 4 months probation with 80 hours of community service he served at the church in Deerfield Beach, FL ran by Pastor Knowles with the “Back on Track” program.

NEM worked hard in various minimum wage jobs and sold weed on the side, helping him invest on equipment and being able to work on his true passion: Music. For years NEM was trying to achieve fame with Kozmik and join a record label, Kozmik as the lead rapper and NEM producing (i.e Mobb Deep, Gangstarr, and Pete Rock & CL Smoothe) but both were unsuccessful. At this time Hip-Hop was too “Crunk” and “Pop” for them so their music didn’t go anywhere.

In the Mid-2000s, NEM started to explore other Genres and ended up going to Music Festivals and Raves. This was crucial to his diversity in Production later on. During this time NEM and Kozmik met a Brazilian Artist from New York named Trill. The 3 got together with a few more Artists from NEM and Kozmiks high school and started a crew called Lyrical Mafia. After recording a few songs and performing at their local talent show, they became pretty popular around school getting a buzz that could’ve blew them up if they had stayed consistent, but nothing materialized and the crew turned into a Gang called Mafia Boyz where they wore Green and got heavy into drugs and crime. By this time NEM was experimenting any drug that would come around, he tried just about everything except Heroin. One day Kozmik and Trill jumped and robbed a person they didn’t know was part of another Gang, and that ended up starting a feud between Mafia Boyz and 2 groups of rivals that teamed up to lash back at Mafia Boyz. This began a series of disputes between the two where parties ended in gunfire and it all climaxed when an investigation was established on the gang. Many members went into hiding.

NEM Graduated High School in 2008 at the age of 17 from a drop-out prevention program called the “Exit Program” at Dave Thomas Education Center, despite spending most his years attending Monarch High School.

In 2009, NEMs Brother Roger Almeida that wasn’t fortunate to get his Citizenship, was deported to Brazil and separated from his Daughter.

In 2010 Hip-Hop was making its way back with lyricism becoming more valued. At this point in time, the internet became a powerful tool for promotion such as YouTube and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Kozmik moved back to Brazil but NEM, bored and experimenting with psychedelics like LSD, Mushrooms, and Ecstasy, regained motivation and started working on his debut album “Headphone MuZ1k” with no intentions on getting signed to a Major, just building a cult following. NEM was also paying a lot of attention to Lil B’s “Based” philosophies at the time which NEM credits as “The Moment I got off my ass and started chasing my dream”. Soon after dropping the album he worked with Dizzy Wright before his run with Funk Volume.

In the summer of 2010, NEM was diagnosed with Eustachian Tube Dysfunction.

Around this time NEM attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he studied Film for about 2 years.

In this era, NEM was working with Chinese Delivery, and he also delivered for a kitchen of a now infamous club that shut down called Club Cinema, ran by former Cocaine Cowboy “Sam Frontera Jr”. The kitchen was running an underground fast food restaurant called “Munchie Express” catered to people who smoke Weed. Since both restaurants were on the border of Deerfield Beach and the city of Boca Raton, a city famous for people to go live when they Retire, he got to deliver to some interesting people, most notably David Lucas who produced the song “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult (Christopher Walken played him in the “More Cowbell” skit on SNL). He once played Paintball with retired Football player Cris Carter. His mom would clean the apartment of the Widow of Liborio “Louie” Milito, a former Gambino Crime Family member who was killed by John Gotti and/or Sammy the Bull Gravano.

One day Club Cinema got raided by S.W.A.T due to suspicions of running an underground drug ring. They found nothing but NEM was arrested on charges of the sell and distribution of Marijuana because he had some bags on him. It was considered a felony at first but later dropped to being a misdemeanor when there was lack of evidence that NEM was actually selling the product, it changed to a Possession charge. He was fired the next day.

In April 2013, NEMs Step Father was driving NEMs car with his Mother in the passenger seat. The brakes on the car failed as they were coming close to a red light and they swerved from traffic into a Gas Station, the car crashed into the pole protecting the gas pump and his Stepdad died on impact, while his Mother fortunately only shattered her ankle. NEM had this to say about the Incident:

“This is the moment that changed my life, I have PTSD from this moment. To make matters worse, my Mom lost her job, my Car was Totaled and I had the cheapest insurance on the car so it wasn’t replaced. I was without a Step Father I loved dearly, my Mom was injured and crying in agony everyday for Months, the car that I saved up for years to have, which I used everyday for work was gone, and we were without my Step Fathers help financially. Basically I had to learn how to Cook, had to drop out of Film School, take care of my Mom, and work more hours to help make up for my Step Fathers part on the Bills, without my car, while still chasing this Dream of mine. Needless to say it was very rough.”

[CAREER]

In July 2013, NEM made an entry for the 4th Raider Klan Producer Showcase ran by Spaceghostpurrp. He ended up getting 1st place and a chance to enter the Allstar Producer Showcase featuring the 3 previous Showcase Winners a couple weeks later. NEM came out Victorious once again. His victories lead to numerous interviews, free Merch, and Raider Klan promoting him for about 2 Months, which NEM credits as when he got his “foot in the door”. The reward also included a chance to work with Raider Klan and when NEM approached Spaceghostpurrp, NEM said SGP “was a real dick” to him and lost all his respect.

​By August 2013, NEM decided to focus on his production and took on the Psychedelic Ambient genre also known as “Ethereal” popularized by artists such as Clams Casino, XXYYXX, and Eric Dingus. He started the AlmeidaBeatz Series (Wordplay with his last name and “All Made Of Beats”) releasing 4 Volumes throughout the next few years.

In early 2014, NEM met Diggy 1-D and an underground veteran called LiL WooFy WooF, who worked with several Raider Klan members and affiliates like Amber London, Nell, Pouya, Sdot Braddy, Spaceghostpurrp and some old school legends like Richie Rich, Dazzie Dee, and others. They partnered up and started working on an album that would later be called “Damn It Feels Good to be a Schema”.

At first this album was going to be called “The Chronic 2015” due to the heavy Dr.Dre/Snoop Dogg/Nate Dogg influence coming from the 3 members in their own way, but ever since joining the recently formed SCHEMAPOSSE in April 2015, the name was changed to fit the group, paying homage to the Geto Boys “Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta”. This album features NEM & LiL WooFy WooF meeting Dr.Dre on the intro, getting advice, and passing him the CD. The Concept of the album is Dr.Dre listening to it. Redman makes an unaccredited appearance on Kiss The Sky talking to NEM on the Phone.

SCHEMAPOSSE was a collective of MC’s, Producers, GFX Designers,and Videographers formed by DJ Paul and Juicy J’s protege and former Raider Klan member, JGRXXN. The Crew consisted of JGRXXN, NEM, Lil WooFy WooF, Diggy 1-D, DJKillaC, Mr.Sisco, Seed of 6ix, Kold-Blooded, YungWardenBuffett, Lil Peep, Zoot Leggz, Ghostemane, Craig Xen, Iceberg Black, and many others.

In Late 2015, NEM filmed a JGrxxn/$uicideboy$/Black Smurf/Ramirez show on the Greyscale Tour held in Dallas, Texas for his NEMtv Channel.

2015 also saw NEM Partnering up with a female musician from Miami called Chan A-V for an EP that was a mixture of Hip-Hop, old school Psychedelic Rock and New Jack Swing, titled the ChaNEMTatum EP.

In Early 2016, NEM edited 3 videos for Seed of 6ix, a Three 6 Mafia sub-group consisting of DJ Pauls Nephew, Locodunit, and Lord Infamous' Son, Lil Infamous. The songs were “Sip”, “Planet 6ix 2”, and a 15 minute Locodunit Freestyle over classic Three 6 Mafia beats. NEM also made 2 songs with them during their Schemaposse days…I Dont Want No Ho featuring LiL WooFy WooF, and Trunk Go Pop featuring Ghostemane.

SCHEMAPOSSE performed at the 2016 SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas in March of that year.

During this period NEM edited multiple Videos for fellow SCHEMAPOSSE Members Mr.Sisco, Kold-Blooded, DJ Insane, and DJJT.

In The Summer of 2016, NEM decided to relax and only drop EP’s for a while.
First was the Xstaschema EP with ZillaBeatz based on his days going to raves in South Florida in the mid-2000’s. The 2nd was an EP called Spettro with an Up-an-Comer called Dari Loso who NEM met when mixing a song he featured on for Shroomhead.

NEM also started focusing more on his NEMtv channel on Youtube, where he Interviewed Nell from Raider Klan and gave both Ghostemane & LiL WooFy WooF their first Interviews.

In April, 2016, NEM dropped a collab Instrumental Album with Chan A-V called “Data Jungle”.

In August of 2016, NEM released the song GHOSTELAME. The song was a response to Ghostemane when he abruptly left Schemaposse a day before the NoJumper Interview dropped and then subliminally dissed the collective on a song called “Leprosy”, while also directly dissing JGrxxn at his shows.

​On September 27th 2016, NEM revealed that he is Bisexual.

In November 2016, NEM released the SCHEMAFFILIATES Compilation Album where he compiled more then 30 Collabs he did with affiliates throughout the years.

In December 2016, NEM felt burned out and moved to Brazil where he would stay and work on his Health while living off Music & Video Editing.

​In January 2017, due to frustrations with the lack of trust and unity, JGrxxn decided to retire the Schemaposse Brand, So NEM was forced to go solo. During his days in Schemaposse, NEM would either Produce, Mix/Master, or spit a Verse or 2 on most Schemaposse albums. NEM put together and released 1 Schemaposse album called Chapter 3: Still Schemin.

​On April 1st, 2017, NEM Decided to go back to calling himself NEME$1$. He released The Art of War EP venting his frustrations with other artists he bumped shoulders with in the underground. He also released an EP with SCHEMAPOSSE/Doomshop producer, DJJT, called “From the Vault”, and a Compilation album titled Late Nights. Both including unreleased music from the SCHEMAPOSSE days.

​On July 25th, 2017, NEME$1$ Created a new Collective called ChroniCartel(later rebranded as FluidKliq). The Collective consists of NEME$1$, LiL WooFy WooF, xyx, Benjistacks, DJ Poiz, Fatshit, Netino, as well as various other Producers, Videographers, and GFX Designers.

On December 15th, 2017, NEME$1$ and LiL WooFy WooF, with production help from DJ Poiz, released their self-titled ChroniCartel Album.

On June 21st, 2018, NEME$1$ edited a Music Video for the legendary 90’s duo, Artifacts, called “Flawless”. He also Mixed and Mastered the song and remastered an unreleased song from 1999 called Sqwad of the Boom that serves as the B-Side to the Flawless Vinyl. This is NEME$1$ first collaboration with the NINETYNOW collective, ran by Pete Spray, for which he is now a part of.

In September of 2018, JGrxxn announced Schemaposse would be making a return after finding out the movement was sabotaged and the crew was getting Blackballed. NEME$1$ is part of the reformed Schemaposse.

on October 29th, 2018, JGrxxn dropped the Gold EP by Schemaposse on his Soundcloud, NEME$1$ appears on 2 songs and collabed with Mr.Sisco & his brother Buddah Jones to produce 3 songs on there…Upside Yo Head, Backfade, and Breaking Spells.

In January, 2019, NEME$1$ made a return to the U.S temporarily living in North Miami, Florida. He quickly finished editing his video for Nell and released it online, but due to Nell feeling the footage and song from 2016 was outdated, had the video taken down. You can find the video somewhere online if you dig hard enough.

Around this time NEME$1$ released 2 videos he edited for a popular Baile Funk Artist from Brazil called MC Modelo. The videos quickly hit over 100,000 views in weeks.

In Late 2019, before Returning to Brazil, NEM got together with Ruben Slikk and released a single called Yellow Brick Road. Realizing they had good chemistry, they decided to also work on an EP titled Yellow Brick Road which dropped in February 2020. They dropped a Music Video on January 15th, 2020 titled “STR8THEXX” Produced and Directed/Edited by NEME$1$.

Due to the Success of MC Modelos 2 videos, NEM was called up to work with a Record Label in Sao Paulo called Novo Imperio, a subsidiary record label under Kondzilla, which owns one of the biggest Music Youtubes in the world. He flew back to Brazil in December of 2019 and went to Sao Paulo in January. From January until June, NEM filmed over 40 Music Videos and got to work with some prominent Baile Funk Artists in Brazil, most notably MC Fioti, the first Brazilian Artist to reach a Billion plays on a song. Their Video “Eu so Peco a Deus” hit 4 Million plays, and his video with MC Ale called “Pe De Galinha” reached over 4 Million plays in weeks. He also worked with MC RF3, MC Neguinho do ITR, MC Lil Beat, MC Lya, MC Neguinho do BDP, MC Nathan ZK, MC Pipokinha, KayBlack, MC DR, MC Bezerra, VM, MC Koban, MC Fael da 3, MC Digo STC, Fiitu, Ju Bronx, Menino GS, MC Luan Da ZL, MC Chorandun, MC JuJu and more.

In July of 2020, NEM got his first video on Kondzilla with MC Modelos video “Patinho Feio”. He later dropped another on Kondzilla with MC Digo STC & MC Fael da 3 called “Garoto Do Farol”.

In Mid-2020, NEM worked on 2 Videos with Seed of 6ix, Delusional and Sweet Dreams.

In August of 2020, NEM flew to Los Angeles where he directed a video for Onyx for the song that got them signed to Jam Master Jay and Def Jam, “Stik ‘n’ Muve” off their first album. The video was released on January 21st 2021 as a Dedication to Jam Master Jay on his Birthday. NEM also met with Lil Xav who he worked with a year prior and shot 2 Music Videos with him.