It's a trip to think it was just over a year ago that Nia released her debut EP, the lo-fi melodic jungle masterpiece ‘ Headz Gone West’. I'm really happy, and it all feels natural, but I can't deny it's been a mad one since November 2021."
When I got off the stage, I sobbed my eyes out. "This whole project, ‘Forbidden Feelingz’, has been about me proving that I'm actually a producer! So when I won, it all meant so much to me. I'm so gassed that I was nominated for Best Producer rather than Best Artist or Newcomer," she beams. “From the start of my career, I always get questioned, 'Who produces your stuff? Who's behind these beats?' Honestly, no one would ask me that if I was male. Then arrives at the topic of the aforementioned award.
She reels off festival slots she's already locked down, such as Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Outlook in Croatia, All Points East, a back-to-back set with Roni Size at Valley Fest, and a stint in Australia. Read this next: The 20 best jungle mixes you can listen to online and Grace Jones, composing a jungle heritage album, and hitting the road with a live band or orchestra to assert the genre's place within arenas, continuing the work of originators such as Fabio & Grooverider and their collaboration with The Outlook Orchestra, Roni Size & Reprazent's legendary 2009 live show alongside composer William Goodchild and The Emerald Ensemble, and Goldie's performances with The Heritage Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall and Ronnie Scott's. Most would be riding high off the newfound fame, but Nia is focused, riffing about getting down to business making new music, dream collaborations with M.I.A. "I'm letting it be known: this is the summer of jungle," she says, flashing a megawatt smile. It's the day before she drops her hugely anticipated sophomore EP ‘ Forbidden Feelingz’ on her own label HIJINXX and a week since she picked up the Best Producer prize at the BandLab NME Awards. Upon arrival, Nia Archives is sitting at a velvet corner booth in the lounge by a crackling fireplace framed by her espresso curls and a low-key peroxide streak. I'm on my way to meet the 22-year-old Bradford-born, West Indian multi-talent at The Standard hotel in London, the city where she's now based. "When you see that young lady who made this tune, tell her, big up from one junglist to another."
#Old black gay men fucking driver#
I crack the window and let the hook float down Hackney Road as Nia Archives flips the mood of the sample on ' 18 & Over' from crystalline synth to a pulse-racing pace and an iconic call-to-arms commands: "Give me a motherfucking breakbeat!" The driver turns up the volume and gives me a nod of approval. A set of fluffy dice printed with the Jamaican flag swing side to side from the front mirror of a tricked out Uber as the deep bass of Cocoa Tea's 1987 reggae hit ‘Young Lover’ reverberates from the back.