The Floor: Do you feel like your heritage has influenced your upbringing?
ItsNate: Yea I think so, it has to doesn't it. you absorb everything. it moulds you.
You can hear the Patois-infused London drawl in his music as the melodies concurrently draw on genres like jazz, hip-hop and R&B. Much like much of today’s music, his sound is borderless and genre-less – sound familiar and foreign at the same time. Nate is as enigmatic as the interview answers he provides. Not too much, not too little, but straight to the point.
I’m from North London, N1, it borders Hackney. I'm part Nigerian and part Cameroonian, and growing up on a council estate, there was a mix of West African people and that influenced and intertwined with education, progress and respect.
On All In he speaks about the random but selective process of making the music.
"The sound came to me from the producer, I’m very open when it comes to sounds. I’ll try anything. I couldn’t tell you the inspiration, I just found it and it happened."
The experimentaiton heard melds upbringing and current musical inspirations into just under 3 minutes.
Nate has a very relaxed approach to making music, there’s no pressure, no fanfare, when the inspiration comes, that’s when he starts,
It's straight forward, I hear a bit in my headphones and wait till the word comes. I record at home so I'm self-sufficient. I just haven't been recording that much during the pandemic. But it comes in waves, I don't stress it.
In a time where listener’s attentions spans are dwindling and music trends are changing, there is a pressure to ensure that your release on ‘New Music Friday’ keeps people gripped for at least half of the day. Streaming has compounded this issue and means that artists are competing against the algorithm. Nate has somehow not succumbed to this ever-present pressure. He creates when he feels like it and has an unorthodox approach to releases.
I've been making music for a long time, I release when it feels right. There's no timeline I need to abide by. As Burna Boy says, I cant come and kill myself.
What got you into music?
Friends, Grime music. It was a way to express yourself with the tools you had at your disposal. So in my case words and my voice.
Listening to All In I can hear so many different genres. Was this intentional or a sound you've stumbled upon?
Erm, yea it came to me from the producer really, I'm very open when it comes to sounds. I'll try anything. My boy put me onto a lot of SA house and Amapiano this summer so when I heard all in, I was for it.
What was the inspiration for All In?
I couldn't tell you, It just happened. I found the pockets and here it is.
Who would you like to collaborate with in the UK?
I just wait for collaborations to happen naturally. It's better that way.
Do you have any plans for future releases?
Maybe, I've been making music for a long time, I release when it feels right. There's no timeline I need to abide by.
Favourite grime artists?
Kano and Wretch. The Movement was my thing.
Any SA House songs or Amapiano songs you really like?
I really dont' know the names, I just vibe to them. They're all pretty crazy.
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