NoLay

Nolay
Birth name Natalie.
Also known as Isabella Gotti/Bella Gotti
Origin South London, England
Genres Grime, hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper
Years active 2004-present
Labels Independent
Associated acts Ghetts, Devlin CASisDEAD

NoLay or No.Lay [1] also known as Isabella Gotti is a South London female MC / rapper of Greek-Cypriot, Cuban & Caribbean descent.

Background

She first officially landed on the UK urban scene as a member of a collective called “Unorthadox”. NoLay and her collective went on to release “No Help or Handouts”,[2] which grabbed the attention of many major labels and from this NoLay went onto her first solo release "Unorthadox Daughter".[3] The track was included on Warner Bros imprint label 679 Recordings' Run The Road compilation showcasing UK grime and featuring Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Kano and others. The label also released a vinyl to record shops with just Plan B and Nolay on it to promote the release. Run The Road's success led 679 to release a second volume on which Nolay features again with her track "Unorthodox Chick".[2]

NoLay has also opened for Mobb Deep and the Infamous Mobb.[4] She has toured Europe with Australian electronic rock group “The Bumblebee Beez”. She featured on Tricky's 2014 album Adrian Thaws along with touring in Europe with him.

Explaining her name NoLay explains: “It comes from the times when I was younger. It’s like you know referring to not procrastinating and wasting time. Just get to it and also take nothing lying down. Where I come from back then and even now people say No lay lay which means no hesitation. So one day a friend of mine from Peckham said I should call myself No lay.”[5]

In 2013 she appeared in a drama on Channel 4 called Top Boy playing the character Mandy. Mandy was the girlfriend of leading character Dris and the mother of his child.[6][7]

As of 2014 NoLay changed her name to Bella Gotti[8] but decided to change her name back to stay true to her original fanbase. She explained in interviews that her alias is an alter ego similar to Eminem's Mashall Mathers and Slim Shady or Jay Z's Jigga and Jay Hova.

Style

NoLay is known for her raw gritty rhymes and clever wordplay that have often gained her many comparisons to Grime MC Ghetts who she has collaborated with but doesn't believe herself to be similar to which was made very clear 2015 after NoLay made a statement on Twitter saying that she isn't the female version of any male emcee and that she is a version of herself. She then went on to say lol'ing that maybe a few male emcees are the male versions of her. NoLay has also been compared to Devlin regarding her raw energy when emceeing live on radio sets and CASisDEAD when she chooses to delve into a very deep, melancholy and vivid reality stricken side with hints of extremely dark humour.

Discography

Promo singles
Mixtapes
EPs

References

  1. ↑ "theguardian". theguardian.
  2. 1 2 "iamnolay". iamnolay.
  3. ↑ "GRM Daily". GRM Daily.
  4. ↑ "Nolay tour".
  5. ↑ "britishblackmusic".
  6. ↑ "bellagotti website".
  7. ↑ "mobo". mobo.
  8. ↑ "Nolay changes her name". SBTV.
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