Japanese fashion designer, disc jockey, record producer and entrepreneur, NIGO, unreleased song “Heavy” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, off his upcoming album project titled “I Know NIGO” reportedly leaked online.
Much like the majority of the project, this song was first previewed at Nigo’s debut collection for Kenzo’s Autumn/Winter 2022 collection in Paris on January 23, 2022.
After the sneak listen of Tyler, The Creator’s verse on the track, Steven Victor, the executive producer of I Know NIGO, revealed A$AP Rocky was also on the record, claiming Rocky put the track together. This would be the first collaboration from the WANG$AP duo since Lil Yachty’s 2020 hit album cut, “T.D.”
NIGO’s already got a busy 2022 ahead of him. Alongside his debut KENZO collection, ongoing Human Made projects, and various creative endeavors, the Japanese designer is returning to music with I KNOW NIGO, his first new album in nearly 20 years, which is dropping soon (on CD, even).
To be released March 25 on Victor Victor — label founder Steven Victor is a longtime NIGO devotee — I KNOW NIGO is stacked with features befitting its communal title.
Unsurprisingly, Pharrell, NIGO’s BFF, is on the record, accompanied by A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Tyler, the Creator, Pusha T, and the TERIYAKI BOYZ, the formerly defunct Japanese hip-hop collective that NIGO founded and produced in the mid-’00s.
More About I Know NIGO:
I Know NIGO is the sophomore album by Japanese fashion designer, DJ, record producer and entrepreneur NIGO. It is the streetwear icon’s first music release in nearly two decades, released through Universal Music Group and Victor Victor Worldwide.
The album’s star-studded feature list was first announced in an Instagram post by NIGO on December 20, 2021. Ten songs were previewed during Nigo’s Kenzo Debut for their Autumn/Winter 2022 collection in Paris on January 23, 2022.
NIGO announced earlier this year that he will be returning to music with his first new album in two decades in partnership with Steven Victor’s Victor Victor (via Universal).
The special I KNOW NIGO CD designed by KAWS is available for pre-order now for $12 USD on the webstore. I KNOW NIGO drops March 25.
More About NIGO:
Nigo’s venture into fashion started in a small store selling a few Bape T-shirts and camouflage print hoodies, which became very popular among teenagers. In 2002, Nigo released the Bapesta sneaker, which according to BBC presenter Jonathan Ross, later became the “epitome of collectable footwear”. The sneaker resembles Nike’s Air Force 1 design, but instead of the swoosh on the side, it has Nigo’s Bapesta logo, a star with a lightning zap extending out of it. In the cover news of the April issue of the trend magazine WWD for Japan, Bape’s boss Nigo (formerly known as Tomoaki Nagao) announced that he is about to leave and he will be leaving with Takahashi UC (Undercover) designer Jun Takahashi. Nowhere, established on April 1, 1993, no longer serves as the designer of Bape. Nigo himself also established his personal new company Nigold on April 4, 2009. In 2005, Nigo partnered with Pharrell Williams to create and launch the streetwear brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream footwear.
Nigo has been associated with popular rap and hip hop artists such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. He is the DJ of the Japanese hip hop group Teriyaki Boyz and is also owner of Bape Sounds record label. He also has an MTV Japan show which he created called Nigoldeneye.
Together with BiS manager Watanabe Junnosuke, Nigo is the producer and manager for the female pop group Billie Idle. His involvement with the group began in 2014, when he directed a music video for BiS’ song “Nerve”, and after the group disbanded, Nigo and Watanabe offered BiS members First Summer Uika and Hirano Nozomi the chance to join their new project, Billie Idle. The group debuted in 2014 with the album “Idle Gossip”, for which Nigo is the executive producer.
On 28 January 2022, Nigo and ASAP Rocky released the song “Arya”, serving as the lead single for Nigo’s upcoming album, I Know Nigo, due 25 March via Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records. It will mark Nigo’s first solo album since 2005’s Nigo Presents: Return of the Ape Sounds. I Know Nigo was co-executive produced by Nigo alongside Pharrell Williams. Williams and Nigo had first collaborated nearly two decades earlier, when the Neptunes contributed production to Beef or Chicken. The album’s second single, titled “Want It Bad”, was released in collaboration with American musician Kid Cudi.
Quotable Lyrics:
- Now say Tyler, watch these motherfuckers start ringing bells
- ‘Cause I spit fire, and shit cold
- This shit so mean, nice rocks and I get stones
- This shit so clean and bright, bold
- The gold got a grip hold
- All these Lucky Charms like a thick bowl
