“Homegrown” Finds Nippa Between Strength and Vulnerability
Nippa, the London singer-songwriter, has a kind of natural magnetism and warmth that come from his humble beginnings, blending almost seamlessly with the intense but necessary toughness that comes from not having everything handed to you on a silver platter.
That strange combination of having your head in the clouds while keeping your roots firmly planted on the ground, where strength gradually gives way to vulnerability, is an essential part of “Homegrown,” his first EP with Warner Records. The project blends rap, R&B, and danceable rhythms while delivering a coded message of gratitude and reverence, hidden beneath a severity that seems to function as a form of self-defense.
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Nippa can sound confident, even defiant, and then allow a sense of concern to surface, changing the weight of what he is singing.
“Say It With Your Chest” comes in with a distorted vocal that adds a sense of chaos, while “Cherries Freestyle” finds a space in rap to let his character unfold. Both tracks add intensity to a body of work that also needs room to breathe.
“Bittersweet,” meanwhile, captures much of the complementary duality that defines the artist. Produced by KAYTRANADA and Rance, it carries a hypnotic club pulse, but Nippa’s voice brings with it an internal dialogue about celebration. He wonders if he is doing too much, if he is too focused, and whether what he is experiencing is a moment or an impulse. His doubts seem to reveal the “B-side” of success that is rarely put on display.
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“Just Vibe” offers a necessary breather from that intensity, with a lightness that invites you to let your guard down and move with the rhythm. The gesture feels familiar on an EP that moves through different emotional states, including celebration, doubt, love, and even sadness, reflecting the complexity of being human and its endless contradictions.
On “Kacey,” Nippa and Jordan Ward blend their voices with a natural ease that sweetens the project and gives it one of its brightest moments. The song puts a life of travel and new experiences into perspective through an attraction that remains rooted in his hometown.
Intimacy takes on a different weight in “I’m Scared To Be Left Alone.” Its almost theatrical drama leaves a sense of exposure that carries into the EP’s ending. After the beats, movement, and shared vocals, the closing moment feels more intimate, as if the performer needs to sit with what he finds difficult to say for a little while.
The song he shares with Blxst provides an anchor for all those emotions. “Homegrown” gives the EP its title and reflects an identity sustained by the roots and community of both artists, creating a particular parallel between South Central, Los Angeles, and Tottenham, London. The track was also chosen by Tottenham Hotspur to accompany the unveiling of the club’s 2026/27 season kits.
Nippa grew up in Tottenham, North London, and calls his sound “hood R&B.” He built an audience independently and gained recognition with “INDUSTREETS” and “Hope She Hears This,” a journey that earned him a MOBO Awards nomination and a spot among Billboard’s R&B artists to watch. His new project arrives after that path and a year of intense personal reflection.
“Homegrown” is, in many ways, a brief autobiography that introduces Nippa at different moments of the same day, capturing his confidence as he takes on the world, his thoughts drifting toward someone else, and his need for company when solitude sets in. All of those states live within the EP, an intense body of work that is at times rough-edged and, at the same time, beautiful, like a photograph in which the light can only be seen when there is enough room for the shadows.
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Photos: James Ramsey
