East London rap group NSG have shared their latest collection ‘Roots’, a mixtape of original tracks featuring fellow artists Tion Wayne, Chip, and Randy Valentine. The album was released today, 19th June, and combines reggae, hip-hop, and Afroswing to create the group’s incredible sound.
NSG is made up of six members – Kruddz, ODG, Papii Abz, Dope, Mxjib, and Mojo – and their collective name has many meanings, including ‘New Sound Group’ and ‘Never Stop Growing’, both of which are very apt given the group’s work. They wrote a message to their followers upon the release, which reads, “Our debut mixtape ‘Roots’ is out now! Thank you for having faith in us and our journey so far!”
With themes from political rebellion to influential women, the rappers offer insightful lyrics set to strong beats, making it clear why their music is so popular. But, for listeners who are just hoping for a good time, track 6 ‘Why Stress’ is a chilled out embodiment of summer.
Lead single ‘Options’, a collaboration with Tion Wayne, came out all the way back in 2018, and is their biggest song to date, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Charts and 79 million streams on Spotify. This was followed by ‘Ot Bop’, ‘Trust Issues’, ‘Ourself’, ‘Porshe’, and ‘Grandad’, released throughout 2019 and 2020. The last has only been out since yesterday, already gaining over 80,000 views on YouTube.
Each single came with a music video, as the group was lucky enough to film before the lock-down was put into place. ‘Options’ has 28 million views and shows the group members in various London scenes – some are with fans or at gigs, while some are in front of city landscapes.
While ‘Roots‘ is NSG’s first mixtape, they have an album entitled ‘Grown Up‘ which came out in 2017 after the release of first singles, all of which were taken from the album. As said by member Kruddz, NSG is “a lifestyle, it’s a movement” which symbolises their journey.
