Meet Nxxxa Ace: Fashion Designer & Singer

I think the most important factor behind the success of Grow Or Die is not accepting excuses. A lot of people protest when I tell them I’m not interested in their excuses. They tell me “its not an excuse, its a reason” but an excuse is any reason you cant get something done.

When I submitted my first sneaker designs for production, I received a ludicrous quote for the prototypes. My first reaction was to give up. I figured the entry price to the sneaker industry is way too high and that’s why only corporations and celebrities make sneakers. Not having enough money would be an understandable reason to stop but regardless that would have been an excuse. It’s 2021 and we just released our 22nd sneaker, the lvl1 Skywalkers. We didn’t do this by waiting until we had more money, no, we did this by finding alternative solutions. That’s they key. Theres always going to be another way. An excuse can be your reason for failure or it can be an obstacle you overcome, the choice is yours.

All my art derives from my emotions and experiences. I think what makes people so interesting is their differences. Everyone is unique so I try to imprint myself as much as possible into my art in order to create something one of kind. Lately I’ve become more and more obsessed with utility art. Art that serves a purpose.  Take the World War 3 collection for example. I took my emotions and experiences and recorded a collection of music. Next I designed artwork that reflected the music and emotions. Then using the artwork designed multiple prints and applied them to a range of products. Now we have a collection of art that you can wear. It’s more than merchandise, it’s art with a function. We’re actually developing ways to add more functionality via blockchain technology which has me very excited. DigiWish.crypto is coming soon and that site is going to give our customers access to crypto tokens, backed by physical, limited-edition handmade goods.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s back up. Getting to where I am now was a difficult path. I wouldn’t recommend it. Honestly I don’t feel like its a path I chose, feels more like a path i was forced on. Growing up in London without any rights as an illegal alien left me with no options but to get creative or be broke and bummy. What do you do when you’re a minor living in a country that refuses you the right to education, healthcare and employment? Should I use it as an excuse to be dumb, be broke and just die? No, not I.

I figured my experiences would manifest into some interesting art so I made an EP called Hungry Suite:1. Almost immediately after releasing my EP I left London and moved to LA. Long story short, I founded a company, DigiWish, with the objective of granting our clients wishes which is just another way of saying I did whatever they asked. The original website featured a giftshop with products I created for my EP and products designed by clients. One of my clients were John & Tony two brothers from Italy that made womens footwear. They needed help getting their products online so we listed their shoes on retail sites, including ours. This is when I learned how much stores like Etsy charge creators to list products. So I offered creators a platform to list their designs for free because when you’re just starting, every penny counts. Working with John & Tony was definitely my introduction to the footwear industry, I was able to watch them make shoes from scratch and identify weaknesses in their operations. A year later our gift shop grew from being just a side feature to our main focus and I started a clothing/footwear brand called Grow Or Die.

2020 was a rough year for a lot of people and businesses. So many didn’t make it. Fortunately, we’ve been digital since day one so we didn’t have to adapt since we were already prepared. I had to cancel plans for physical retail but 2020 was actually our most successful year to date. I’m not sure if it was because more people were staying at home but I think its more likely because I released my first music video “Home”. Shoutout to the director, Jon Bass. We just finished filming a new video for my song, “Been Thru”. Been Thru  showcases my latest designs, including my first crypto-fashion piece, the DeFi Hungry Hoody. What so special and exciting about this hoody is the connection to our cryptocurrency called HOOD. HOOD is the worlds first bep-20 token backed by handmade hoodies. This means that 1 HOOD can always be exchanged for 1 DeFi Hungry Hoody shipped anywhere worldwide for free. Just like a Bitcoin or a Dogecoin the price constantly changes based on sellers and buyers however unlike those coins, our crypto guarantees you a hoody. No matter the price it will always hold that value. Only 25 were made so supply is very limited.

I want the world to know we are here with apparel you can’t get anywhere else. No matter where I was in life, for the most part I consider myself to be lucky and blessed because I’m alive and healthy. As long as you’re alive and healthy, no excuses. There’s nothing that can stop you unless you let it.

My friends in London know whenever they touch down they gotta hit me up. If my bestfriend came out for week, Im picking them up from LAX then we hitting the beach. Before the pandemic I actually wanted to set up a booth at the beach just so I could be there everyday. Being in Venice kinda reminds me of the markets in North London, Camden. Busy, diverse and rare things for sale. Next we’re hitting Tacos Ensendas or a Korean BBQ for some cuisine you just don’t find in London.

Find somewhere scenic then it’s photoshoot time. Theres always something poppin in LA if you know where to look. Hands down most fun I’ve had is at underground events. Live events have a special energy and LA has infinite supply of upcoming artists. With everything being shutdown due to covid, it’s looking like it’ll be a while before we get any more live events. Still lots to enjoy.