English musician and producer Dehaney Nia Lishahn Hunt (professionally know as Nia Archives) is one of twelve shortlisted artists for the 2024 Mercury Prize. The nomination of her debut album, Silence is Loud, sees Archives make history as the first jungle artist to be nominated for the prestigious prize in over 25 years.

At the age of 24, Archives already has an impressive background in the music industry. In 2022, the Yorkshire musician became the first electronic artist to be named as BBC Introducing Artist of the Year. Following this win, she opened for Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour in London last year, despite not being told she was doing so until the day of the concert: “I was anxious,” she told The Guardian, “but I was very grateful to be taking my underground genre to such a huge audience.”

Jungle music emerged in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s. As an electronic genre that developed out of the UK rave scene and reggae sound system culture. Alongside its distinguishable breakbeats and samples, jungle music is known for its multicultural popularity. During the 90s, this shared love for the genre promoted racial unity amid an apathetic post-Thatcherite society. However, jungle was particularly popular among black women, who saw it as a form of liberation that connected them to each other and the wider community. However, the genre was ostracized from mainstream music by the rise of drum and bass and has since remained an underground genre.

Archives herself has dual heritage, blending Jamaican and British cultural identities within her music. Despite the success of Silence is Loud highlighting Archives’ talent within the jungle scene, the rising star told the BBC that she “never knew the name” of the genre during her childhood: “I loved Emili Sande when I was like 12. Her first album was a big deal to me, and Heaven is a drum and bass song. So I always gravitated towards that kind of music but I didn’t know what it was.”

Jungle’s underground status is something Archives is trying to challenge, which is why she advocated for the MOBO Awards to reinstate the award for best dance act after 20 years. With initial talks resulting in no action, Archives wrote a letter to the organisers encouraging them to up their game. Not only did her lobbying result in the category returning to the awards, but Archives won it. During her acceptance speech, she stated that she was “proud to fly the flag “for her “community and scene.” Her determination to to get music of black origin celebrated more in mainstream music is admirable: she is setting herself up to lead a revival of modern jungle music.

If Archives takes home the Mercury Prize this year, she will be the first jungle artist to do so since Roni Size was named winner in 1997 for his landmark album New Forms. In fact, only a handful of underground dance musicians have been nominated throughout the history of the prize, including John Hopkins, Burial and Shygirl. In an interview with NME, Archives described herself as being an “emotional, overwhelmed junglist” in response to the nomination of her album.

Archives’ fellow Mercury Prize nominees include indie rock band The Last Dinner Party, singer-songwriter Cat Burns and pop star Charli XCX, who has taken the summer by storm with the release of her album Brat. The Mercury Prize 2024 will take place in September, with the official date and performing artists yet to be announced.

Whether you are a Nia Archives fan or a budding ‘junglist’, you can see her perform this summer at Reading and Leeds Festival. She will also be embarking on a 28-date worldwide tour in September, starting in Washington, USA. Archives will be returning for the UK leg at the end of October, with a date at O2 Academy Brixton on the 8th of November. Tickets are on sale now.

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