NSG release their eagerly awaited, 18 track project Roots.
NSG continues to solidify their status as ‘The UK’s Best Group’ (Noisey UK, 2020), with the acclaimed ‘Grandad’ having dropped last night. Leaders of the next wave, Roots signifies their adoration for their African heritage, half of the group is from Ghana, and the other from Nigeria. Their sound is unique, what they consider as Afrofusion, inspired by Afrobeats, Dancehall, and UK rap with hints of Afro-bashment. The group tapped the likes of producers Legendury Beatz and feature artists such as Chip and Tion Wayne.
‘Roots’ exemplifies their culture in a musical context. Members Kruddz, Mxjib, Mojo, OGD, Dope and Papii Abz residing in the diverse East London and emerging through a melting pot of black culture. They are pioneering a sound born out of an amalgamation of influences. Coming off their chart-topping success, ‘Options’, spent a record 24 weeks in the UK chart with over 75 Million streams on Spotify. ‘OT Bop’ with 14 million views and ‘Trust Issues’ now at 5 Million views. ‘Roots’ encompasses the journey of the group over the last year. NSG opened up 2020 with the infectiously catchy ‘Ourself’, which sat in the official charts for 5 weeks and the group have already gained support fromThe Fader, MTV and NME’s Top 100: Essential New Artists for 2020. Making fans in Wizkid, Burna Boy, Drake and Future, the collective have solidified themselves in the hearts of global stars. NSG were brought out by Wizkid at The Ends Festival in which they headlined the second stage and Future had the collective join him during his main stage slot at Wireless Festival. NSG was also called on stage at Drake’s historic 6 dates Assassination Vacation Tour run in 2019 at the 02 Arena to perform, topping off the Summer festival run of their own performances. NSG commands UK Afrobeats, fusing their Hackney roots, to the African fabric of their musical DNA, exuding through, in their confident versatility to take on any genre. Listen to ‘Roots’ and watch ‘Grandad’ as NSG’s newest single.
NSG Comprising members Kruddz, Mxjib, Mojo, OGD, Dope and Papii Abz, have been bubbling on the underground music scene for the past 6 years under the moniker NSG before breaking through with their 2019 hit ‘Options’. Representing many names for the different members of the group, from ‘Never Stop Growing’, to ‘No Sleep Gang’ the majority agreed ‘Never Stop Grinding’ as the overarching ethos. The members came together while studying at Arts & Media School Islington. Except for Mojo, who they joke is “the one we found and looked after”. In fact they joke a lot, showing a brotherhood they have nurtured through the love of music. “Individually we all have a love for music and dancing” Kruddz explained. Soon after, NSG had a designated meeting spot: a studio that had been set-up in OGD and Kruddz house (“It’s where the history started”). Though his mother would often be in the house, she preferred them being there than in the streets potentially getting into trouble. OGD – the producer behind NSG’s tracks – initially started out writing dubstep before becoming intertwined with the sound of producer Jae5, who is behind most of the biggest tracks from J Hus, eventually leading him to create NSG’s unique sound.
Essentially, NSG is on their own journey but also one that’s closely connected to the afro bashment sound that’s spreading across the globe. Where do they want to go? “Global domination,” they say. “ We’re not looking at a United Kingdom thing, we’re looking at a global thing.”
Listen to ROOTS Here.