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MSC
Nino SLG: The Future Of UK Rap
Nino SLG is the seventeen year old prodigy from Battersea whose setting the music world alight right now with his philosophical, introspective lyrics. It’s often said that Nino possesses wisdom beyond his years, delving deep into subjects like mental health and the struggles, distractions and temptations that come along with growing up in London. His poetic style, very much aligned with “conscious rap” captures an audience in a unique way and when Nino speaks, you have to listen.
With the world at his feet, the young rapper recently sat down with SCTR to discuss his meteoric rise, his latest EP, Mirror Story, and what the future holds.
Photography Aaron Price
/ /Stylist Abena Ofei
/ /Video Director Dan John
/ /Journalist Jordan Edwards
From The Start…
It started off at the end of Primary School – I found piano and I started learning it at the start of Secondary School and throughout. Then towards the end of Secondary School, my teacher asked me to make an album for my GCSE – mad random but yeah, so… I started attending a youth club, rapping to my friends, just trying to hone my craft. Eventually it got to the point where I could start posting on Social Media. The first video that I posted kind of took me where I needed to go because talent pages started posting it and my manager saw me. From there, I started releasing singles, started to learn how to make songs and I released my first EP State Of Mind (2021), carried on – released a few things and I’ve got my second EP now which came out last month, Mirror Story, so yeah that’s basically it.
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"My music is all about telling stories and sharing my experiences. I feel that for my age, I've seen a lot of things”
Growing Up…
I always say that my mum was singing around the house. What kinda stuff was she singing? She was always just humming when she was walking around. Singing native songs I guess you could say. But yeah man, my parents are heavily religious init, so they did play quite a lot of gospel and just stuff from my country, because I’m from Congo. Congo is heavily into the music, fashion, all the creative things so I say that kinda played a part as well.
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"I wouldn't say I have a concrete process - it's much more fluid and malleable but it's all about tapping into the right emotions at the right time”
Family Concerns?…
Yeah definitely, because you never know what to expect in certain industries init, especially with the way they were brought up – they have quite a traditional mindset so they don’t really understand how the creative process goes and what not so they were sceptical init but now they’re supportive because they’ve seen how things can go.
Staying Focussed…
My parents raised me the right way so yeah just trying to remain focussed and keeping purpose because I feel like the whole creative thing is a vocation. It feels like my purpose so it’s not really too hard to stay focussed anyway.
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"I've got a deluxe version of Mirror Story coming out at the end of this month which includes acoustic versions of three tracks from the EP"
Mirror Story…
Mirror Story is essentially about reflection. It’s about me looking in the mirror and analysing each element of my character. You start off with Monster – it’s just like looking in the mirror and not liking what you see internally. So there’s Monster, you’ve got Battle Cry, which is a sort of cry to see what’s in the future, you’ve got What’s Left which is quite a nostalgic reflection on your memories and to the end you’ve got Love Yourself. So Mirror Story is kind of like a portrayal of the human experience – essentially you start off having your problems and what not, and eventually as life continues you learn to deal with them and solve them. I feel like that’s what Mirror Story personifies.
Take What’s Left, for example, which is a very personal song. I talk about my own life experiences, reflecting on family and all that kinda stuff and in the second half of the song, the tone changes. It’s more about me questioning why I have had the life experiences that I’ve had and just expressing my anger towards that, finishing off with a more melancholic hook to bring it all together.
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"I think the goal is to make some kind of change. Whether that’s having a social impact or changing the way music sounds and people’s relationship with it"
The Writing Process…
My music is all about telling stories and sharing my experiences. I feel that, for my age, I’ve seen a lot of things – experienced a lot, so actually having stuff to write about is never a problem. It usually comes out as poetry at first – just pure lyrics with raw feeling and emotion which, again, isn’t a difficult thing for me to achieve. The way I go about it is to put myself back in that moment. If you can trace yourself back to where you were and what you were going through, it’s easy to conjure up those emotions again and that’s what I need to get down in my writing. It makes it so much more authentic if you’re reliving those times as you’re writing them and I think that comes through in the delivery of the words also. Having said that, sometimes I’ll start with a melody and then that’ll dictate the emotion of the track so I wouldn’t say I have a concrete process – it’s much more fluid and malleable but it’s all about tapping into the right emotions at the right time.
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What’s Next?...
I’ve got a deluxe version of Mirror Story coming out at the end of this month which includes acoustic versions of three tracks from the EP; Monster, What’s Left and Love Yourself. Obviously, I play piano init and they’re quite piano-orientated so I hope that one day I have the opportunity to play those acoustic versions for people.
Long Term…
In the long term, I think the goal is to make some kind of change. Whether that’s having a social impact or changing the way music sounds and people’s relationship with it. Those are things that I would be able to look back on later on in my career. Now though, my focus is mainly on the music; developing my production and songwriting.
Mirror Story is currently available to stream on Spotify and be sure to keep an ear out for the deluxe version, released on 28th April, featuring live performances of Monster, What’s Left and Love Yourself.