Press Pass: Nemzzz Turns Up Spotify Home Town Show In Front Of Intimate Manchester Crowd

This is the very first iteration of a brand new regular segment we'll be brining you called 'Press Pass'. This new editorial will feature mostly relevant events, openings, experiences and activity coverage as and when things happen - with a couple of throwback drops here and there when it makes sense to include them. The goal is to offer up a fresh perspective on some of the upcoming and past events we personally attend or are invited to that we believe need a little extra light on them. Follow the journey as we will also be delivering a slightly different version of these articles on our Instagram page also.

Incase you missed it, the event we headed to this weekend was called Hometown. Hometown is a brand new live show concept that on this occasion sees three of the UK’s most exciting artists - Jorja Smith, Nemzzz and Beabadoobee return to the communities where their musical journeys began for a series of intimate and exclusive one-night-only performances.

The format is said to honour Spotify's reported commitment to bringing fans closer to the artists they love, with each performance giving the respective artist's top listeners the opportunity to experience these special shows in person, before the concerts are shared with a wider audiences around the world through exclusive films on Spotify. The platform had cameras absolutely everywhere on the night - to make sure they captured every second of the action from every angle, from start to finish for the purpose of making sure anyone who missed the show could still feel like they were there, while anyone who was fortunate enough to be in the building could relive the night later when they drop the content.

Saturday 12th of September saw one of the UK’s fastest-rising rap artists, Nemzzz take to the stage for night 2 of the inaugural edition of the Home Town series. The building was filled with fans and a sprinkling of familiar faces from local creators to influencers and content creators from outsode of the city - including the likes of Billy The Goat and Lockdown T very much in attendance to witness the incoming spectacle. While the lineup on the night featured a local cast of Manchester based acts and dj’s respectively, the audiance was also treated to an unannounced special guest who pulled up to perform with Nemzzz and hit us with a solo performance of his biggest song near the end of his set..

Since carving his own lane in the scene, Nemzzz has emerged as one of the defining voices of the new generation of the UK Rap scene, with Manchester continuing to play a central role in both his music and identity. His Hometown performance follows the release of his new project, ‘Locked In’, which dropped on the 4th of September and is available to buy and stream via all major digital outlets including Spotify: featuring a mix of what we know and love Nemzzz for as well as both local and oversees features that definitely move the needle.

After a getting settled into our hotel rooms earlier in the day we were trested to dinner at the Cicchetti by San Carlo - with IItalian cuisine on the menu, before loading up a coach of us to the secret location where the show was taking place. Because it was an invite only event and tickets weren't available for purchase the location of the gig wasn't revealed to attendees until the day before - to limit the exposure. The intimate venue featured a lot of things that helped make this event feel like it was more than just a show.

When the first DJ stepped up he began by feeling out the crowd and dropping music that would be of a smilar vibe to the first warm up act to step onto the stage as he also did a bit of crowd work on the mic to keep everybody engaged and open to something new. The first two acts the Mancheste dj brought to the stage definitely did their thing but the standout was the third - Zeddy East who connected with the crowd well and put up a solid performace he definitely could be proud of.

Soon after the Zeddy East performance, a new Manchester dj took over and hyping the crowd up again as the venue began to feel more full as anticipation built for the eventual moment wher Nemzzz finaly stepped on stage. The unmistakable presence of the rising rap star was palpable from his first couple of steps as he almost floated to the centre of the stage with the confidence of a seasoned performer with his assertive vocal delivery and mic projection that carried throughout the very impressive performance.

The instrumental at the begining of '4AM' - the first track on 'Locked In' is an epic way to enter the stage for a few reasons including how almost grandios it feels along with the the DND rapper's dlivery of some very pungent lyricism. "Back and better this is me but reinforced' is a powerful line that lands less than a minute in and is one of many quotable one liners that set the tone for the rest of his performance.

The rest of the show continued in the same vein with Nemzzz delivering a high eneryg prformance of his slaps continuously for obout 35 minutes which then saw him bring out South London based UK Rap and UK Drill staple K-Trap to perform the two songs they have together including the latest joint effort 'Doing The Most' that dropped last month (August) on 'Trapo 2' - then leaving the stage to allow Trapo to perform 'Warm' solo.

When Nemzzz returned to the stage he lit it up again and gave the fans a little extra at end as he went overtime to perform 2MS - the song that arguably changed evrything for the rapper - to close out the show and bring everything full circle in the city everything began at and the crowd went wild.

Importantly, the 'Hometown' project Spotify put together is reported to also have been designed to leave a lasting legacy in each city beyond the performances themselves. It shows in some of the very intentional pieces of art and memorabilia upon entrance to the venue was a nice personal touch - along with the tailored 'Locked In' themed set design which in my opinion helped to make this a very special experience for a lot of Nemzzz fans that were able to be there, with drinks flowing and their favourite artist running through his catelogue in an almost 1 hour long set ahead of his upcoming tour for his new album.