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Why is the Internet not working?
They split their earnings equally and are determined to stay together even as their solo careers take off. Biig Piig, Lava La Rue and the rest of the London alt-pop crew explain their bond
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’ve got a good feeling about tonight,” Nige tells me while waiting for a pint of Guinness. In a few minutes, the MC (real name Niall Williams) will take to the stage of London’s Jazz Cafe with the rest of the Nine8 Collective for their first live show in almost 18 months.
Tonight’s seated, socially distanced show isn’t a homecoming. The collective – left-field Gen-Z pop artists with a radically egalitarian setup – may be based in a studio in nearby Kentish Town but, according to rapper Lava La Rue (an anagram of her real name, Ava Laurel), “it doesn’t really feel like we’ve been away”, thanks to their sustained creativity during lockdown.
