NGAIO – Music That Speaks From the Heart
Bristol-based artist, producer, DJ and activist blending soul, bass, and global electronic influences into music that moves your body and your spirit.
About
Music has always lived inside me. I can’t remember my first proper conversation but I remember the first time I ever sang on stage – at 6 years old bellowing out Down Came The Rain feeling terrified, exhilarated and truly seen.
Music makes me feel safe, it always has. That safety allows me to confront the things inside that I can otherwise hide from. It helps me to understand my thoughts and be vulnerable. Writing music was my first kind of therapy and always will be, it comes from the heart. It is the truest part of me and I feel blessed to be able to share it with others.
I started as a vocalist, but I wanted to shape my music more fully. So, I taught myself to produce, perform with hardware like the Ableton Push, and remix my own tracks into the bass-heavy club bangers that fuel my high-energy DJ sets. That journey has taken me far beyond the UK — with performances in Cuba, France, Italy, Morocco, Greece, Ghana, and China — each place leaving its imprint on my rhythms and textures.
I’m also the founder of Booty Bass, a collective championing women and gender fluid DJs with bass-driven music from across the globe. We’ve curated stages at Glastonbury, We Out Here, Boomtown, Shambala, Love Saves the Day, St Pauls Carnival, and Bristol Pride — spaces where community and connection are as vital as the music itself.
Supported by Help Musicians, DJ Mag, and Arts Council England, I’ve continued to push my work further — building immersive soundscapes that fuse jazz, soul, and underground club energy. At its core, everything I create is about transformation: turning deeply personal experiences into something powerful and connecting
Previous Releases
We Fly: The Remixes
Dancefloor-ready reinterpretations of my We Fly EP. Featuring reworks from KG, Hagan, LR Groove, and Boa Kusasa — spanning RnB, UK Funky, West African percussion, and bass-heavy hybrids, released on Durkle Disco.
“The definition of versatile, the original We Fly EP was a testament to what happens when poignant lyricism meets soulful instrumentals, these remixes are aimed more squarely at the dancefloor, whilst never losing sight of the deep emotional content of NGAIO’s song-writing.”
We Fly
A blend of intricate jazz harmonies, African percussion, bass-heavy beats, and spoken word — confronting politics, identity, and history. Released via Saffron’s PRSF-supported Artist Development Programme with Red Bull Studios.
“We Fly is the embodiment of NGAIO’s musical, political and spiritual influences. A versatile artist, known for her bass-heavy DJ sets to her powerhouse vocal range, she delivers an EP oozing with intricate jazz harmonies, African percussion and truth-laden spoken word. NGAIO confronts the politics of black bodies, whilst poetically unravelling her mixed-race identity, in a five-track EP housing a lifetime of lived experiences.”
Green Eyed Queen receives her full jazzy blues treatment: its foot-tapping bass and piano licks delivers Afro-Cuban stabs that will inevitably make you sway. Meanwhile, full of wisdom and courage, she challenges historical notions of what it means to be a black woman in Blackbird. As the closing track released last month, it leads you on a journey through nine minutes of pure emotion and fiery passion. With strong influences from Portishead to Fela Kuti, it is an ode to the seemingly long-forgotten history of the African diaspora’s prosperity. Hail Mary has a distinct bluegrass feel, taking you from feet-stomping to hip-swinging, while Objectify is a homage to her Bristol identity with trip-hop influences from Massive Attack.
2016 – Self-titled, this record as a debut from NGAIO is the first step on a musical journey. With lyrics that could have come from a diary entry, the artist melds harmonies with stories in songs that pick apart the complex web of feelings that come with relationships and loss. Produced by Bailey S Brown.
Single Releases
BREATHE – CARDINAL SOUND FT NGAIO
2020 – Melodic drum & bass offering released on Archway Records with Cardinal Sound
2018 – Bristol vocalist, DJ, promoter, tequila aficionado and long-time Durkle Disco affiliate NGAIO returns to the label in collaboration with one of the new generation of UK Funky’s rising stars, Reprezent Radio’s Cardinal Sound. Combined, the two bring you ‘See Them’; pairing NGAIO’s empowering lyrics and flirtatious, soulful delivery with Cardinal Sound’s infectious percussive production results in a perfect feelgood summer earworm. The ‘Sunshine Mix’ is made for long summer days, with Cardinal Sound’s production harking back to the classic deep/soulful house that informed the first wave of UK funky. The ‘After Dark Mix’ is aimed squarely at nightclub dancefloors, with the vocals, stripped back and the bass ramped up. It’s been tough sitting on this one, so we’re excited to have both versions out in the world – undeniable club & festival essentials.
CARAMEL REMIX
2018 – Collaborating with Royal Flush to put a new spin on Caramel