Mixtape Review: Nilez - Come Shed A Tear With Me

“How am I doing Q&A’s and my bruddas still splitting Q’s?” Just the title of Nilez’s 2024 mixtape “Come Shed A Tear With Me” (2024) sets the tone: it’s an invitation to witness some of his most unguarded moments, to see the tears he’s shed, and perhaps, to shed a few alongside him. What immediately separates Nilez from so many of his contemporaries is the sheer level of authenticity in what he does. Its not an implied realness but a tangible force of sentimentality that you can’t help but feel - It’s rare.

On the opening track “Lightning McQueen”, Nilez speaks candidly on something I’ve seldom heard people talk about but undoubtedly many will relate to: The exhaustion caused by endless self-promotion on social media. “I kinda miss when a rapper used to have mystique/ Now I gotta give you play-by-plays on my week/ I gotta vlog, I gotta TikTok, I gotta stream/ All I wanna do is talk like its the mic and me/ Talk like its the crowd and me/“ You get the impression that Nilez has relentlessly studied the greats. It’s as if he is someone who has been here before with a seemingly effortless ability to write and record with the all the poise and ability of someone about 10 years his senior.

“Lighting a fuse, I’m sparking a match/ Nilez the dude, the man of the match” If there’s one thing that grabs my attention when I come across a new artist, it’s when they have an innate ability to show emotional depth and maturity whilst appearing confident. Nilez treads the tightrope of vulnerability and confidence with elegance and an unwavering purpose. The biggest problem I tend to have with the mixtape format is that I’m not able to differentiate tracks because of their similarities. Whats massively refreshing here is that there’s no two tracks that sound the same sonically or vocally - Nilez has a fine-tuned ear for production that suits him but clearly knows that variety is the key to keeping people engaged for the tape’s 31 minute duration.

His versatility cannot be understated either, particularly on “Choices”, a more sonically laidback track that shows he can absolutely bridge that gap between meaningful and catchy. “Does It Make Sense Now” is perhaps the track that forms the emotional core of the record as Nilez recounts the trials and tribulations of relationships in his past. What strikes me as interesting about this one, is the universal relatability of it - The art of remaining relatable while being specific or auto-biographical is not an easy skill to acquire or put across in a record. This is a running theme throughout the tape, Nilez finds a way to make you feel something.. At times, “Come Shed a Tear With Me” is genuinely flooring. “I’m just trying to put some Grammys in my granny’s house/“ “Ambition” is a big word that springs to mind when I speak of Nilez.

His deeply authentic approach and emotional depth suggest that “Come Shed a Tear With Me” (2024) is a significant and noteworthy contribution to the UK’s burgeoning Underground Hip-Hop landscape. From the integrity and confidence he has over the course of the tape to his unwavering desire to push himself to being an artist winning Grammys & MOBOs, there’s this belief that we are only seeing the very start of a promising career.