My Story
A natural talent with an undeniably unique energy, this classically trained creative was born to be the music artist the world needs.
Born on Christmas Day 2001 and raised in the musically historic city of Macon, Georgia, Nicholus Jackson is no stranger to the sounds of deep soul and gospel roots. Nicholus was raised in a single-mother household with 4 older siblings: 1 older sister and 3 older brothers. Despite not being born into a musical family, music always came naturally for young Nick.
His beginnings with music started with singing in the church choir at a young age, and playing Guitar Hero III at home in his free time. Then in middle school, he walked into his first band class, pointed at the first instrument he saw, and said, "I want to play that." It was the xylophone. From that point on, 11-year-old Nicholus made a vow that he would play as many instruments as he could at a high level.
Throughout his developmental years, Nicholus studied many percussion instruments, various brass instruments, and various string instruments through his school's band and orchestra programs. His musical proficiency allowed him to travel the state of Georgia, participating in and winning various musical competitions. But away from music, Nicholus had always been a reserved, studious, ambitious kid filled with a deep love for humanity.
At 16 years old following a random phone check, Nicholus' parents found out he was gay. He was kicked out of his mother's house to live with his father, had his phone confiscated, was unenrolled from his school's music programs, and was unable to participate in any extracurricular activities for the rest of the year. After a few months, Nicholus made another promise to himself -- that he would work extra hard in school, graduate from high school with honors, and go off to college in a place where he could freely express & invest in himself.
In 2019, Nicholus graduated from Central High School with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Georgia, beginning his collegiate study with Percussion Performance while taking piano lessons, voice lessons, and music production courses.
In 2022, as a project for UGA's Music Business program, he released his first commercial single, crown. It was performed, produced, and mixed by him, in the span of 5 weeks. This was the beginning of his solo artist presence: nickname.
nickname is an outer representation of the beautiful, loving, and resilient energy deep within Nicholus, in the face of whatever challenges arise. nickname is passionate about self-expression, humanitarianism, and Black LGBTQIA+ representation & success, and he has always been a champion of feminism, individuality, love, and freedom of all types. These values are heard in his music, which can be found on the Listen page.
After achieving TikTok virality during the summer of 2022, most known for his whistling talent, nickname has gained over 1 million social media interactions globally to date. He has performed on many stages and talent shows mesmerizing every audience, and he has been involved in various programs, such as the Black TikTok Creator Program, Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity, The HUBB Summit hosted by CAA, Grammy U, and his school's study abroad program: Jazz Music in Italy.
In 2023, Nicholus graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts in Music cum laude, with a minor in Computer Science and a certificate of Music Business. He is now based in Cleveland, OH working full-time in the live music industry as a touring audio technician, while performing locally and maintaining his involvement in Phi Mu Alpha and Grammy U. Most recently, Nicholus has had the honor of attending the Grammy's awards show in 2025.
To contact nickname for bookings, weddings, features, or inquiries, please email thenicknameofficial@gmail.com.
You can also check out nickname's recent social media posts using the links below.