By David Pollock

Published 18th Dec 2023, 09:14 BST

At one of Edinburgh’s most atmospheric and important music venues, the first edition of new music programmer Arusa Qureshi’s Mare Music series kicked off with a set by one of the most talked-about female rappers of 2023.

Following on from her predecessor Jamie Sutherland’s much-loved Nothing Ever Happens Here events, Qureshi also tried out the building’s Old Lab space as a potential room for lower-key developmental gigs, rather than the familiar Dissection Room upstairs. A 150-capacity room, this traditional black box space holds a modest audience a lot more snugly.

Raised in Oakland, California, and now based in Brooklyn, Nappy Nina appeared here alongside fellow hotly-tipped New York rapper Stas THEE Boss, whose role was to play the backing music from a laptop and occasionally to step out in front of the desk to form an MC duo with her. The soulful, moody grooves of songs like Whippin’ and Tucked in fit with Nina’s mellow, assertive but not aggressive raps, occasionally building to a party-friendly crescendo.

“Sometimes I'm just gonna be up here listening to these beats I love so much,” she said at one point, turning to admire Stas’s playing, later describing her as “my favourite rapper”. The pair’s voices rose to a crescendo together perfectly at the climax of Drink Tea, a technical flourish which sounded striking live. They also duetted on Yes Yes Yes, a track they share on Nina’s recent, grief-themed album Mourning Due, just one example of the lyrical tightrope walk between angst and strength which Nina – a self-described “part of the ADHD generation” – performs.

The show was thrilling and soulful, the atmosphere one of appreciation, love and good humour. Exciting artists like Manu Delago, Bel Cobain, Savage Mansion and Rebecca Vasmant are lined up for Mare Music next year, and it seems likely Nina could make the move upstairs on her next visit.

Music review: Nappy Nina, Summerhall, Edinburgh