Bishop Nehru

A teen prodigy from the fringes of hip-hop, rapper and producer Bishop Nehru had already burned up the aliases Kelz Scott and Kile Kanvas by the time he was 15. The Rockland County, New York native born Markel Scott used Kelz for his jazz-based instrumentals, and Kile for his more hip-hop-influenced beats, all of them uploaded to the Odd Future forums where Bishop was first noticed. Declared “one to watch” by the N.Y.C. hip-hop station Hot 97 and the “future of music” by rapper Nas, Bishop dropped his Nehruvia mixtape at the age of 15, and took off to Europe to tour in support. While in London, he opened for rapper MF Doom, who was so impressed with the prodigy that he suggested a collaboration. The results, the album NehruvianDoom, were released by Lex Records in 2014. That same year, Bishop signed to Nas’ Mass Appeal Records and issued the collaborative EP BrILLiant Youth with Dizzy Wright. He followed with Nehruvia: The Nehruvian EP, MAGIC: 19, and Emperor Nehru’s New Groove. In 2018, Elevators (Act I & II), his fourth release in as many years, arrived. Inspired by the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Elevators featured production by Kaytranada and MF DOOM. ~ David Jeffries & Neil Z. Yeung