Creating “Timeless Music” With London’s Newest R&B Star Nippa

“It was only really in December 2019, my boy (who’s now my manager), said ‘come studio’ and we ended up making our first single.”

Who would have thought that casually walking into a studio to see his friends almost two years ago would have turned Nippa into one of the most exciting male R&B acts of 2021. He’s already been recognised by American giants Lyrical Lemonade, as well receiving coverage from Canadian site RNB Radar, one of the hottest music discovery platforms online. In the UK, meanwhile, his name is popping up more and more ever since the release of his video for ‘Situation’ a month ago, now at over 100,000 listens and views on Spotify and YouTube respectively, it’s clear that his sound has resonated with music fans worldwide. Add to this list a co-sign from ultimate producer Boi-1da (Drake, Rihanna, Eminem, Jay-Z and Kanye West) and you have a heck of a kickstart to your career; not too shabby for a young guy from North London.

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Nippa is sitting at his kitchen table, beaming, his excitement is contagious. He tells Clash that within days his first EP will be out for the whole world to listen to but he’s “just chilling”. Like many artists at his level and motivated to grow, he’s already got his eyes set on what’s next. With his latest single, ‘Pay The Price’, having just been released, this self-titled EP is a concise introduction to Nippa’s foundation and a springboard for what follows. He’s a student of the game and a lover of R&B and with whatever conversation Nippa is immersed in his excitement is palpable, he’s confident in his abilities and knows he’s destined for greatness. His main goal? To deliver something authentic and to take it to the international stage: “I wanna take things globally.”

When we discuss this year and his growth, Nippa is keen to point out that it’s really been the last few months that have really picked up speed. “To be honest, if we’re really talking about this last year, it’s really been these last four months that have really made a difference. This last year I’ve been in the studio more after taking a break from releasing music, just to master the sound… These last four months have been hectic but great. I’m enjoying the love, I’m enjoying the success. I aspire to do more.”

He pauses, then adds: “I am so grateful, but I still want more.”

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Although the ‘Situation’ visuals bounced around the online world, Nippa doesn’t feel that he has had his moment yet. He knows he’s still working his way up in the industry with a lot more to go. He’s got a strong team around him based on friendships forged growing up, “we all just come together and see how we can add value to each other… It’s just a bunch of guys from North London just coming together and saying ‘you know what let’s push each other’… We would always freestyle [growing up] but we never took music seriously, it was always a dream. You don’t necessarily think it’s gonna go far or anywhere. It’s so farfetched.”

With the current sounds of drill, trap and ‘Real Rap’ garnering the most attention in the UK and artists such as Wizkid and Tems becoming international afrobeats stars, the smooth soulful genre of R&B had somewhat fallen into the background. Only to have massive surge in popularity with UK artists such as Shaé Universe, Amia Brave and Mahalia, platforms such as RNB Radar and the likes of SZA and Summer Walker dominating the conversation across continents. There is still much demand for male vocalists in the genre and something that Nippa is keen to supply us with. “In a genre full of rap and drill, it’s good to have a refreshing sound.”

Nippa points out that he understands how to create a sound that appeals to a wider audience; “We’re obviously doing something right.”

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When asked about his team, “SpaceBound is me and my manager and everyone else who works with us. What it really means is we’re not reaching for the stars, we’re reaching for space. Being limitless. Our success, our will, our power, is limitless. We’re a collective reaching for limitless and timeless music.” When you listen to Nippa you can immediately hear that ‘timeless’ sound, it might be easy for some to see or something that you can’t quite put your finger on. It might be the guitar inflected production with booming bass or the visuals for his videos that show Nippa and his friends having a good time in regular day to day situations like dancing at a house party or hanging out in their local area. Using film cameras or even the styling for the videos shows the attention to detail that his team want to present, a sort of ‘new nostalgia’ with his North London twist.

“I could do the usual thing, having a Lamborghini [in the video], but I don’t have a Lamborghini, I don’t own that… What we really want to achieve with SpaceBound is being authentic.”

Something that Nippa finds very easy is reciprocating the love that people show him. When talking about the attention he’s been receiving internationally, it’s not lost on Nippa that he’s receiving attention from big names. He’s also quick to praise the founder of RNB Radar, Tomi, who was a “massive contributor” to his exposure. “That’s someone who needs to be credited.”

Talking about the future and what’s to come in 2022, Nippa is itching to show fans what he has waiting for them. The SpaceBound team have found the formula, “something is working, so I gotta keep kind of, not necessarily replicating it but coming with new innovative ideas but keep the existing ones that are marketable to everyone.” Relatively new to the live performing scene, as anyone coming up in during the Pandemic, he was an opener for American crooner Blxst during a gig in London in October. “I got chucked in the deep end!” he laughs, but states he’s so lucky to have had that opportunity.

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The EP is an introduction to Nippa’s sound and an opportunity for him to build onto the “timeless shit” that he’s looking towards. In terms of writing music, “My manager is very musical as well, we co-write. I freestyle a lot with my sister as well… Depending on how I’m feeling, I can come to the studio and really just write from the heart…. A lot of the times I just go there and depending on the vibe and how I’m feeling I just talk about my day to day life, situations.”

The singles that we have witnessed so far have all been upbeat and positive in sound although talking about real-life situations. When asked if there are sadder more melancholic tracks in his repertoire, the artist tells us that “actually the day of the ‘Situation’ shoot, I went to the studio and I actually made one of the saddest tunes I’ve ever made in my life. I don’t know why I felt sad but I just felt it… This EP does do that, the feel-good songs are the singles. I’ve drawn you guys in and now you can hear me talking from a dark space, which I was in a year ago. Talking from a space of what I want, what I want to achieve. People will get the message themselves.”

Nippa and his team are also keen to protect his sound and image, looking at who to collaborate with is always a major part in how an artist’s image develops. “It’s good to maintain exclusivity… It’s about being picky. We’re trying to make limitless and timeless music. So if it makes sense then yeah… Everyone might think that you’re gonna jump on anything because you’re up and coming… but it’s about maintaining your integrity and make a conscious decision [with who you work with].”

With regards to his influences, as you would expect Nippa listens to a broad range of sounds from classic grime to modern R&B. He also “grew up on reggae” which he credits as a major factor in his household. Looking at the future he might want to dive into another type of sound but we’ll leave that to your imagination. What he is incredibly excited about is the next stage of his sound with producers AntiWave.

Closing, Nippa comments: “You just gotta see how the ride goes, this rollercoaster journey goes… if it goes up or goes down, you’re still riding it.”

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Nippa’s self-titled EP is out now.

Words: PJ Somervelle

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