User:Atnelson09/Nick Mira

Nicholas Warren Mira, known as Nick Mira, is an American producer from Richmond, Virginia, who is part of the collective Internet Money label. Mira began producing in high school, and gained notoriety for his work with late rapper Juice WRLD, and has been attributed for the development of Juice WRLD’s signature sound. Mira’s most well known work includes Juice WRLD tracks Lucid Dreams, Bandit, and Smile, along with rapper Lil Tecca’s Ransom and the Internet Money label track Lemonade, which featured vocals from Don Toliver, NAV, and Gunna. While Mira has not released solo work himself, he has contributed production to the Internet Money collective album B4 the Storm.

Early Life:
Mira began to focus on producing at the age of 13. Initially, Mira had held the goal of becoming a producer by selling his beats as if they were standalone tracks, but noted that he had very little knowledge about selling music.

Career:
Mira first came in contact with producers Taz Taylor and DT in 2016, forming relationships with them based on their common method of selling and promoting their beats on platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud. The trio proceeded to join forces in a collective label that would become what is now known as Internet Money, whose mission is to bring awareness to lesser known producers while uniting them with potential collaborators and artists.

While Mira began his producing career by primarily selling beats online, he has noted that his methods have changed over time, stating that creating a “good time and vibe” removes pressure from the creation of music.

Mira met Chicago rapper Jarad Higgins, known professionally as Juice WRLD, in 2016 through their mutual friend Sidepce, who also eventually became a producer for Internet Money. While Juice WRLD would proceed to debut several albums at number one on the Billboard 200 charts, Mira stated at the time that he believed the rapper “had like 300 followers on Soundcloud”. Mira began to send beats to Juice WRLD online, and helped produce the tracks All Girls Are the Same, Lucid Dreams, Lean Wit Me, I’m Still, Candles, Used To, Hurt Me, End Of the Road, and I’ll Be Fine on his 2018 debut album Goodbye and Good Riddance.

Mira and Juice WRLD’s working relationship continued on the 2019 commercial project Death Race For Love. After the success of Goodbye and Good Riddance, Mira continued to frequently create and send collections of beats to the rapper, and estimated that the duo had over 100 unreleased songs in 2019. Mira noted that the project represented a step forward in both Juice WRLD’s and Mira’s artistry, and attributed the development of their sound to the experience they had gained by working with each other. Mira also credited hardcore rock bands as influences for the album’s sound. On March 8, 2019, Death Race For Love was officially released, on which Mira contributed production for four tracks, including commercial standouts Empty and Robbery. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart on March 14, 2019, with first-week sales of 165,000 album equivalents sold.

In 2020, Mira contributed to the production of 10 songs on the collaborative Internet Money album B4 The Storm, which peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album included frequent collaborators Lil Tecca, TyFontaine, and 24kGoldn, all of whom Mira has continued to produce for to date.

Musical Style:
While Mira has generally created beats for hip-hop artists, he has ventured into other styles and genres as well, and has produced on Machine Gun Kelly’s pop-punk album Tickets to My Downfall. Mira has described his production style as “melodic,” “dynamic,” and “spacious”. He has credited inspiration to artists Kanye West, Metro Boomin, Lex Luger, and Sonny Digital, who have each made a significant impact on hip-hop production.

Influence:

Along with other fellow Internet Money members, Mira has been credited by some with the rise in popularity of “type beats,” which aim to increase the popularity of an instrumental by associating it with well-known artists. While this has sparked some controversy around Internet Money’s marketing methods, Mira has explained that his creative process is focused mainly on what he finds appealing, and that the “type beat” method used to tag artists is only based on artists he feels would fit on his instrumental.

As someone who began producing at a young age, Mira has commented on the popularity of Digital Audio Workstation software among the youth population, stating that "producing is the new video game.”

Mira has advocated for the importance of working with smaller, up-and-coming artists, in order to build their fan bases and allow them to grow along with the Internet Money label. He has also discussed the value of working with artists in the studio as opposed to virtually, regardless of the size or success of the artist.