In Talks With London’s Next Rising Emcee: Nino SLG
5 Feb 2021
At just 15 years-old, Nino SLG burst into the UK Rap game at the latter end of last year with his debut single entitled “House Invasions”; now sitting at just under 260,000 views on YouTube alone, I think it’s safe to say the newcomer has already proven himself as a force to be reckoned with. Now being championed as one to watch, Nino’s refined pen, captivating presence and all-round swagger has the potential to become a staple name within the scene.
Following the release of his latest single “No Stopping” we caught up the budding newcomer to talk all things music. Tap in below to see what he had to say!
The last year has been a challenge for many artists, how have you found it? Has it taken effect on your creativity or productivity at all?
Not at all, I was and still am as productive as ever. Creativity is not truly an issue for me because all the works I have created all link back to my experiences or my emotions, so that aspect is not difficult to handle.
As a new artist to the game, could you tell us a bit more about how you got into music and how your journey began?
People believe that I started music recently but the musical journey began a long time ago. I began learning piano at the end of primary school and I am still learning now but I began rapping only a few months ago. After attending a youth club to develop my sound, I decided to post a freestyle which gained some attention. I was then found by Rimes and Je – big up them both! From there I released “House Invasions” which did quite well for a debut and I am looking forward to see how the journey goes from here.
Are there any artists you look up to or still do?
Yeah, there are several artists I still look up to, you have the likes of Dave, Stormzy and AJ Tracey; they’re all great artists and have mastered the artistic sides of rapping.
You released your debut single “House Invasions” at the latter end of last year which has done really well! Tell us a bit more about the thought process behind this track?
With “House Invasions”, I needed to introduce myself to the world with something that people like myself would be able to relate to. I used emotions that I may have been feeling and turned it into something positive. I’m glad it received such good reception, and this song has helped largely grow my audience.
Did you ever anticipate how well it would do?
Never! It was a pleasant surprise! Since this was my debut single, I knew it would gain some reception but not as well as it did now. My friend once asked me how many views I think it would get and I said 20,000 but it did 10x that, so now I get provoked every once in a while about it.
We’ve only heard a snippet of your sound so far! How would you describe your sound to people who haven’t heard of you before?
My sound is deep melodic rap! With every song I make, I desire someone to relate with it, whether it is about the struggles I face or the times where I feel satisfied. I am all about people being able to sympathise with every lyric.
Do you think you will branch out sonically at some point in the future?
Definitely as I feel like I am very versatile! Recently I have explored different sounds that I have never attempted to record on and I’ve just been developing my ability to feature with anyone – I definitely expect myself to branch out in the future.
So, you’re dropping your new single “No Stopping” on Thursday which I’ve been told is following the same narrative as “House Invasions” – was this always the plan? Tell us a bit more about this one.
This has been the plan for a while and people are starting to notice the continuation of almost a story-line. It’s about a young guy who has talent but is shown the wrong path by his people; he becomes product of his environment whilst he has a freestyle which is doing really well and could take him somewhere. At the end of “House Invasions”, whilst he and his peers are at a house, they are ambushed by masked people. This leads to anger and thoughts of retaliation by the young man and his friends, and this can be seen in the beginning of “No Stopping”.
How hands on are you in regard to your videos and visual concepts?
Although I cannot take all credit for production as I work with people who are extremely experienced and talented and knowledgeable at what they do, I do put forth my ideas and combine them with the production teams’ ideas which allow us to reach an agreement on how things should be.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years, I see myself acting consistently. Headlining. I’ll probably have an album out by then too. Mastering production, beginning to write my own book after gathering lots of experiences I can talk about. The evil eye is real so I don’t want to spill too much but I definitely have a lot of things in sight!
What else can we expect to see from you this coming year?
I believe this year is going to be a big year for me. My name will be constantly uttered. Last year was barely an introduction to me, but this year I hope to become a well-known name by releasing a few singles, freestyles and an E.P. An E.P will definitely be coming from me this year so I’m looking forward to releasing that too!