Nicolas "DarkSyde 12" Delaney has beaten all odds to achieve the level of success he has today. Born and raised in the Lafitte Housing Projects in the 6th Ward (Treme) area of New Orleans, Nicolas' life has been filled with both tragedy and triumph.

His late mother, Tammy Jones, raised 12 and his three siblings after their father left the home early in DarkSyde 12’s life. Instead of letting this situation damage his self-esteem, 12’s bond with his family grew stronger.

12 attended elementary and junior high at St. Peter Claver Catholic School until Hurricane Katrina ravaged this institution and the city of New Orleans. It was there that 12 discovered his passion for reading, poetry, and the creative arts. 

DarkSyde 12’s earliest exposure to music was through his mother’s collection of the late Tupac Shakur, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson. He states that he’s into soulful music no matter what the genre may be. As he grew older, he started getting into much rowdier music of artists such as Soulja Slim and The Hot Boyz. He still enjoys listening to these cassette tapes.

In fifth grade, 12 and a few of his friends used to immolate the members of the local superstar rap group The Hot Boyz, writing raps and reciting them to one another just for fun.

Approximately a year after Hurricane Katrina, 12’s mother passed away from kidney failure at the age of forty four in Monroe, Louisiana where 12 and his family evacuated to after the storm. Tammy Jones passed away one day after Thanksgiving. DarkSyde 12 was only fourteen years old at the time. 

This was to be the awakening of his lyrical talents, as he began using poetry to express and vent his feelings about his mother, his life, and the world in general. Ever since the tragic experience of losing his most beloved mother, 12 always used his emotions to passionately put his life on paper. This would be the start of his career as an artist. 

Shortly after the passing of his mother, DarkSyde 12 and his older brother, Christopher Anthony Delaney, better known in the streets as “G’Rippa,” moved back to New Orleans where 12 attended John McDonogh Senior High School, known throughout the streets of New Orleans as “The Mac.” After returning to New Orleans, 12 formed the Southern hip-hop group CtP N DarkSyde, with his older brother G’Rippa and their childhood friend L.T. Slugga.

While at John McDonogh, DarkSyde 12 discovered his knack for inspiring people with his lyrical abilities and invigorating performances; holding daily lunchtime rap sessions in which the entire school would encircle him while he stood on a bench rapping his new lyrics of the day. 

These performances began when two upper-class females heard 12 rap and pleaded with him to challenge an upper-class male rapper who claimed to be the “King of the Mac.” 12 successfully defeated this self-proclaimed “King of the Mac” in multiple battles. This in turn gave him a newfound level of confidence in his craft. 

DarkSyde 12 took this confidence and ran with it, going to various neighborhoods throughout New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan areas gaining notoriety for his astonishing skills as an MC. 

12 graduated from John McDonogh in 2011.

Between his senior year at John McDonogh and today, 12 and his group CtP N DarkSyde have recorded over 400 songs, 312 of which are attributed to 12 alone. He also created four solo mixtapes, two group mixtapes, and four collaboration mixtapes with various local artists from around the community. All of this music was recorded using a simple laptop and its internal microphone. DarkSyde 12 also produced these tracks.

Not only did the streets fully embrace 12, Loyola University New Orleans also saw his potential as a poet and offered him a full scholarship after he won several national poetry contests while attending high school. At Loyola, Dillon O’Reilly of UpperMick Entertainment also recognized his talent and gave him the opportunity and financial backing that he needed to get his first studio recorded project off the ground.

With DarkSyde 12’s collaboration with UpperMick Entertainment now solidified, 12 began working on his debut studio album with the initial production being executed by Jean LaPhare of Monsta Beatz and Phil Taylor of Future Leaders of The World and Machina. 

12’s musical style is somewhat of a mixture of the poetic lyricism of Tupac Shakur and the grimy storytelling of Soulja Slim.

DarkSyde 12's first studio album is set to be released in May 2015. The album is titled "Welcome 2 Da DarkSyde." It is co-executively produced by Dani Kartel & Dillon O'Reilly.

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