So Tell Me, have you seen Nia Archives latest video for So Tell Me?
Hot off the back of her record breaking debut Boiler Room (over 2000+ sign ups), being named the BBC Introducing “Artist of the Year” as the first electronic artist to ever be awarded the prize and a recent MOBO Awards nomination for the newly introduced “Best Electronic/Dance Act” category and “Beset Newcomer”, today new gen junglist and inimitable rising star Nia Archives shares her latest single “So Tell Me…”. A warm and utterly timeless jungle roller lush with soaring strings, melodic piano harmonies and brooding bass guitar licks, this track speaks volumes on Nia’s incredible talent not only as a producer but as a vocalist and songwriter. Lyrically reflecting on a personal memory of a time where she struggled with a decision to leave or stay, her knack for ardent story-telling and effervescent relatability strikes again - “So Tell Me” will be sure to capture the hearts of millions of listeners.
Dropping alongside the track today is another incredible Nia Archives co-directed video alongside Dan Emerson, that follows the story of two young lovers in London hanging out with their separate friends, only to find each other at the end of the night. Shot in East London in Nia’s local area of Bow and Whitechapel where she went to uni, the video narrated by Nia stars real people creating a truly authentic depiction of the story she narrates with her emotive lyrics.
Speaking on the video, Nia says:
“Directing with Dan was so much fun! There were so many great ideas and so much positive energy on set. When I sent him my initial moodboard and treatment of what I wanted to create, it was really important to me from the jump to be casting POC main characters in this story - as this is something we don’t usually get to see in this kind of music. We also ended up casting non actors to get a more natural chemistry - it’s a real couple who live together in real life and their friends too! We aimed to push the boundaries of what a jungle video actually looks like, and I feel like we did just that - making a punky jungle video that references some of my favourite music videos ever including Massive Attack ‘Unfinished Symphony’ and Arctic Monkeys ‘When The Sun Goes Down.”
Earlier this month, Nia also announced her new party series “Up Ya Archives” with three UK shows before the end of the year, 30th November at The White Hotel in Manchester, and two London shows at Unit 48 on the 2nd and 3rd December. Manchester and London (Thursday and Friday) sold out in a day.
Following an unforgettable and era defining “Summer of Jungle” that saw Nia Archives sell out a Secret Summer Rave and play all over the world from All Points East to Glastonbury, Los Angeles to New York, Rio De Janeiro to Notting Hill, this rising star continues to command the unwavering attention of the UK scene, most recently on her euphoric Brazilian choir, Barbatuques, sampling club banger “Baianá” that’s already clocked over 1.9M streams on Spotify alone and scored another BBC playlist hattrick with the BBC 6 Music (A List), BBC Radio 1 (C List) and BBC 1xtra (C list).
Bradford born now London based, Nia Archives is one of the most exciting and compelling new artists in the UK making soft-hearted, cutting edge lo-fi jungle for introverted extroverts. Representing her Jamaican roots, nodding to and crediting the rich history of jungle music, in 2022 alone Nia Archives has won the NME Bandlab Award for ‘Best Producer’; been hotly tipped by The Face, BBC Radio 1 Dance as a ‘Future Star’, Spotify as their ‘Our Generation’ cover star, won the AIM Awards “One To Watch” prize and made her cover debut on Mixmag.
Her euphoria inducing, club ready productions peppered with cathartic and honest lyrics about her life and experiences on her 2021 debut EP Headz Gone West (including ‘Sober Feels’ on 7.5M+ global Spotify streams) and most EP Forbidden Feelingz (6.8M+ global Spotify streams) have taken the country by storm and have been given the seal of approval from tastemakers across the board from Rolling Stone UK, GQ, British Vogue, The Face, Pitchfork, The Fader, i-D and CRACK. Her pre-summer single “Mash Up The Dance” with Watch The Ride has been streamed over 2 million times and playlisted across BBC Radio 1, 6Music, 1Xtra, Kiss FM and more with the more recent carnival cut “No Time” (1Xtra B List) with Clipz, Beenie Man, ShaSimone and Cristale further cementing the jungle prowess.
A proud young British black woman who grew up in a predominantly white area, it’s important to Nia to take up space in jungle as a young Black woman, representing her Jamaican roots and carving out space for other Black women to see themselves in the genre. Heavily influenced by soundsystem culture and carnival - the good vibes, energy and uniting quality of which undeniably teems through her music, she’s also inspired by artists and icons like Grace Jones, Erykah Badu, Angela Davies, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Maya Angelou and more - all women who in their own way have represented and pushed forwards generations of black women.
Born in Bradford and growing up in Leeds where her earliest memories of music are deeply rooted in her Jamaican heritage, after moving out at 16, she relocated to Manchester, where her way of getting to know people was through raves and house parties. Forming a close community of like-minded ravers, she felt emboldened to take the mic at house parties to sing and freestyle, soon dabbling in production with a downloaded crack version of Logic. A quintessentially British scene and moment in electronic music history, Nia is inspired by and identifies with the imperfect old-skool grit of rave tapes from the late 80s and early 90s; taking reference from and adding her own unique spin.