Rhythm Guide: Nia Archives – 18 & Over | HIJINXX

Being arguably one of the most avant garde and engaging artists in the jungle scene right now, Nia Archives is on her way to big things with her distinctive sounds and style.

In 18 & Over, the London producer, singer, songwriter and filmmaker sampled Cocoa Tea’s 1987 reggae hit Young Lover, and infused the track with her own vocals and broken beats. Self-described as a “future classic” the track digs into the bedrock of East London. The track comes with a video directed by Taliable, in which she pays a homage to UK soundsystem culture and her Jamaican heritage.

“For the ’18 And Over’ video, I knew that the visuals had to be iconic as the song is an absolute banger. Working with Taliable who was the director and editor was super fun, I feel we creatively gelled really well to create this vibrant piece. The story starts with me smoking a cigarette, then I begin cycling. I come across my friend Andrew and we continue on around Hackney until we discover this euphoric soundsystem motive.

There we link up with members of the ‘Brighter Days Family’ to throw the maddest rave. The actual video was shot in my warehouse yard, I thought it would be sick to use that space as no one has ever shot a music video there – meaning it is unique to me. We kept things even more local by asking Hackney native Mark Solution if we could set up his wicked ‘Solution Soundsystem’ – It was an honour to feature it in my video. There are also some references to the original record that I sampled for viewers to spot,” she says.