Nicole Paris: A Father-Daughter Bond Kept Tight By Beatboxing

Ed Cage and his daughter, Nicole Paris, share a love of beatboxing.

Nicole Paris: father vs daughter beatboxing battle

The artist as a storyteller

Nicole “The Apprentice” Paris gained notoriety and millions of fans when a YouTube battle against her mentor and father, Edward “The Mentor” Cage, went viral within hours of its release. Mixing vibrantly energetic unique beats, Nicole’s freestyle instantly gained worldwide acclaim.

“When mom was pregnant with you, I would get right up on her stomach and beatbox to mom’s belly and you would feel the vibration,” Ed told Nicole. “And when I did that, you would just shake.”

Born and raised in Missouri, Nicole’s appreciation of beatboxing and developing her own unique sounds began at an early age.

“I didn’t want to be the dude that came in and left, so I had to figure out how I was as a father going to connect, and you would always like to hear my beatbox, so you used to sit up on my lap and you would just bang your head trying to keep that beat going,” he tells her. “I remember one time, you were making a whole bunch of crazy sounds, and I told you, ‘I don’t know what that is!’ But then I had to check myself and say, ‘Well, whatever you want to do, Nicole. That’s what you do, OK?’ “

After graduating from Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina she returned home to be acclaimed as “The Best Female Beatboxer in St. Louis”, she quickly gained a strong local and regional following.

“She went away to school and then she came back and said, ‘Daddy, come on, let’s battle,’” Cage, recalled. “And then we battled, and when I got into the bed that night I looked over at my wife and said, ‘I barely beat her. I beat her, but I barely beat her.’ But over time she just got great.”

Today, she is recognized among a new crop of artists revitalizing and changing the face of Hip Hop.

Father, Daughter Face Off in Ultimate Beatbox Challenge | Good Morning America | ABC News

As Nicole geared up for her first ever “Star Role” Opera Tour was held in April of 2020 titled “Sweet Potato Kicks The Sun”, she became an author with the publishing of her first children’s book. Nicole has continued to hold beatboxing performances/workshops alone or with her pops and release the 1st ever Beat-Box Album.

She was crowned the new face of beatbox by popular vote with Doug E. Fresh, Rahzel, and other well-known beatboxers hailing her natural talent. Nicole’s copulated revitalizing beats landed her a spot in the first-ever Beat-Box cypher for the BET 2015 Hip Hop Awards, a starring role in Dance Camp, a beat composer for various commercials, and the new rebrand face for TV One.

“It’s something, Nicky, to see you go out into the world continually trying to be the best that you can be, I just absolutely love that about you. And as a father that’s all I can ask for,” Ed said.

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