Shygirl

London-based rapper, songwriter, and DJ Shygirl makes brash, charging pop songs that draw from grime, post-industrial hip-hop, and experimental club styles. Easily recognizable by her fast, direct rhymes and unraised voice, Shygirl frequently collaborates with producer Sega Bodega, with whom she co-founded the NUXXE label/collective, and has additionally worked with SOPHIE, Arca, Zebra Katz, and others. Her discography includes critically acclaimed EPs and singles such as 2019′s “BB” and 2020′s ALIAS. She moved in a more melodic direction with singles like “Firefly,” leading up to the release of her 2022 debut album, Nymph.
Born Blane Muise in South London, Shygirl attended classes at the University of Bristol. She co-founded NUXXE with Sega Bodega and Coucou Chloe in 2016, and made her debut with the single “Want More.” In 2017, she guested on Sega Bodega’s single “CC” and LYZZA’s Powerplay EP, and released her own two-song single, MSRYNVR. Shygirl’s debut EP Cruel Practice, a mixture of garage, grime, and experimental hip-hop, received rave reviews when it appeared in 2018. She released a trio of singles in 2019, with “BB” making the biggest impact. In 2020, she made appearances on albums by Georgia, Zebra Katz, and Arca, and signed to Because Music for the release of her second EP, ALIAS. Led by the single “FREAK,” the EP featured production by SOPHIE, Sega Bodega, Kai Whiston, Happa, and others.
Shygirl collaborated with Cosha on the 2021 single “Lapdance from Asia,” and “BDE” featured slowthai. The cinematic “Cleo” followed, along with its orchestral rework “Cleo at Abbey Road.” “Bbycakes,” a collaboration with Mura Masa, Lil Uzi Vert, and PinkPantheress, appeared in 2022. The yearning, U.K. garage-influenced single “Firefly” was issued in May, ahead of the September release of Nymph, Shygirl’s debut full-length. A deluxe edition of the album, titled Nymph_o, was issued in 2023, including reworked versions of tracks from Nymph, with contributors including Björk, Tinashe, Sevdaliza, and Erika de Casier. ~ Paul Simpson