Nigo is first and foremost a fashion designer, but his career has always been closely linked with music. His debut album Ape Sounds was released by Mo Wax around the turn of the millennium, and it seemed tailor-made for SPIN magazine readers and eclectic college radio playlists. Filled with guest appearances by Grand Royal-adjacent acts like Money Mark, Cornelius, and Ben Lee, it hopscotched from Japanese hip-hop to dub to mellow psych-pop to noisy punk. Soon after, Nigo initiated a successful business partnership with Pharrell Williams, created a show on MTV Japan, and formed the rap supergroup Teriyaki Boyz, whose albums sported appearances by Kanye West, Daft Punk, Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, Busta Rhymes, and many other guests. After spending half a decade as the manager and producer of Japanese girl group Billie Idle, Nigo returned to his own music career in 2022, releasing a string of singles featuring famous friends such as A$AP Rocky, Pusha T, and Kid Cudi. Full-length I Know Nigo! contains all of these tracks as well as cuts with Tyler, The Creator, Gunna, and the late Pop Smoke, among others. While exclusively a rap album this time, the release switches between a grab bag of styles, from danceable pop-rap (Kid Cudi's "Want It Bad") to dark, ominous drill (the songs with Pop Smoke and Lil Uzi Vert) to the chaotic glee of Pharrell and A$AP Ferg's "Paper Plates." The most notable tracks include opener "Lost and Found Freestyle 2019," featuring amped-up Rocky and Tyler verses and some exciting beat switches, and Pusha T's wavy "Hear Me Clearly," which counts Kanye among its many co-producers and co-writers. A few others, like "Paper Plates" and Teriyaki Boyz's "Morë Tonight," sound like the artists had an incredibly fun time recording them, but the results are a bit messy and don't quite work as songs. This star-studded affair ends up being as hit-or-miss as one would expect, but the best tracks make it worthwhile for fans of any of the artists involved. Thanks to all of its big name guests, I Know Nigo! rocketed to number 13 on the Billboard 200.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo
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