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Fresh Kicks 141: Nammy Wams

With over 50 cuts of exemplary UK rap, drill and grime, producer and Croydon FM resident Nammy Wams steps up for the Fresh Kicks mix series


Nammy Wams' mixes are like crash courses in the finest new drill, rap and grime in the UK. Crisp, icy beats swerve and flutter beneath the gravelly flows of prominent MCs, while agile transitions reveal a DJ who is endlessly excited to show as much of the music he loves as possible to as many people as possible. A prolific radio host, and a talented producer in his own right, he hosts a weekly slot on Croydon FM, and has created an essential platform for forward-thinking UK sounds in just a few short years. With previous guest spots on NTS and Rinse FM, on shows by the legendary Marcus Nasty and The Brigade Network, with whom he is a close affiliate, the Elephant & Castle-born selector has become an enthusiastic and crucial voice in spotlighting these revolutionary new waves of young British music.

In April 2019, he released ‘Yellow Secret Technology’, a sizzling 20-track mixtape that marked the launch of Grime Tapes, a label revived from London DJ Slackk's legendary pirate radio archive of the same name. The retrospective collection covered five years worth of Nammy Wams’ instrumental productions, and presented an evolving artist with a flair for glimmering melodies and nimble beats that still pack a serious punch. A set at Boxed, the party co-run by Slackk, Mr. Mitch, Logos and Oil Gang, followed in June that year at Corsica Studios, as well as a contribution to their label’s sprawling MMXX compilation. “Slackk was the person who really made me feel motivated to keep on making tunes,” he says. “He was the first to support [me], and has also supported loads of new artists.”

Increasingly, Nammy Wams has found himself driven by the idea of doing something similar to what Grime Tapes did during the genre’s first golden era in the mid ‘00s. While the online archive preserved and shared seminal pirate radio recordings beyond their original broadcast range, bringing grime to audiences far and wide, Nammy Wams has sought to do the same with his own shows, hosting with a community-orientated edge and placing an emphasis on underrepresented artists and crews. With almost two years and almost 100 shows under his belt, it’s been so far, so good. 

“I feel the real purpose of the show is similar to Grime Tapes,” he says. “It compiles the tracks of the time and helps them find a collective space, as opposed to a YouTube video which will be difficult to discover a few weeks after being uploaded. I feel with a lot of music that gets put out via the big channels like MixtapeMadness, GRM etc. there’s loads of gems that just get overlooked, and then [they] get lost in the YouTube database within a week or so.”

Nammy Wams' determination to shout about the lesser-heard artists in the UK rap sphere grew when he linked up with The Brigade Network, a collective who operate out of the influential OnDaBeat Studios in Wandsworth (formerly in Park Royal), home of what he describes as “the biggest, and most pioneering tracks coming out of the UK Drill and UK Rap scenes”. Since, he has worked with the 16-member collective on live gigs, radio slots and releases, with artists such as MKThePlug, Gottionem and SapphireBeatsz , Mikabeats, Kayman and more

“Their music is raw and unapologetically [their own],” he says. “And pushes a sound that many try to copy... With The Brigade Network, everyone has their own styles and their music speaks for itself – but because they don’t big themselves up all that much, people don’t really know it’s a Brigade member that’s behind [it]”.

“More generally,” he adds. “I think collectives have been good because they isolate from other sounds and create their own. The Brigade Network aside, there are other UK producer collectives like G.R.I.T.S Foundation, H.M.R.C, 6 Figure Gang and more, which also push forward different sounds.”

In April, Nammy Wams, along with fellow producers First Circle and Ony, released the ‘Choppers X Screwers’ collection. Featuring 32 chopped n screwed reworks of UK drill tracks, the release proved yet another testament to his creativity as a producer – one who wants to push the style in myriad new directions. “I didn’t think there was really much chopped n screwed material of UK music, let alone UK Drill. I did a couple, initially because I was curious, but then I thought I could probably do a lot more, and then eventually it turned into a compilation.”

Raising funds for Southwark Food Bank, the collection also emphasised the importance Nammy Wams sees in using his growing platform to speak up about social justice, something that has become more crucial than ever for us all to consider in 2020. 

“Times are tough for a lot of people during the pandemic,” he says. “But we are seeing a serious injustice to the Black community, with regards to the systemic racism which has ultimately led to the deaths of George Floyd, Belly Mujinga and countless others. I support the Black Lives Matter movement and those who are protesting. If you could spare some cash, donate to Black led organisations which assist those who are protesting and those affected by hate crimes and their families. There’s plenty of resources online which make this, and other non-financial means of supporting, easy to do. At this point, wilful ignorance is a sin.”

As the pandemic continues to dominate so much of our lives, Nammy Wams is focussing on keeping his radio show stacked with the very best new music from the artists he’s most excited about, as well as making a lot of new music of his own to release into the world when the time is right. “That’s the only thing that’s in my control. And from there, whatever happens, happens.”

In the meantime, check out Nammy Wam’s Fresh Kicks mix below,

 
 

Tracklist:

#SSB Snapz x C1 X AimzOrAimer ‘Again’
Sapphire Beatsz ‘Temple Shavings’
#SilwoodNation T1 X C9 X Amizz ‘¥ing Dat’
GottiOnEm Ft. (CBT) Yr x Sosa  ‘Am’
(Zone 2) Kwengface ‘Auntie’
NAMMY WAMS ‘PUNK’
Hl8 & Harlem Spartans ‘Grip & Ride’
410 (RENDO, BT, VI & TROOPS) ‘1UP’
Waifer ‘Shower Hour’
Poundz ‘Honey (Kentucky)’
Dimzy & Carns Hill ‘No Cap (feat. Ross)’
Headie One, K Trap ‘Work’
Gotti On Em ‘Scoreboard’
Amz ‘Kick And Dip’
MIKabeats ‘NewAgeDrill’
#YTB AB x Grinner ‘GTA’
Mikabeats ‘Fluture’
Skorebeezy ‘Big Upti’
MKTHEPLUG ‘JAMES BOND’
A7 ‘Vicious’
Low Deep ‘Catz’
Dutchavelli ‘Surely’
JB104 ‘Skengdo X AM 1Xtra Freestyle instrumental’
J'Gang, QUIETPVCK & Trims ‘Dallas)
Sem ‘Shooting Stars (Instrumental)’
Rashy x (Zone 2) Karma ‘Emergency (Prod. By JM00)’
#7th Woosh ‘Warning’
17BEATS ‘148 BPM’
CALCIFER ‘REAL CRUD’
JP ‘Sorry For The Weight (Prod. Omari Lyseight)’
DJ Dexsstarr ‘Akihabara’
Jojo Hundred ‘BWB’
First Circle ‘JML II’
Tallest Trapstar ‘Deliveroo [Prod By Marz]’
Recky ‘Heat of Summer’
Felix Lee x Nammy Wams ???
M Dargg ‘BOUNTY KILLER’
Karma ‘Smelly Kelly (feat. Rv)’
Scorcher ‘Bare Gunshots (Instrumental)’
NAMMY WAMS ‘ONE’
LD (67) ft. S Loud ‘Free Smoke’
Mikabeats ‘Glide’
#98s Hitman x DA ‘Smoke’
Ironsoul ‘Tru Lies’
Mr Virgo ‘Sad Song’
#SkengField S'Kizz ‘Come Let's Play’
Stabber ‘Brucky’
JEB1 ‘NEVER THOUGHT’
Majima ‘Confined Space’
VICE! AND SECUNDUS ‘VICEROY LINDSAY AND THE DIABOLICAL BOX’
Rushy ‘Faces (Feat. Romy Jo) - Explicit’
Gotti On Em X Mikabeats ‘Stiffy Wid Da Blicky’
DBF Win ‘FaceTime’
Majima ‘Miami’
Blade Brown ‘In The Air’
M.I.C & PK Brako ‘Witchclart’