Skiddle's Future Headliners: Nia Archives

This summer, we're bringing back Future Headliners, a series where we look to the future over the festival season. Highlighting who we think will be the big names in the years to come, here are some of the brightest talents around right now from a wide mixture of genres.

To kick things off, we're spotlighting Bradford-born Nia Archives, who has been a rising star in the jungle and drum and bass scene for a couple of years now. If her recent set at Parklife is anything to go by, then her live shows are absolutely ecstatic as she provided the perfect warm-up for The Prodigy.

In 2021, Nia Archives released her debut EP 'Headz Gone West' and it was quickly hailed as a jungle masterpiece by publications such as Mixmag. The title track saw her inspired by her Jamaican heritage and the idea of familial relationships was explored throughout it. Then there was 'Crossroads', a hazy track that approached uncertainty via quick bursts of rapid drums to create head-spinning intensity.

From an early age, she was exposed to music in her household, her stepdad introduced Nia to hip-hop whilst she also listened to heavier influences such as Rage Against The Machine. That certainly explains the explosive edge that some of her tracks have. Moving to Manchester, the local scene introduced her to freestyling. By the age of just 16, she was beginning to produce her own music.

You'll notice that her vocals are just as expressive and hard-hitting as the instrumentals and she can attribute that to her time in Manchester's hip-hop community. With that in mind, she wanted to create music that people could dance to, which resulted in her leaning towards jungle and drum and bass.

Nia has released a further two EP's since 'Headz Gone West', the first being 'Forbidden Feelingz', which focussed on self-love and was her most scatter-gun embrace of different genres to date, adding garage and dubstep to the mix. Earlier this year, 'Sunshine Bang Ur Head Against The Wall' arrived.

An EP that further emphasised her versatility, with emotional honesty becoming even more integral to her work. It shows that she can switch up the intensity and different types of emotional release on a whim, as her lyrical talent is just as impressive as her production.

It seems as though we have a star in the making, Nia scooped the 'Producer Of The Year' award at the 2022 NME Awards and will surely be having even more impressive achievements in the future. For now, you can catch her playing festivals such as Glastonbury, We Out Here and Sundown Festival. You can see what else she's up to here.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.