Isabella Gotti, otherwise known as Nolay, is widely renowned as one of the most beloved emcees within the British scene, capable of delivering vicious slaughtering wordplay at the drop of a hat to devastating effect.
After being in the limelight for over a decade and collaborating with the biggest names in the UK including Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Kano, and even supporting the legendary Mobb Deep on tour, she’s back with the explosive “Gotta Love It,” produced by the exciting Kid D following on from 2015’s Netflix and Pills released off of the upcoming Grime, Guts and Glory project.
The track is a Grime masterclass, cranked up to a hyped 140BPM, which showcases Nolay’s subdued, relaxed yet penetrating flow ripping apart the beat like a warrior princess. “Wind your neck in/before I teach you a valuable lesson”—such a simple lyric, but the way she delivers it with such swagger and rawness it’s as if Grime found its Lauryn Hill-esque icon.
In truth, Grime could be considered a misogynistic genre, designed to seclude females from success except the odd scantily clad appearance in music videos, however, Nolay completely destroys this theory and not by joining the monopoly of males who control the scene, but rather by speaking her own truths and tribulations in such a profound manner, it’s impossible to ignore her.
This woman is exactly what the scene needs at this point in time and her return to the throne surely gives other female Grime emcees an impetus to break out and really achieve something.
