More about: NASS Festival

This year’s instalment of NASS Festival in Somerset starts today (8 July), and it’s set to be one of their biggest yet: whether you’re there for Loyle Carner’s introspective hip-hop, Shy FX’s jubilant ragga jungle, or Becky Hill’s euphoric dance-pop, there are sure to be plenty of familiar faces on the lineup.

Even looking beyond the household names, though, the festival is absolutely teeming with talent. Here are five less obvious acts you won’t want to miss.

Sherelle

With a radiant personality and a record box to match, Sherelle has deservingly enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame in recent years, her regular shows on Reprezent and NTS Radio ultimately leading her to secure a coveted BBC Radio 1 residency last year. Known for juggling jungle, footwork and occasionally turbo-charged techno in her sets, the London-based DJ also runs Hooversound Recordings alongside Apple Music’s Naina, and recently established a second label, BEAUTIFUL, to champion Black and queer dance music. Promising serious bassweight and dubplates galore, her performances are always a must-watch; you can catch her in the Hangar on Sunday.

CASISDEAD

While many of today’s biggest names in British hip-hop have come up through specific institutions like specialist label High Focus and battle rap platform Don’t Flop, masked villain CASISDEAD has always been in his own lane. First making his mark as a grime MC back in the early noughties, the anonymous wordsmith has gone on to carve out a distinctive sonic niche for himself, his acerbic wit and jaw-dropping extended metaphors typically juxtaposed by luscious, ‘80s-tinged synthpop productions. Counting the likes of La Roux, Jme and Professor Green among his past collaborators, the DEADCORP head honcho is currently gearing up to release a long-awaited new album, and if its singles are anything to go by, it’s set to be essential listening.

Ray BLK

One of the frontrunners of UK R&B’s new generation, Lewisham’s Ray BLK should be on your radar by now. After ticking off an impressive list of crossover pop collaborations with the likes of Gorillaz and Rudimental, she returned to a more sultry, soul-leaning sound on last autumn’s Access Denied, which was largely produced by Nana Rogues, the mastermind behind Drake’s 'Passionfruit'. Officially her debut album, it featured contributions from rap royalty Giggs, breakthrough lyricist Kojey Radical and stateside sensation Kaash Paige, but Ray stole the show at every turn as she laid bare stories from her upbringing, her love life and her music career in lyrical form. Known to slip into rap verse when she’s not deploying her impressive vocal range, she’s got buckets of stage presence and will be a surefire highlight on the main stage this Friday.

Zdot Soundsystem

The architect of some of grime’s biggest hits of the 2010s including Lady Leshurr’s 'Queen’s Speech 4' and Stormzy’s 'Know Me From', West London DJ/producer Zdot has been instrumental in bringing together MCs from different walks of life, even enlisting in Australian artists on 2019’s Grime Down Under EP with Derby penman Eyez. At NASS, the pair are set to reunite for an eclectic live set which sees them joined by a motley crew of homegrown talent: Dorchester youngster Isaiah Dreads, Mancunian up-and-comer DYNO, and the versatile Alika, whose various hip-house collaborations with CLiQ are often heard soundtracking Love Island. The Zdot Soundsystem format has already been tried and tested at All Points East, so this is a great chance to get acquainted if you haven’t witnessed it before.

Watch The Ride

A veritable drum and bass supergroup, Watch the Ride is made up of jungle pioneer DJ Randall, Bristol icon DJ Die, and Digital Soundboy alumnus Dismantle. With the latter two already long-established as a tag-team under the pseudonym Diemantle, they easily made the jump to becoming a trio in 2019, and have since unleashed a torrent of releases including the D Double E-assisted 'Original Format', two EPs on Rinse, and the recent smash 'Mash Up the Dance', which features vocals from Nia Archives. With decades of experience on the West Country club circuit between them and an arsenal of summer rollers at their disposal, it’s only right to catch these three in festival mode.

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More about: NASS Festival