In Rotation: Nippa

Tottenham and Queensbridge are separated by an ocean, but the concrete breeds the same kind of resilience. When North London R&B upstart Nippa touched down in New York recently, he made a point to walk through Nas and Mobb Deep’s old stomping grounds before grabbing a table at Sei Less. People actually stopped him in the street—"Yo Nippa." That doesn't happen by accident. You have to earn that cross-Atlantic love. He’s doing it by resurrecting the bounce of early 2000s R&B without sounding like a damn cosplay act. He’s been building this foundation for a minute. After dropping his self-titled debut EP and 2022's Not A Statistic, he caught nods from Dave and Bryson Tiller. He even landed a feature on Craig David’s 22 album. You can hear Craig’s influence all over Nippa's recent mixtape, Hope She Hears This. The tape works as a breakup diary. On "Insecure," his vocal runs glide over the groove, asking his ex to look him in the eye while he unpacks his own regrets. The bassline stays thick under his honeyed tenor. It’s vulnerable, but the drums still knock hard enough for the function. Right now, the track I’ve had on repeat all week is his new single "Homegrown." He tapped LA’s own Blxst for the assist. Blxst brings that signature West Coast slide, while Nippa anchors the melody with a tribute to his hometown. The song literally soundtracked the Tottenham Hotspur kit launch last month. It’s an anthem about surviving the mud and keeping your roots intact. The industry is catching up fast. "Homegrown" is currently climbing Spotify’s R&B UK chart and cracking Apple Music's R&B Now playlist, while stations from San Francisco's KPOO to Phoenix's KALV-FM are putting it in rotation. A lot of modern singers hide behind murky production and toxic personas. Nippa steps right up to the mic and actually sings about the sh*t that hurts. He’s the slickest import the UK has sent us in a minute. Hit play below.