Envy

Who is Envy?

Nicola Varley, known as Envy, is an English rapper/MC.

Envy has been writing songs for over 5 years. At first being compared to other female artists around, she carved out her own niche in the predominantly male British Grime Scene. She first began to make waves when she made several show-stealing appearances on 'The City Is Ours Music Mixtapes' from Manchester. This led to several collaborations with artists from all over the UK, particularly London, where she earned respect by battling and profilically dropping verses on many singles. She released her debut solo single Tongue Twister through StopStart Records.

Having graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Media, Envy now concentrates on her music career full-time with the fruits of her labour bouncing onto the scene in the form of second single Friday Night

"Her lyrics, if you can hear them, are well smart, with the wry, pithy intelligence of the media-savvy: "I take it tit for tat/I'll take your tacit consent/To turn the Taliban to take over your town… You're lookin' to be loved but can't find a flippin' solution/I'm lost on location, laceratin' as I'm lacin'/Lookin' lovely/Better pray your label pay for elocution," she rapid-fires over the bubblicious grime rhythms, with their shades of Missy's Work It, of previous single Tongue Twister. We're not sure what she means or who the subject is of her ire here, but as ever she sounds fierce yet witty, her staccato delivery popping in time to the buzzing, fizzing synth beat. In fact, so rhythmic is her phrasing that it would sound good acappella, but it works both ways: remove her rhymes and you've got pristine future-perfect electro-pop."