FEATURE: Spotlight: ALT BLK ERA — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

ALT BLK ERA

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IF you do get the chance to…

see the Nottingham duo of Nyrobi Beckett-Messam and Chaya Beckett-Messam, then I would thoroughly recommend it. They are known as ALT BLK ERA. One of the most exciting acts and sensational live propositions around, you can check any live dates here. There are a lot of great interviews from this year. I am going to end with one from Music Week, where the duo won the New Artist prize at Music Week’s Women in Music Awards 2025. They have already been recognised by the MOBOs. Rave Immortal was released earlier in the year. I am surprised that the album did not get a Mercury Prise nomination. It has won a score of positive reviews. I shall end with one of them. I am going to start out with Kerrang! from February. They highlighted how the duo won awards and have taken to big stages before their debut album arrived. Also, they discussed “Nyrobi’s experiences of chronic illness, and why their sisterhood is stronger than ever”:

“Since that initial performance in skyscraping footwear, ALT BLK ERA have been on an upward trajectory. Aged just 17 and 20, they’ve already dominated stages at Glastonbury, Download and beyond, and have just dropped their debut album Rave Immortal, which hit Number One on the UK Rock & Metal chart. Rather than being riddled with adolescent angst, however, Nyrobi reveals the record “is about the journey of my disability and coming to terms with it.”

Opening track Straight To Heart deals with “the feelings of isolation that I felt when I first became disabled and noticed that my friends had moved on and left me”, the singer explains, adding that the song, “is about being abandoned”.

Usually songwriting late into the night (as that’s when Nyrobi is most active), putting pen to paper proved to be quite the cathartic experience with lines like, ‘Save me, they left me in the dark / Wasting away under the stars.’

But putting the song out into the world was an even more powerful experience. Despite the older sister initially being in tears when the single was released, she was soon inundated with messages from from fans offering support or telling her how they resonated with the message.

“The release, emotionally, was a little bit daunting, but the support was overwhelming in a positive way,” Nyrobi reflects. “It was worthwhile.”

Symptoms like exhaustion don’t always show up in a way that can be seen, so it can be hard for people who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome to get the support they need from the people around them.

“I still feel like people don't view me as disabled, because it's not a visible disability, which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not a good thing,” Nyrobi explains, acknowledging that it can be difficult for those with symptoms like exhaustion to get the support they need. “It's a good thing when they treat me just like a human being and not a different entity, but it's a bad thing when they don't acknowledge that I do have needs and I do need help.”

The second track on the album, Come On Outside, is a brighter follow-up to Straight To Heart – a sister song in both senses – that recounts how Nyrobi’s health improved with Chaya’s support. She says the song is, “about my journey to health and how Chaya helped me through that. So I say Come On Outside is really about our bond as sisters. [We] have a really good relationship, and I'm not sure how rare that is, but it seems to be pretty rare.”

Bandmates are there to share work and ideas, but for Nyrobi, it’s all the more important that she has someone to rely on.

“I think I've been really fortunate in the way that I have my sister… She does a lot of the admin or the day-to-day work. For instance, yesterday, I was just out of it. I was so terribly ill, I didn't get any work done. I just slept the whole day. And it's really unpredictable like that,” she explains”.

There are a few more interviews I want to bring in. Nyrobi Beckett-Messam and Chaya Beckett-Messam spoke with PRS for Music in the summer about bonding with their fans, playing the illustrious and prestigious SXSW, and the importance of funding. They are an inspiring and stunningly talented duo (they play live with a drummer) who are going to go from strength to strength and have a massive year next year:

“Behind the scenes, the pair have become masters at transforming harrowing personal memories and moments of self-doubt into shimmering spectacle. Nyrobi lives with chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that means pushing herself to be physically or even mentally active can lead to a crash. While touring, she and her sister make adjustments — such as carving out time for Nyrobi to catch up on sleep, staying in 24/7 contact with their team and arriving at venues with ample time to spare — to ensure they can give their all on stage.

Rave Immortal is the result of intense introspection and healing; the record highlights how Nyrobi has spent a long time sitting with her pain and worked to feel peace with herself. The band have performed to rapt festival audiences at the likes of Download, Reading & Leeds and Glastonbury, as well as being selected to represent the UK for the British Music Embassy at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

With a stacked season of summer festivals on the horizon — and an illustrated book project in the pipeline — M caught up with Nyrobi and Chaya for the latest edition of our On The Road series to discuss, in their own words, what it takes to thrive as a live act in 2025.

Nyrobi: ‘At the start of our tour, it was a little overwhelming having a room full of fans singing our words back to us night after night. It's such an odd feeling, especially when you consider how much some of the songs mean to those people in the crowd. The music doesn’t just belong to me and Chaya any more. On the album, we speak about everything from my struggles with my hidden disability to changing friendships, and wanting to go crazy in a rave but not being able to. It just feels surreal seeing how these stories have resonated.

‘The one moment that really stuck out for me, however, was when I spoke with someone who was in a wheelchair, and they just broke down. I was trying not to cry while she was talking about what the album meant to her. Even though it was emotional, I felt really at peace knowing that our music was getting to those that need to hear it. Knowing that our album has potentially changed other people's lives — as well as ours — is amazing.

‘In a way, we learned that we actually need to carve out more time after shows to chat with fans. Connecting with the people who make up the ALT BLK ERA community has become such a big thing for us. Most people can do this while touring day after day, playing back-to-back shows, but there is no chance I would be able to tour if we didn't have days off in between.

‘The funding that we got from PRS Foundation allowed us to do two days of shows and then have a two-day break, so I could actually reset my body and get on with my therapies. It was a privilege to be able to tour knowing that this was an option.’

Chaya: ‘During this downtime, we had to make more [friendship] bracelets because the fans loved them! They sold out by our second show, so we spent hours [in our hotel rooms] making more of them. We even had our band members and their partners getting involved. Otherwise, we spent time on vocal rest and ensuring that Nyrobi got lots of sleep to help combat her chronic fatigue.’

Nyrobi: ‘We mean it when we say that PRS have supported us at every stage in our career, from our first EP [2023’s Freak Show] through to the album, SXSW and even our first ever book. Without the funding we get from PRS Foundation, there would be no tour. They have helped us lay the foundations for our big moments, all of which would probably look a bit shaky without them. If you were to go back in time and we didn't have PRS, ALT BLK ERA would not be the same band we are today.’

Chaya: ‘I remember being shocked when we had the call from PRS Foundation asking us if we wanted to go out to SXSW. That was really big for us, to be able to showcase ALT BLK ERA on an international stage — especially in America! It was amazing to see the fans that had travelled to see us, as well as enjoy shows from artists that we wouldn’t be able to catch otherwise.’

Nyrobi: ‘Crucially, we learned so much at SXSW beyond enjoying the music. We wanted to go there not just to perform, but to really engage in the community and culture of the festival. Part of that meant attending seminars, particularly as we got to Austin ahead of time in order for me to adjust with my chronic fatigue. We learned so much about marketing and different industries that we never thought we could be a part of but aligned perfectly with us”.

I want to head back to January and an interview from Left Lion. They spoke with ALT BLK ERA about Rave Immortal. How this incredible debut has launched into the world and it has been taken to heart by so many. I love how they end the interview by looking ahead to the rest of this year. Could they have imagined they would achieve so much in 2025?! The sky is the limit for them! Make sure they are on your radar:

“I want to talk about Straight To Heart, which is of course a very personal track for you Nyrobi, bravely sharing your battles with chronic illness in recent years. Was writing that song a cathartic process for you?

Nyrobi: I think when we were writing the song, it felt really healing, just to acknowledge this is how I felt and that my feelings were valid… because you can start blaming yourself for things. And we’re not ‘outside people’, so not many people knew in the outside world - it was just me, my sister and my mum in the build-up to the release.

I think on release day, it really hit me that the song was out. It was one thing to put it on Spotify and work on it within the comfort of my own home, but when it released, my heart kind of dropped. I was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s actually out and people are actually going to see a side of me that I’ve been hiding for so many years.”

But I think now it's healing knowing that other people can connect with the song as well. Even now, fans will come up and speak to me like, “Oh I heard about your chronic illnesses, I also suffer with them.” So, I was shocked and in bits on release day, but I am glad it’s out now looking back.

I feel you’re one of the bands right at the forefront of this wave of great Nottingham artists getting national exposure at the moment. What would you say it is about the Nottingham music scene that has made it such a successful breeding ground for musicians in recent years?

Nyrobi: I guess I would say it’s the genuine love and support. I never grew up anywhere else so I can’t speak for other places, but there’s just something about Nottingham that feels genuine. Like people speaking to you after the show – it’s just so real.
Chaya: There’s a lot of festivals like Dot to Dot, Hockley Hustle, where you can catch new artists too…
Nyrobi: Yeah, I think it’s that exposure as well. Nottingham allows new artists to start out, grow and be seen regularly. You know with all the venues that we have here at different levels, you can always find someone, which I think is really important. I also just think the people here are nice!
Chaya: They genuinely are!

So you have the album release and the launch show at Saltbox – but what else is on the horizon for 2025?

Chaya: Well, we have a record store signing / acoustic set-up that we’re going to be doing across the UK. Then around April time we have a UK tour that I’m very excited about, which will be our first UK tour!
Nyrobi: A lot of collaborations coming up for 2025 – a lot of big ones as well, like huge! So loads more new music in 2025 – we’re not stopping. We’re not disappearing for three years, we’ll still be here dropping new music throughout 2025, mixed in with festivals. Then we’ll probably be getting ready for album two… but that’s another story!”.

Game-changing women who are making a real impact in the music industry, ALT BLK ERA were richly deserving of the New Artist award. Music Week spoke with them to get their reaction and look back at their path so far. With some new music perhaps arriving very soon, it is an exciting time. Make sure that you get involved with this amazing duo. It does seem a bit baffling that there was no Mercury nod. Maybe they were not submitted. Anyway, I am sure they will be scooping plenty of awards very soon. Nyrobi Beckett-Messam and Chaya Beckett-Messam are phenomenal musicians and role models:

“Congratulations! How does it feel to win?

Nyrobi Beckett-Messam: “Really, really honoured. We know that Music Week and the Women In Music Awards are so respected in the industry, so it feels like a win, not just for us, but for everyone else who's been supporting us on this journey. So it's massive.”

It's tough out there for new artists at the moment – what has your experience been like in terms of trying to break through and make your way?

NBM: “It's been really mixed. We've always been the type of people who march to the beat of our own drum. Coming into the industry, we didn’t know if we would be allowed to continue to do that.”

You won Best Alternative Act at the MOBOs back in February. It’s only the second year that category has existed. How important was it to you to be recognised and that the music you make is represented at events such as the MOBOs? What do you think it says to the industry?

NBM: “First of all, it means so much to already be winning awards [at events] as prestigious as the MOBOs and Music Week's Women In Music. That kind of recognition, so early on in our careers and while we’re still quite young, is not lost on us at all. We really respect that our peers, fans and industry professionals are seeing us and rooting for us, and it makes us even more determined to work hard and show that people were right to back us.

PHOTO CREDIT: Panni Renner

“With respect to alternative and rock music, people often forget that these genres have deep Black roots. Recognition from the MOBOs is powerful because it pushes back against that historical erasure, it reclaims the space, and it broadens what Black music representation can look like. It’s the same way artists like Beyoncé are reminding the world that Black people were always part of country music and culture. It feels like we’re in the middle of historical shifts, and the MOBOs are leading the way in the UK. To be a small part of that through our win in the Alternative category feels incredible!

“For the industry, we think it’s such an exciting moment. Because of the MOBOs’ Alternative category, we’re going to see more artists feeling confident about experimenting with genres that sit outside of the usual musical pathways. So, industry-wise, it’s a time for celebration and it’s a call to action for more work to be done.”

WIM is all about celebration – who are the women in music you'd most like to celebrate and why?

CBM: “I would say our mum. She’s been with us for our whole lives and she was the one who pushed us towards the music industry. It was 2020, we were writing loads of songs and doing covers on YouTube. And then our mother was like, ‘Why don’t you actually try and release a song?’”

NBM: “First she said, ‘Learn about the industry.’ And then it snowballed into this huge career! I’d also say Kanya King, CEO of the MOBOS, is a massive, massive inspiration for everything that she’s done over the years. Also, Alyx Holcombe – we got our first ever Radio 1 play from her and our first year of music was massive.”

What are Alt Blk Era’s biggest ambitions?

CBM: “I would love to collaborate with all my favourite artists. That would be a bucket-list thing. I listen to such a wide range of artists – Stromae, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga – I don’t know what that would sound like! But it would mean so much to have the opportunity.”

NBM: “Legacy is a big one. Just being able to say, at the end of our career, we’ve changed lives. I want small artists to listen to us and think, ‘Oh, they’re cool. I didn’t realise you could mix all these genres, I didn’t realise you could do this and this.’ We want to bring a new perspective to the industry”.

I am going to end with a review for Rave Immortal. I am going to come back to Kerrang!. If some critics felt Rave Immortal was more powerful Bubblegum Pop than something more Rave-indebted and fierce, there is no denying the potency and sense of power from the album. A declaration that ALT BLK ERA are here and are going to make a big splash! Maybe album number two is already being worked on. They will grows in strength and ability the more music they put out. As it stands, they are very much set for greatness and longevity:

“ALT BLK ERA exploded onto the scene as a fascinating prospect – two sisters with yin and yang personalities taking a hammer to genre boundaries and flying the flag for misfits and weird kids everywhere. Last summer, however, Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Messam got a little more personal. Onstage at 2000trees, Nyrobi revealed she’s been living with a chronic illness since the middle of the pandemic, which has left her bed-bound, fatigued and in pain. This is the nexus of the Nottingham duo’s debut album, but beyond this showing of vulnerability, the sisters prove that they’re still determined to live loudly.

At first, things look a little darker. Opener Straight To Heart vibrates with a subdued pulse as the sisters recount how Nyrobi’s friends 'Left me in the dark / Wasting away under the stars,' while she was most ill, before the surging alt.rock of Come Out Outside beautifully captures the support Chaya offered her.

From there, the clouds dissolve into a lurid rainbow of sound, but their willingness to delve into sometimes untouched topics remains, and it’s one of their biggest strengths. The fizzing My Drummer’s Girlfriend delves into complicated friendship dynamics, while Hunt You Down’s eerie synth-pop (almost reminiscent of Fame-era Lady Gaga) lends a thrumming edge to an exploration of unhealthy obsession.

ALT BLK ERA’s sound has often remained quite fluid, but as the title of Rave Immortal suggests, they’re committing to the unbridled energy of the illicit warehouse party here. The jittering sounds of drum ‘n’ bass power much of the record and at its best – the fierce Crashing Parties and tongue-in-cheek Upstairs Neighbours – listening while sitting still does not feel like an option. Even with a couple of slightly samey tracks in the second half, the spooky Catch Me If You Can opens a portal to Halloween for three minutes in a clever late album twist.

The exciting part is that this is just the first chapter. They’ve got a foundation for greatness, not to mention a knack for sticky hooks and a giddy playfulness to the way they seem to make whatever the hell they want. It won’t be long before they find a way to outdo themselves”.

I shall end it here. Undoubtably one of the most important new (or emerging) acts around, the fact that ALT BLK ERA have won awards and plaudits so early on is only the start of things! They will continue to grow and dominate. Their music, whilst perhaps not at their absolute peak, is phenomenal and instantly engrossing! I am excited to see where they go and how far they go. Nottingham’s Nyrobi Beckett-Messam and Chaya Beckett-Messam truly deserve…