Label executives have tipped Nemzzz to take UK rap to new heights with his new mixtape Rent's Due.
The follow-up to the 20-year-old Mancunian's 2024 mixtape Do Not Disturb (55,245 sales, OCC), which breached the UK Top 20, Rent's Due dropped via ADA on Friday (March 28).
Central Cee, D-Block Europe and Shallipopi are among those to feature across its 14 tracks, and hopes for the record in the rapper's camp are high.
“The new mixtape is a real step up and we have total belief that he’s going to take UK rap to new heights both in the UK and internationally,” said ADA MD Howard Corner, speaking in the April edition of Music Week.
ADA general manager Alice Frost went further still, hailing Nemzzz as “the hottest rapper out there, one of those rare UK acts that is truly connecting around the world”.
Nemzzz has always had a strong vision, he’s created his own sound, stayed consistent and now is in a lane of his own
Shauni Caballero
Elsewhere, Shauni Caballero, senior director of creative at Sony Music Publishing, who signed Nemzzz in 2022, also waxed lyrical about his abilities.
“Nemzzz has always had a strong vision, he’s created his own sound, stayed consistent and now is in a lane of his own,” she said.
Nemzzz first rose to prominence in 2021 with breakout single Elevate (288,614 sales) and follow-up 2MS (326,216), which was released via a single deal with Motown UK.
He then dropped the track LSW (40,368 sales) in 2022 in partnership with Colin Batsa through Virgin Music Group before partnering with ADA the following year.
Nemzzz, who has built up a monthly Spotify listenership of 7.6 million, allied to a strong following across all social media, stars on the cover of the latest issue of Music Week, in which he reflects on his meteoric rise so far and the lessons he’s learned along the way alongside his manager Alex Omisesan.
Trenton Harrison-Lewis, SVP artist and label development, ADA and Warner Music UK, was effusive in his praise for the duo.
“They’re open to new ideas, thinking outside the box, and sometimes you need to do that,” said Harrison-Lewis. “He’s talking to his demographic, and they get it, they understand it,” he says. “He’s not telling them too much madness. It’s real.
"When you’ve got someone that knows what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, it is special. It’s also about how much confidence they have, not arrogance. It’s good to see, and it’s what we saw when we first met him, before he did the other deal [with Motown UK]. So you don’t think, ‘Ah, he didn’t come to us, fuck him!’ No, you keep that relationship going.”
Coming to an independent, you have to make a hard decision. It’s not like the frontline labels where you get a big cheque. You’re really investing in yourself
Trenton Harrison-Lewis
Harrison-Lewis acknowledged similarities between Central Cee, who signed with Columbia in 2023, and Nemzzz.
“We did Central Cee here, the ADA team did that,” he said. “We’ve got the blueprint, do you know what I’m saying?
"Bello [Central Cee’s manager] should be showing Alex, that’s how it needs to be, that network needs to be tight, because we can do it. We’ve shown it. Tell me how many frontlines have done what ADA has done in the past four years, that have No.1 records and artists who are streaming and going international like these guys. It’s because we have relationships, we care and we just work with our artists.”
Harrison-Lewis suggested that pursuing the independent path was a good fit for Nemzzz.
“He has a great relationship here and within the Warner building,” he said. “Right now, he’s about to drop a tape, so he can stay, he can move on. That’s the beauty of independence. It’s your thing, it’s your catalogue. We don’t own anything. We’re just a business partner.
"Cench has moved outside the group but I talk to his manager Bello every other day, just about stuff. They’re moving incredible right now. It’s not a money thing, it’s not chasing down things, we’ve built up a relationship. I have the same relationship with Alex and Nemzzz. I like that, this is what I like to do.”
He added: “Coming to an independent, you have to make a hard decision. It’s not like the frontline labels where you get a big cheque. You’re really investing in yourself.”
Subscribers can read the full Nemzzz cover story in the current issue of Music Week, out now. It's available online here.
