There was an atmosphere of eager anticipation as people packed into a small live room, waiting for Bishop Nehru to make his mark at Birthdays in Dalston. As DJ Juanyto began playing Bill Goldberg’s WWE entrance music, the crowd starting to become excitable. Juanyto announced Bishop’s entrance as if the stage was set to become a ring where blows would be traded. Comfortably making his way through the crowd and onto the small stage was a tall, confident individual that looked ready to make the night his own. Amidst rapturous applause Bishop Nehru began slanging bars and delivering a flow aged well beyond his years.
Hours earlier, Bishop, a well-travelled 19 year old who has already toured with Wu-Tang Clan, supported Kendrick Lamar and released a powerhouse collaborative project with rhyme-slayer MF DOOM, was sat in a tiny, dark, green room.
THE NAME & THE MAGIC
“Well,” he started, “A Bishop is like a spiritual advisor, but was also the name of a character in Juice who was hungry for respect throughout the whole movie and was played by Tupac. The Nehru part comes from the first Prime Minister of India.”
The name appropriately matches the spiritual themes that flow through his latest project, MAGIC:19, which was released in June. The mixtape features 11 tracks, 8 of which were produced by Bishop Nehru himself. The project has no features, a surprise given Bishop’s history of releasing collaborative projects with Dizzy Wright and MF DOOM.
“Honestly, it wasn’t even intentional. I didn’t even notice it until afterwards when people started bringing it up. I was in an interview actually when someone asked me if there were any features and I didn’t even know, I just working, I wasn’t focused on anything else. It was done, I didn’t feel like I needed features or anything.”
The production on tracks “Highs and Lows” and “Sacred Visions” are real standouts on MAGIC:19 and showcase some of Bishop’s influences. Previously, Bishop has defined his production style as Neptunish.
“When I say Neptunish, I mean stuff like “Highs and Lows” because to me that beat isn’t really boom-bap but at the same time it’s not really modern day trap, it’s in the middle. And to me, that’s where The Neptunes were with their sound, right in the middle,” he explained, “But, honestly, I couldn’t really define it. It’s more like, I just want to do as much as I can sound wise, make as many different sounds as I can. I couldn’t really say a specific genre but my beats are smooth and I like to mess with swing sometimes.”
Another standout track on the project is “One Of A Kind”, a lyrical onslaught that manages to fuse the conscious idea behind MAGIC:19 with cool and confident bars.
“One of a Kind is one of my favourite songs on the project. It’s the same as what MAGIC is. “One Of A Kind” was me realising that not many people can understand their own magic or their own power and I wanted to vent about that.”
The same track boasts verses with the intricate, ballistic and clever rhyme schemes that long-time Bishop Nehru fans have come to expect from the New York rapper. Every artist has a different writing style, but few rappers manage to pack as much into a verse as Nehru who has a style typically associated with the older generation, many of whom the young artist unsurprisingly cites as influences.
“That’s just how I write. Even when I freestyle I freestyle in multis. There are times where there is a writer’s block stage where you have to think about what word to use or which sentence will fit but I always know where I want to put the multi lines in my head.”
INFLUENCES
Having been associated with veteran acts since the age of 16, Bishop has earned praise from artists at the top and the people that paved the way those artists. At the same age, Bishop supported the legendary Wu-Tang Clan during their 20th Anniversary Tour.
“I was young so, I was still in the moment, having fun with stuff. It was just a good time, a good experience.” He reminisced, “RZA gave me some advice before a show, we were doing sound check and he pretty much said the same thing that DOOM told me, which was to keep doing what I’m doing because I already know what I have to do.”
Collaborator MF DOOM, former label-head Nas and The Wu all publicly endorse Bishop Nehru, with MF DOOM saying in an interview with XXL,
“He stays on point, his work ethic is good, his focus is excellent, he sees what he wants, he aims and he hits that. I wanna be following him. I’m trying to keep up with [him]”
The support means a lot to Bishop. “It’s cool to be honest,” he begins, “because that’s somebody I was listening to since before I was really recording my own stuff. So, to start recording and then have somebody I was already a fan of like [Nehruvia] was pretty dope.”
Nehru also cites Tupac as a huge influence, beyond the conception of his stage name. Juice isn’t the only film to have inspired Bishop Nehru as an artist who joins the likes of Tyler The Creator, Childish Gambino and Logic as a director of his own music videos.
“When I make a song I already know what I want to do visually, I can already see the vision in my head so it just goes hand in hand – especially when you’re making a beat and stuff. For live shows, too. I guess it’s because I can see the vision whilst making the song.”
RELATIONSHIP WITH NAS
In 2014, just before Bishop Nehru released NehruvianDOOM with veteran MF DOOM, the 19-year-old rapper signed a deal with Nas’ label Mass Appeal. The legendary Illmatic MC touted Bishop as “the future of music”. A heavy expectation for a young man still finding his feet musically. Though, it appeared as though Bishop was comfortable, maintaining continuous releases and still exploring his craft.
Despite differences leading to Bishop leaving Mass Appeal, he insists that the relationship with Nas is still strong and that the mogul is still set to executive produce the rapper’s debut album which is due for release soon.
“I’m not on Mass Appeal anymore – there were creative differences I guess. Not with Nas, but we’re just trying to figure out the role he’ll play on the album. He probably will play a role because most of the album is finished already and we’re not just gonna change anything.”
Rumours involving a Bishop Nehru / Nas feature on the album are enough to get any fan of Hip-Hop excited about the forthcoming release. Fans of Bishop will know by now that no project of his sounds the same. His growth is being documented in his music and his ambition is leading to experimental sounds.
“I always try to make each album sound different to from the other in some sort of aspect. I feel like it sounds more mature if anything.”
NEW YORK AND THE UK
It was in London that Bishop Nehru first met collaborator MF DOOM. After a show they both featured in, DOOM approached Nehru and offered him praise and advice before signing one of the New Yorker’s vinyls.
It’s no surprise that with a recent surge of interest in music coming out of Britain that Bishop was keeping tabs on a few artists.
“There’s only a few artists I try to keep up with. I guess here, there’s a few people like Snakehips and Skepta. I’ve known about Skepta for a while, before the whole OVO thing. I was at a festival and he was on the line up as well. It was some show I did, he was there too.”
An earlier project of Bishop’s, strictlyFLOWZ was hosted by Rosenberg of Hot.97 and DJ Semtex of BBC 1Xtra, so his links to the UK hold just as strong as other New York artists’, like Joey Bada$$ , a frequent collaborator with Maverick Sabre, and Dyme-A-Duzin, a Brooklyn rapper also endorsed by DJ Semtex.
“I know Joey and Dyme. I probably talk to Dyme more than Joey. I think there a lot of artists coming out of New York that are sounding good. I think there have been for a while but people just weren’t paying attention I guess. I think people are starting to pay more attention.”
AMBITION
Bishop Nehru is a young and hungry artist that has been set up to succeed by major players in the rap game. At the age of 19, with a series of strong projects under his belt, it would appear that the world is ready to hear his debut album.
“There’s a lot more work to do, I’m not even content with where I’m at right now.”
And when questioned about where he’d like to be the next time he came to London in October for his show in Hackney, Bishop simply replied in an excited and confident tone:
“At the top!”
You can get tickets for Bishop Nehru’s next London show in October here and can check out his latest project, MAGIC:19, here.