Ones To Watch: Lava La Rue

Genre: Hip Hop, Funk & Soul.
For Fans Of: Greentea Peng, Biig Piig, Joy Crookes.
Release: Hi-Fidelty (EP)
Signed: Marathon Artists
Hometown: London, UK

Hailing from Ladbroke Grove, London, Lava La Rue (they/them) is the founding member of underground collective NiNE8; an outfit that includes Biig Piig, Nayana Iz, Bone Slim, Mac Wetha, Nige and LorenzoRSV. Seeing West London more than just a hometown, they see it as a source of encouragement and inspiration; a catalyst of Lava La Rue’s musical process as their music blurs boundaries through their psychadelic, punk, and rave roots.

With Hi-Fidelity, an EP inspired by Beck, Gorillaz, and The Neptunes, La Rue moves out of the lo-fi rap genre that critics once defined them as and sees them focus on a record that captures a live performance. The new EP comes across more mature and polished, which is unsurprising as La Rue opted to produce the record in a studio rather than the DIY they had taken. The genre experimentation on Hi-Fidelity sees “Don’t Trip” gripped by snappy percussion, “Motel” lathered with distorted guitar solos, and lead track “Hi-Fidelity” capturing listeners with the soft, dream-like, synths.