Born of Jamaican parents, Mike “Nice” Lewis spent the first six years of his life in London, England before emigrating to Cheshire, Connecticut. He considers himself a citizen of the world, and his company, Red Earth Entertainment, mixes the cosmopolitan, urban culture of New York and London with the down-to-earth island vibes of Jamaica. 

His nickname, “Mike Nice,” was given to him by his college friend, Parrish “PMD” Smith of the famed rap duo, EPMD, who was continually impressed with Mike’s uncanny ability to communicate and interact with people across social, ethnic and racial lines.

Lewis came up with the idea of “Red Earth” from the color of the soil (and the people) in his mother’s birthplace of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. As he traveled through Hawaii, Australia, South Carolina, and in Africa, he noticed the same red earth, vital to its inhabitants. He used the name to convey the idea of connecting all parts of the world.

Lewis’s background as a track athlete and music business veteran has given him the contacts and experience to build a platform of unity and inclusion. Mike “Nice” and Red Earth have been fortunate to manage multi-platinum recording artists, product manage recording artists for major recording companies, product market music titles for a major book publishing company, secure advertising for radio, online, new media and print mediums, plan events, promote and even executive produce record compilations.

ATHLETIC EXPERIENCE

At the tender age of 10, Mike was discovered running on the playground by a gym teacher. He started his athletic career in both track meets and road races,  and eventually became a Connecticut high school state track champion and recipient of collegiate All-American track honors six times.

Mike is a true middle-distance runner, with a range from the 400m–1500m races.  Although he had many victories running in both the one-mile and two-mile relays, his real success and forte came in the 800m, which was evident with a Connecticut High School Championship and NCAA Indoor runner-up showing, along with making All-American in that event three other times.  As part of the mile relay team, Mike earned All-American status twice, once in indoor and once in outdoor track.

Track & Field Achievements:

College

NCAA Division ll Nationals
College All-American            6X

Indoor	800m	4th	'86-'87
Indoor	Mile relay	6th	'86-'87
Indoor	800m	2nd	'87-'88
Indoor	Mile relay	6th	'87-'88
Outdoor	800m	5th	'87-'88
Indoor	800m	5th	'88-'89

School Records       

	600yds  (Indoor)
	800m (Indoor/Outdoor)
	1000m (Indoor)
	Mile Relay (Indoor/Outdoor)
	2 Mile Relay (Indoor/Outdoor)

Captain   (Indoor/Outdoor Track)     '88-'89

High School

Connecticut All-State            5X

Division M: Indoor	1000m	3rd	'83-'84
State Indoor	1000m	6th	'83-'84
State Outdoor	1500m	4th	'83-'84
Division M: Indoor	Indoor 800m	1st	'84-'85
Division M: Indoor	Indoor Mile Relay	1st	'84-'85
State Indoor	800m	1st	'84-'85
State Indoor	Mile Relay	6th	'84-'85
Division L: Outdoor	800m	1st	'84-'85
Division L: Outdoor	Mile Relay	3rd	'84-'85
State Outdoor	800m	2nd	'84-'85