We asked Lloyiso [@lloyiso_rsa] to take a walk with us through London. What followed was a conversation about growth, pressure, loneliness, dreams, family, music and becoming.
First introduced to national audiences as a finalist on Idols South Africa at just 16, Lloyiso has spent the years since navigating the pressures of early fame while slowly rebuilding on his own terms. Rooted in his Eastern Cape upbringing yet shaped by a growing global perspective, his music carries an emotional depth that reflects themes of identity, resilience, and self-worth.
With Never Thought I Could, Lloyiso delivers his most personal and self-defined work to date; a project centred on vulnerability, growth, and creative freedom. Rather than chasing perfection, the album embraces honesty, inviting listeners to connect with both his story and their own emotions within it.
From the Barbican Centre to an intimate night in Hammersmith, Catch Up Wit is our first step into long-form visual storytelling. Honest, reflective and intentional.
London as they break down their new project, “Sounds of the Diaspora.”A project we think might be their hardest yet.A chilled conversation on music, identity, and where they’re headed next.
LSTV CUT: Let’s get into it; what’s the unspoken rule that helped stay solid through growth, pressure, and success?
NSG: In all honesty, there’s no unspoken rule. We all very much believe in unified power, so we stay united forever. United through adversity and through all the blessings
LSTV CUT: How do you balance individual ideas without them clashing or slowing the process down?
NSG:Different visions because we all see things from different perspectives, but we have all the same goal.which is an advantage. We share our different ideas and find a way to meet at common ground
LSTV CUT:As a collective, how do you handle moments when individual members are in different headspaces creatively or mentally??
NSG: Yes, absolutely, because at the end of the body, no be firewood and that’s one thing we all understand.
LSTV CUT:fair, How did you decide which artists represented the “diaspora” you wanted to capture on this album
NSG:First of all, big up to the artists featuring on SOTD. We wanted to be intentional with the features, but also it needed to make sense sonically, and when you hear the songs, you’ll hear how seamless they all sound. Aside from being fans of these artists, we love how they represent their roots through their art and how they connect with the diaspora worldwide.
LSTV CUT: What did these collaborations ON SOtD teach you about how African music is evolving globally?
NSG: As Africans, UNITY is the way forward, when we come together, we can achieve a lot OF great things, whether by music, fashion… whatever it is. Togetherness is the way forward
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LSTV CUT:100! Let’s try this unity thing. If Sounds of the Diaspora could be described as a colour, what colour would it be — and why?
NSG: The colour would be BLACK because it carries history , energy, evolution, all at the same time.
LSTV CUT: At what point did you realise NSG had become bigger than just music?
NSG: Ahah when people started dressing like NSG, I knew Yep this is deeper than music and on the music side , just by the conversations we be having with people we once looked up to growing up. Also, by the way people genuinely ride for us. a special shout-out to the AREA BOYZ AND GIRLZ OUT THERE . we love you guys.
LSTV CUT:Even I was dressing like NSG haha. You dropped albums in January last year and again this year. Is that timing intentional? What does starting the year with new music mean to NSG?
NSG: Timing is everything. Start as you mean to go on, and this year we mean to release plenty OF music. So why not start the year with 8 tracks and an interlude?
LSTV CUT: The album artwork is striking and feels symbolic. What was the inspiration behind the cover, and what story were you trying to tell visually?
NSG: The artwork tells the story of the diaspora kids. Even though we are African or Caribbean by blood (black representation on the cover), some of us were born/raised in the United Kingdom, so it’s part of our identity, whether we like it or not. You can see this through how we speak, or dress, BUT sometimes you feel like you don’t fully fit into what you would call, quote & quote“British person”, hence why in the artwork, you can see the individual is standing a bit further back from everyone else, while still having the flag wrapped around him. It’s not just an artwork, it’s real life!
LSTV CUT: Looking ahead, what do you want people to feel when they listen to this album a year from now, not just right now?
NSG: A year from now , we want the people to feel the timelessness of this project, something they can come back to and say “this still hits” from the lyrics to the sounds.
