Trip back to 2000s rap with Nes' Naughty Noughties Mixtape

If 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Ciara and TLC number among your most played artists on Spotify, but you feel like you never get a chance to unleash full gangsta dance mode anywhere outside of the drivers' seat of your car, you should think seriously about a) maybe diversifying your music tastes to include some more au courant selections and b) putting a stripe of black war paint under your Left Eye, braiding your hair, and heading over to the Cliff Dive on Australia Day Eve, pronto. They're having a big hip hop hoe-down. Because, to borrow from their Facebook event copy, "there’s nothing more Aussie than going to a Tiki bar and listening to six hours of nostalgic American hip-hop!". 

Cliff Dive regular Nes, AKA 'Sydney’s Best Half-Serbian Hip-Hop Selector', will be in charge of the Chingy, along with One Day Sundays Nick Lupi and King Lee, while '24 Carat Kev' (AKA music journo legend Christopher Kevin AU) will be bringing his best MC game all night. We're sure Sydney crew will be familiar with Nes - for the uninitiated, this lady is a vet of the club scene in Sydney, holding down residencies at Hugos and Kit & Kaboodle, and a fixture at One Day Sundays and Halfway Crooks throwdowns. Nes, being the queen she is, has put together a mixtape of her favourite noughties tunes, perfect for your Naughty Noughties warm up, or, if you're not blessed to be in Sydney, gangsta dancing in your carseat to :)

Nes shares with Pilerats her inspiration for the mix, which takes us on a nostalgic journey back to 2000s-era dancefloors. Says Nes: "The mix looks back to the days of trying to memorise the lyrics of Chingy's Powerballin’ album and Usher’s Confessions, wearing basketball jerseys as dresses with Air Force Ones, and representing my home suburb of the 2031. The 2000s club scene for me was going to underage parties (where I'd be served cases of Red Bull) and the clubs rinsed Nelly’s Ride With Me (they kind of still do). I'd try to introduce all the B2K dance moves from You Got Served, as well as replicate the beautifully executed hip rolls of 16 yr-old Rihanna wherever appropriate. And lastly, the 2000s was a constant attempt to emulate Ashanti. To be honest, not much has changed."

FYI for those going to Naughty Noughties: Nes is not averse to the odd Rihanna medley, or dressing top-to-toe Fila. You have been warned!

Stream this glorious throwback mix below: