For fans of hip-hop digging outside the cliché zones, African-American Nappy Nina is a genuine discovery, unless you’re close to the emerging Brooklyn or Bay Area scene – since this very talented MC is originally from Oakland and currently lives in NYC. This queer artist is responsible for a few recordings, including the album “The Tree Act” released in 2019. We discover this album after having appreciated the very recent ” Mourning Due” and we say to ourselves that the pen of this Nappy Nina is sharp, dense, inspired, conscious, lucid, funny, dark or luminous through a singular exploration of grief or downright mourning, introspection put into rhymes and spread over 14 tracks under the banner “Mourning Due”. The rhythm of the speech is exemplary, the beats of Nelson Bandela, Sonnymoon’s dane.zone, Jwords, Jon Bap, testify of a great conceptual curiosity and a certain taste in the mixture of the genres and sub-genres – post-boom bap, bass music, tech-house, contemporary jazz, modern orchestral pop and experimental soul enamelled this album clearly above the average. The quality of the guests on the mic is a testament to the quality of the rapper and her appeal – Moor Mother, Nathan Bajar. Cavalier, JusMoni, OHMi, maassai, MAVI, Stas Thee Boss, lojji. A must.
