The People's Champs: Nappy Nina and Swarvy Live
- Jordon Briggs
- Apr 1
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 3
Nappy Nina’s show last Saturday at Neck of The Woods in San Francisco was one of the best kinds of rap performances to see. The upstairs space of Neck of the Woods is small and seems to be made to help create intimate performances, yet the crowd were mostly doing their own thing beneath the low colorful lights, in friend groups, or solo on the phone, or like me, chilling, awaiting Nina. Nina exuded the confidence of a veteran performer when she introduced herself. Her first album Naptime was released in 2018-- maybe to her, she is a vet. But being the third of four openers for rapper, Elucid, you might have thought it was her tour and not her rap friend's from Brooklyn. It was how she moved across the stage with a mixture of seriousness, humility, swagger, and warmth that got me more engaged than I was. Her being from Oakland, her vibe makes sense. You'll find people in the Town who are just like her, approaching you with a laid back vibe that's maybe tempering some aggression you can't see, energized by some goal that's on their mind, while talking with you bit of playfulness.
She oriented the crowd in mindfulness as she praised San Francisco for its beauty and had us appreciating the city too. Her competitiveness from being from the overlooked city, turned this into a playful joke: “This is the best city in the world. It's so beautiful—and I’m from Oakland— but it’s so beautiful here. I'm grateful for this city."
She let us know that she’d be performing her latest album Nothing is My Favorite Thing which was produced entirely by beat maker Swarvy who was also quietly setting up to DJ for the set. Nina began her song, "Come Up", busting over one of Swarvy’s instrumentals, a relaxing, simple key riff, over a dusty afro beat drum loop. Nina got in the zone immediately commanding the stage with her no nonsense delivery and a tinge of seriousness in her smooth demeanor. She was on a mission it seemed. At times during the song she would stand in one spot, rapping, looking up then back to the mic as if she was communicating with a higher power. It felt as if she was in a deep spiritual space. She might have been since by the time the song ended, there was a gentle, open energy on stage and within the audience.
She then announced, “Ok, its all head bangers for the rest of the show”. We all laughed. I was now fully intrigued in this rapper who until the day after the show, I realized, that beyond a few listens to Nothing is My Favorite Thing last year, I had actually been listening to Nina on songs with jazz fusion group, Butcher Brown and with indie songstress, Yaeji. I had actually been a bit of a fan. But this performance happily, helped me get to know her more, which is another aspect of a great show.
Even though Nina appeared to be a rapper who in live performances, feels her lyrics deeply and performs them with vulnerability, it seemed like she was ready to turn up. These parts of Nina’s personality: confidence, swagger, gratitude, and humor is one of the reasons why watching her was memorable.
The head nodding and bouncing grew as Nina went through songs from her album with Swarvy. She went into “Pocket Promises” where she reflects on her journey in the music industry and her reasoning for leaving the Bay Area: “Don’t stay close to where my mom n’ em live/wishing I did/figuring out reasons I dipped/for some unreasonable rent, for an unfeasible stint/ all for the glimpse/at the glam and the glitz/big fish in the shallowest ditch.”
After going through a few more songs, offering more of herself and more of her story, she rested near Swarvy’s DJ table and shouted him out, which prompted myself and others to do the same. Swarvy’s beats belong to the mellow, at times glitchy, boom bap production similar to Knxledge, Ahwlee, and early Flying Lotus. His prioritizing of melodic synths or shiny pads, or soulful keyboard riffs, and the bounce he gets from polyrhythmic drum loops or Dilla-esc drum programming, all put together, creates a sound that is the producer’s own. The bit of instrumentation with the banging drums felt perfect for a live show. The uncomplicated drum programming created a large amount of space for Nina to kick her energetic raps in her usual triplet flow (think a bouncier and Oakland Migos flow) and allowed for the audience to receive her thought provoking rhymes and groove to the music.
“Out The Park” was one of the highlights of her set. The hook and how she performed it, helped ramp up energy organically in her set. She got into it and got the audience hyped as she pumped her arm, rapping, “Spit it off the chest, Spit it off the heart/ just make sure [when] you spit something, make n***as think you smart/ I tried to act a fool but I didn’t get the part.”
What also made Nina's performance memorable was her belief in herself. When she claimed she would “hit it out the park”, we all believed in her and her emphasis on the cadence brought us in and had everyone totally into the song without Nina having to use any of the classic hip hop call and response phrases.
Her humor came back in a slick half joke she made when she started her song, “Arm in the Rim”. Nina let us know, “This is for the beach. Sunny beaches. Not this cold shit y’all got out here”, with a playful laugh. If you ever been to Ocean Beach which was down the street, you laughed along. She then, on a cold SF night and in a cold venue, made the crowd feel at ease, then got us to bounce again and feel free as if we were at the beach on a warm afternoon. By this point she brought the audience together. I even almost danced with someone before they turned and started talking with one of the openers! We were all, performers and audience, letting go and having a good time. The song showcases Swarvy's skill for putting together grooves. The beat is a perfectly constructed raw and warm sounding, minimal Latin jazz piece, again, with the right amount of space for Nina to get into her triplet flow, co-creating a laid back banger. She rapped in her spiritual state stance, head to the sky, mic at her lips, “The vibe I like the control of it, besides I’m a hell of a motorist/on the highway feeling your shoulder kiss/if it was my way, we would take hella bogus trips/ instead my boat is flipped/fighting from under the water with no assist/They tell us work harder when float exists/when under the harbor, I’m sure to sit/ at the bottom of the ocean, you’re sure to miss.”
Her approach to lay things bare allows for the listener, even at a live show, to contemplate about the topics discussed in most of her songs like financial security, femininity, despair, capitalism, and success.
“Arm in the Rim”, is about Nina’s desire for her own idea of success and her manifesting success. But the criticism of inequality and neglect in our country makes the song feel like a smooth blend of thoughtfulness and escapism. Nina is unapologetic and vulnerable in her lyrics. She’s unflinching when she raps about her struggles and her dreams. Her authenticity gives her songs depth and an open mindedness which makes her music thought provoking and digestible.
Towards the end of the set, she played, "Lift Off", a slow track consisting of reversed drums and a dark ambient synth, where Nina actually hopped on the speaker right in front of me, and completely gave herself to the music, busting out the hook, “Baby, let me brag for a second, I’ma have to pack my bags in a second/ [I] thought I was last, now I’m passing up the second/lost a job I had with no severance, UGH”. A track about overcoming and keeping her sanity, Nina performed this with all emotion until she pulled herself back to the stage, laughing a bit, and then continued on. Hearing the bit of stress in her voice made me feel her reality deeply. This was around the time I felt she had made me a fan.
Nappy Nina doesn’t seem to take her opportunity for granted. She doesn’t rap to you expecting you to connect with her. She’s not full of herself nor does she think her music is the gospel you need. She’s does know that she’s dope and performs as if the stage is the one place outside of her music where she can share her experience with the world, uninhibited and as flavorful, funny, and raw as she is herself. I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt like that as others danced, laughed at every joke, responded, and cheered her and Swarvy from start to finish. No doubt you’ll see Nappy Nina along with Swarvy in your city in the near future.
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