Issue 105 / November 2019

NUTRIBE
Fresh from the renowned Future Bubblers programme, the effervescent hip hop trio bring us up to speed on
the interplanetary aura that unifies their artistry and being. Time to understand the ‘ness’ of Nutribe.
It’s difficult to imagine NUTRIBE ever sitting still. As they
lock into pose to have their picture taken, the lens has barely
snapped shut before they’ve contorted into another elastic
shape. And even when their bodies hold still just for a
second, there’s a constant harmony of staccato noises emitting
from their formation; you can almost see the rapids of thought
and ideas rushing between their heads as their bodies feel the
suppress of static. Their unified presence is a life force of its own.
That’s even before you add their music into the equation. When
they pull together into frame, they become a North Face, fur hat
and beret-clad megazord; a three-headed hip hop hydra sporting
razor sharp rhymes instead of deadly teeth.
For a number of years, the trio of Stickydub, Yloh and
Doopsman have been injecting a dose of classic hip hop and
boom bap into Liverpool’s rap scene. But they’re by no means
heritage-facing revivalists. They sound like a trio from the
year 3,000 who’ve dug up dusty artefacts left behind by De
La Soul, Slum Village and The Roots, inspired to put their own
raps to record. The product is music centred on feeling and
bodily movement – the latter often choreographing the vocal
accompaniment. It’s an energetic blend that has led to support
slots with the GZA and taking to the main stage at Africa Oyé.
But, more recently, they’ve caught the attentions of Gilles
Peterson’s Brownswood Music, featuring in the third cohort of
the Future Bubblers artist development programme.
Now back in their home city, Elliot Ryder sits down with the trio
get the inside track on transcending the energy of the Nutribe ‘ness’.
You’ve been releasing tracks for a few years now, with a recent
inclusion on Future Bubblers 3.0. When did the world of
Nutribe start coming together?
Doopsman: When I was born.
So, friends first and the music came after?
Yloh: Yeh, the music came last though. We went through a lot of
things first before we got to music.
D: We all studied dance at arts college in Liverpool. We all parted
ways for a year; Sticky went to London, I went to Leeds and Yloh
stayed here. Then we met back up a year later in London.
Y: The London era was like a level up for the music, we
concentrated on it a lot more when we got there. As for when
all this started, you could say from the first time we met; that
first time we all jumped on Virtual DJ. From there we just started
writing raps and bars.
D: One of the turning points was a
night out we went on in London. We
were on our way to an event and we
came across some turntables just left
in the street. We were like, ‘Ah, should
we take these back?’ but we were
going out, so hid them and planned to
get them on the way back. Anyway,
at this event, the DJ failed to show,
so we ended up filling in and DJing.
When we went back, the turntables
just happened to be there, which in
any other circumstance in London,
they would not have. So we took
them home – now we make music…
So it seemed like it all started pretty
casually. Is it still quite laid back, or was there a moment you
thought, ‘We should try at this with a certain intent’?
Stickydub: There was one moment when we were having a jam
with our friends in London, and I remember listening back to the
voice memos and I was like, ‘Oh, shit, we can do stuff you know’.
Then we started hitting up open mic nights, practising.
D: We started with Butcha B, our big brother – man’s got pure
flavour. I remember on my 21st birthday in Leeds. We were in a
circle, spitting, singing and just chatting shit. There was, like, 20
people around us and we were just in this zone of making noises
together. It was a pretty pivotal moment.
Y: It’s pretty mad how people get the expression of what we give
off, like the warmth. When it resonates, it resonates. It’s genuine.
“It’s not how you
dress, it’s how you
think – your way of
being. Anyone can be
a part of Nutribe”
You started out as part of the Collecta Family, a
multidisciplinary art collective. Are you still part of this scene?
D: It’s still got the family umbrella, but without the name. It’s just
Nutribe. That’s the family, that’s the thing.
Would you say you’re a reflection of a changing community,
or one that was developed in your
youth?
S: I’d say it’s hard not to be a reflection
of the community we were brought
up in. A reflection doesn’t necessarily
mean the same, though, but you can’t
escape that similarity. We’re part of so
many communities; we’re of complex
culture. Lots of our families are
mixed, we’ve lived in different cities,
our identities are complex. We’re a
reflection of many, not just one. That’s
what Nutribe is.
There’s quite a democratic style in
the way that you perform in that
there’s a collage of voices often
present at one time. How did this develop?
D: I think it’s just how we are with each other. We have a respect.
We strive on communication so much. That makes everything so
much easier. So, if Yloh was like, ‘I wanna spit there’, we’d be like,
‘Spit there, go for it’. Standard. Cool, let’s hear it.
Y: It’s one of those where if Doops says he’s coming in, I know
he’s going to come in with something that I’m going to be gassed
with. We have that mutual artistry that is one collective voice. It’s
just different voices in the one voice.
S: We just know our ‘ness’, n e double-s. We just know what
our ness is. Our ness, our vibe. We’re just lacing our words with
the same vibe, you get me? I just trust them. I don’t care how
much that I say. I’m norrarsed. It doesn’t matter. I’m still there, my
energy is being represented, pushed out.
D: We have a track without Yloh on, and obviously it’s not the
same exact flavour, but it’s still got the same ingredient.
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