Nic Nac

Biography

Nicholas Matthew Balding (born July 5, 1989), known professionally as Nic Nac, is an American record producer from El Cerrito, California. He is known for producing several hit songs—mainly for hip hop and pop artists—in the mid-2010s, including "Loyal" for Chris Brown, "Do It Again" for Pia Mia, and DJ Khaled's "I'm the One" and "No Brainer". He began his career as part of the regional hip hop production group Go Dav in the early 2000s, and has since formed Starting Six.
His productions can be identified by the producer tag "Let Me See You!", a voice clip sampled from Wallpaper.'s 2013 song "Hesher". His musical style has been described as similar to fellow California-based producer Mustard, with whom he often collaborates.

Early life

Nicholas Balding was born on July 5, 1989, in El Cerrito. He started to DJ when he was in fifth grade. His parents got him something called a "DJ In A Box" that came with two turntables, a mixer, and two speakers. He used basic drum beats and, at the time, did not know how to play piano. He started to DJ because he lived up the street from a Guitar Center and went there every day to hang around the people who worked there. They showed him how to DJ, so by the time he got to high school, he met someone in his class who made beats and he gave him a program. In 2003, when he was in the eighth grade, Balding and his cousin started a DJing group; they were DJing for their friends' parties, for school dances, and so on. He was playing songs by different rappers such as the Ying Yang Twins, E-40, Lil Jon, and Too $hort.

Career

Balding got into production at the age of 14, during high school. He used Fruity Loops (now FL Studio). Later in high school, Balding formed a group with four rappers (Bobby Brackins, known at the time as Young Bob, Creole Kang, Suga Butta) and one singer (Justin Martin known as The Jynx), named Go Dav. Balding was the only member who did not hail from Oakland, California. They became known locally for their 2007 song "Ride or Die Chick".
In the late 2000s, he got together with some of his best friends at St Mary's High School in Berkeley, and started a similar group, who went by the name Starting Six.
His first major success as a producer was the 2010 single "143" by Bobby Brackins. His earnings from the song enabled him to relocate to Los Angeles. He hired a manager after moving to Los Angeles, though they later had a falling out.
After "143", the next hit he produced was the 2013 single "Beat It" by Sean Kingston, Chris Brown, and Wiz Khalifa. After producing the song, Balding's hired a new manager with a closer mutual connection to Brown. Later in 2013, he produced Brown's single "Loyal". Prior to its release, Balding's manager played the beat for Brown's manager, and Brown took the beat for his own the same day. He cut the track that night and enlisted Lil Wayne, French Montana, and Too Short to record verses within a week.
In 2015, he then produced Chris Brown and Tyga's single "Ayo". Balding delivered, his production replete with an echoing "I neeeed you" helium vocal sample.

Production style

Nic Nac describes his melodies as "video gamey", with heavy R&B chords underneath. He frequently uses a voice loop in his productions: "Let me see you!", which is heard prominently in perhaps his most famous production, Chris Brown's 2013 single "Loyal".

Personal life

In 2014, he started dating singer Pia Mia.