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By Jon-Anders Kindberg

The Situation hooks up with the UK’s new female hip-hop hope, Naila Boss, after a powerful performance at the ‘Crime is Not a Game Youth Summit’ in Hackney. She looks gorgeously ghetto as she relaxes on a sofa in the small but crowded press room, wearing a light brown outfit by her new sponsor, Lady Ruff Ryders.

Her second single, ‘I Am The Boss’, is due for release shortly. With her debut album also dropping early next year, life looks promising for the 20-year-old Nigerian-born rapper. “I was raised here in Hackney, East London,” she says. “I just remember three years ago, I was here watching people perform, and now I’m on stage. It’s big and it’s my home turf.”

Growing up in a large family in this fairly rough neighbourhood, music was always an important part of life. Her mum sang and her dad played drums in the church band, so it came as no surprise when Naila started singing at an early age. “I used to listen to everything,” she says. “From Bob Marley to the Supremes, from Lauryn Hill to Millie Jackson. Jazz, hip-hop, soul, pop, everything.”

It was in secondary school, however, that Naila truly fell in love with hip-hop. Busta Rhymes came out with ‘Whoa Ha Whoa Ha’ and the Fugees dropped ‘Oh La La’, which both were big inspirations. At home, Naila started experimenting with rap, and gradually developed her own style and flow. She also joined a female rap group. “I was joining this group, but it actually didn’t work out,” she says. “That didn’t stop me, that just made me stronger, made me realise that I’m gonna have to do the work myself to make it through. I threw some singing and some rapping on there, and it worked!” After hearing that singing and rapping, production company Rockizm recognised her talent and signed Naila on the spot.

Since then, her lyrical talents have paved the way for several collaborations. She has delivered rhymes on 2-Play’s track ‘It Can’t Be Right’, and on ‘You Should Really Know’, (the response to Mario Winan’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’) with The Pirates and Shola Ama. She has also warmed up for world-class established artists such as Blu Cantrell, Ludacris, 112 and DMX. “That was cool. I’m speechless, even now, thinking about it. I was on the same stage as Blu Cantrell. I got a chance to socialise with them backstage as well. The biggest one though, was the DMX concert. That’s a nice guy. He’s blessed!”

On the album side, Naila has worked with many producers on her highly anticipated upcoming debut, after she signed to LaBoss Records in 2003. The new single, ‘I Am The Boss’, was produced by Fingaz from Big Brovaz. “That was a big thing,” she says. “I was blessed to have him on that. It’s about being the boss of the person within you, and having self control. That self control that tells you to work harder to better yourself, to be the boss of what you’re doing.” JD from So Solid Crew also worked with Naila on ‘Game Locked’, the B-side to her first single, ‘La La La’. “That was mad. I was doing a track with Wayne Beckford, who produced ‘La La La’. JD was coming by and he was like “Yo, what’s that sound there?” We hooked up. It was big, you know JD’s crazy.” Other producers she’s worked with include So Blue, the Copenhaniacs and Brian Rawling, one of the most successful UK pop producers with artists like Lemar, Tina Turner, Cher and Enrique Iglesias.

All these production collaborations result in an album with lots of diverse styles and themes. “One thing I can definitely say,” Naila asserts, “is that I’ve got a variety [on the album]. I’ve gone back to the old-school, 60s, 80s kind of tracks, I’ve got the up-beat tempo kind of MC beats, I’ve got the rap beats. I can’t forget I’m representing for my girls, so I’ve got a little bit of singing on there as well. That’s the versatility of Naila Boss… I’ve got a lot of flavours.”

Her many flavours recently helped her land a contract with Ruff Ryders as the face of their Lady Ruff Ryders clothing line throughout Europe. With artists like Eve, Jadakiss and DMX all being members of the Ruff Ryders family, it wasn’t a bad contract for Naila to sign. Lady Ruff Ryders will also be her official UK sponsors. “They were doing interviews looking for new faces for the line, and they were interviewing female UK artists. At the last minute, my manager got me the last slot. I went to get interviewed and they were like ‘Yeah, we’re feeling your vibe.’ It just goes to show that anything is possible.”

Even though she has the clothing line sponsorship, Naila is not rushing to use her sexuality to attract attention, like some American rappers such as Lil’ Kim and Trina are doing. “Rapping to me is about expressing myself and the way I feel,” she says. “Those types of rappers, they feel sexy. That’s what they want to express. If they want to express themselves like that, more power to them. As long as they’re not too explicit. I don’t think I’ll be doing any p-popping or anything like that!”

With the emergence of many new and fresh female rappers on the UK hip-hop scene, like Est’elle, Shystie and Lady Sovereign, I ask whether Naila welcomes the increased competition. “The only person I’m in competition with is myself,” she explains. “I’m my own biggest critic. I’m my own biggest supporter. I don’t really look at this game as a competition; I’m here to have fun. Us ladies are running things now. I want more girls, we need a bigger army!”

On the subject of the UK hip-hop, Naila definitely sees it going places, and she’s not one to join the critics claiming it to be too “American.” “We’re getting noticed now,” she says. “We’re at a stage where we’re in control of our own thing… We need to give ourselves a round of applause. Collaboration wise, we’re good. Support wise, we’re good. We’re starting to buy our own music. We’re taking it more seriously, and record labels are starting to respect their artists. We’ve come a long way.”

When it comes to rhymes, Naila Boss writes her own material. Her first rhyme was already written at the age of seven. In her lyrics, she talks about where she comes from, what she likes to do, how she feels about relationships and about her dreams and experiences. “Kanye said it – we rappers are role models,” she says. “We talk about what we know… But at the same time, half the people out there haven’t really done half of what they talk about. They’re just talking about what they’ve seen. That’s not being real. Whether we like it or not, people are looking up to us. That’s why I only talk about what I do. What I say I do is what I do. Be real, keep it real.”

This function as a role model is partly why Naila’s appearance at the ‘Crime is Not a Game Youth Summit’ is important to her. Spending her childhood years in the streets of Hackney, she quickly learned about the harsh aspects of life. “It was tough. You had to be able to hold you own back. Who you knew and who your family was was important growing up. But it made us stronger as a family and as a community. Sometimes in the wrong ways, when there’s people fighting and stuff. But it taught you to be aware.” Tragically, Naila recently lost a close friend in a random act of gun violence. “My boy got shot over here just a couple of weeks ago,” she tells me. “Fifteen year old guy. I feel it, it’s deep. That makes my message stronger, because I’ve lost people to gun violence… We just need more love.”

In the future, Naila would like nothing more than to do exactly that, to spread more love. She has big plans for where she’s taking her career. “I wanna take over. And have a big, long love machine gun and spray everybody with it… I never hesitate to spray with a love machine gun. Remember that!” However, her entry in to the UK rap game has taught her some important lessons. “The race is not for the swift, it’s for the endurer,” she says. “Never give up. As much as you feel pressures or whatever, never give up. And it’s not easy, so always have a back-up.”

In addition to rapping, Naila is in training to become a nurse. But it is in rapping and rhyming she sees herself in years to come. “I’m definitely not a one-hit-wonder! I’m always gonna be about, and you’re always going to see Naila Boss in your stores,” she assures me. With the lyrical talent she possesses, there is little doubt that she’s right about that. The future certainly looks bright for Naila Boss.