TRACK: Natty Wylah – ‘Cinders’: atmospheric and sharp North London rhymes


NATTY WYLAH, the north-of-the-Thames lyricist who’s been carving out a reputation over the past year or so with single drops like the musically laidback but lexically bold and proud “WHOAMI” and the chronic-funk of May’s “4 Siblings” has just dropped a new single for those Northern Line sundowns – “Cinders”.

He’s a crisp new voice for the capital – get inside with the SoundCloud embed of the track below.

Breaking in on an eerie laugh and Purple Cloud’s orchestral production skills, he urges you to “come a little closer … but make sure you check behind ya, make sure you check behind ya, the forest doesn’t sleep, the forest doesn’t sleep, crackling twigs … snapping and things.” It’s a spectral moonscape for Natty to sally forth about “another night spent dulling pain by the gallon.” It’s one of those horrid monochrome evenings made rhyme – and it’s adept as hell.

Cinders, fire, smoke, the forest … the tropes of the rural idyll repurposed for the smoke and mirrors of trying to sift for reality in the upside-down, black-is-white world of 2020; where we look to “prophets mumbling dishonesty”.

He’s been picked up by Toddla T and he’s starting to get a groundswell of other radio play support; get with Natty now. He promises a mixtape before the year is out, and an end-of-year surprise.

Find Natty on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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