[@NSG] talk Hackney, [@LiamPayne], ‘Yo Darlin’ and the future

Music

BY Khadejia

February 27, 2018

After such a huge success off the back of the single ‘Yo Darlin ft. Geko’ which dropped in June, NSG has been everywhere. From your radio, to performing on J Hus’ tour to being on your best friends Snapchat, they have been everywhere. NSG come from Hackney in East London and have been grafting trying to push their sound out for 5 years+. They have previously worked with Liam Payne, Kilo Keemzo, Geko and Not3s, they are all bangers and have received support left right and centre from platforms. Today I met up with them in Shoreditch to see what they have been up to following up to their latest track “Pushing up”.

Where are you guys all from?

Three of us are Nigerian and three of us are Ghanaian, split in the middle.

Oh cool, so before this interview starts I have to ask this question. Do you guys have the Jollof debate?

Its not a debate with us, we have come to an understanding, everyone is entailed to their own opinion.

What was life like growing up as a creative in Hackney?

It has its positives and negatives.

Why?

Because you could easily be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that is so easy.

Have you ever been a situation where you could have been drawn into the wrong crowd?

Yeah, I’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time before, a couple of times. It’s just your environment and the people around you and being part of something creative slightly reduces that percentage of us being at the wrong place at the wrong time because you are always doing something productive and your are always very busy. So that’s the positive because you are so focused.

You guys seem really tight and close, and the universe brought you guys together for a reason, how did NSG come about?

5/6 of us met at secondary school, along the way we met our fellow companion Mojo through football and living in Hackney – We all had a common music interest and formed NSG off the back of that.

How did you feel when Liam Payne reached out to you, what was your day like?

That day was funny. It was so odd, it was a normal day at first and it was when Liam did a video to ‘Yo Darlin’ everyone was snapping us and our phones were blowing off. After that he actually wanted us on a remix of his song which was a crazy moment for us, it started from him listening to one of our songs to us literally in the same studio as him.

Did you know ‘Yo Darlin’ was going to be a banger?

I personally thought this is the one, I didn’t think it would get to where it was. All of our songs are big but this particular song I believed in it more than anyone. I feel like ‘Yo Darlin’ brought us in a lot and gave us so many opportunities, we dropped it in June and in that space of time we have accomplished so many achievements.

Carnival, Wireless Festival, tours, I’m probably missing out a few things but it’s been so great.

Where did the term “Yo Darlin” actually come from?

OGD – I just screamed “Yo Darlin” and it was the vibe.

How does it feel getting such a high response from the track?

It’s amazing, I feel like just seeing people listening to it still after 6 months, it’s sick. I just shows how much depth and how far our sound can go. People are still hearing it. I saw a tweet the other day that said “Yo Darlin” is a timeless song; I screen-shotted that because it touched me. Even preforming it, there are a lot of songs that we perform but I could perform ‘Yo Darlin’ like 20 times in one night and see the same reaction, it’s so spiritual man.

What is it like working with JAE5?

We are always working with him; we have been working with him from the start, like 5 years. He’s sick; he is the hardest out, hands down, after Dr Dre.

Can you guys speak another language that you would ever put in a track?

Yes and we have do one it before. We take so much pride in our culture and it coming out on a track is second nature, if it fits right we will do it.

Who come up with the concept of the video for “Pushing up”?

It was Kevin Hudson, he came up with the last supper concept, because we are talking about “Eat until I am good enough”, but I just think it’s us having a feast. Then the individual shots of each person were everyone’s personality shining through.

For an example Dope was in-between trees, Ogd had the yack, the Ciroc. The video represented everyone behaviours (Sometimes).

Do you guys feel any healthy competition between the 6 of you; is one person better at something than the other?

100%, I feel like everyone brings the best out of everyone and if one of our verses isn’t good JAE5 will just delete it, that basically started it all off because you’re not making it in the song. Imagine recording a verse, you like it, you go home and then come back and it’s gone, that will make you write – which overall means that your boys have a better verse. We definitely bounce off one another.

How do you all chill after a long day?

Dope – Bill it! *They chuckle*

What are you looking forward to this year?

Releasing new music, performing and to receive another plaque. We always have something planned too!

Where can we find you?

For now, more club shows and on our socials: