The East London Rap collective, NSG, have dropped their second studio album “The Big 6”. NSG are known as one of the pioneers of the UK Afro sound known as Afro Swing. Afro Swing seamlessly blends Afrobeats, UK Rap and Dancehall together and NSG have perfectly mastered this sound.
The album title ‘The Big 6’ symbolises many things, including how many members are within the group. The dynamic group consists of six members, Dope, Kruddz, OGD, Mojo, Papii Abz and Mxjib. NSG are made up of members from both Nigerian and Ghanaian heritage. Iconically within Ghana there is also “The Big 6” and this “Big 6” was a political party, UGCC, who helped Ghana gain independence in 1957 and now can be seen on the Ghana Cedis notes. In line with this, NSG’s “The Big 6” album cover pays tribute to the “Abbey Road” album from the legendary British band, The Beatles.
The 14 part track list features musicians from all over the world like Tayc, Phyno, Medikal, Jay Bahd , Blanco and etc. Themes of love, personal struggles, triumphs and desires are explored within “The Big 6”. The entire album was produced by the talented 4Play and each song highlights how NSG always stick to their African roots whilst still experimenting new sounds. Throughout the album there are strong Afro influences with tracks like ‘A.L.Y.B.H.B”, “Overnight” and “Venus” which cover an Afro Pop sound and has a more commercial upbeat feel. Whereas other tracks like “Kala” and “Honestly” have the traditional NSG Afro Swing feel.
The “Options” rappers, recently released the new music video for “Venus” which within 48 hours has accumulated over 24K views on YouTube. The music video depicts and appreciates different relationships dynamics including the 2022 Love Island couple Dami & Indiyah. Within the music video, love is beautifully portrayed as a sweet, liberating and powerful emotion.
The UK Rap collective’s first album “Area Boyz” released in 2023 was a success, so the expectation for this album is extremely high. We at the Beat are excited to see what else NSG have in store for 2025!
