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The Northern Boys

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The Northern Boys
OriginSutton Coldfield, England
Genres
Years active2022–present
LabelsSindhuworld
Members
  • Norman Pain
  • Patrick Karneigh Jr. "PKJ"
  • Kevin[a]
WebsiteOfficial Northern Boys Twitter

The Northern Boys are a British hip hop group composed of a trio of retirees. Their music has achieved popularity on social media platforms, including TikTok. As of October 2023, the group has released four songs/singles: "Party Time", "Nobody Likes Me", "Give It to Me" and "Sexy Train".

Biography

The Northern Boys are composed of members Norman Pain, Patrick Karneigh Jr., and Kevin.[1][2] Karneigh and Pain met as teachers at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and both had previous music careers, releasing solo content and making guest appearances on Pete & Bas tracks.[1] Kevin, the third member of the group, does not appear on vocals but is featured in the band's music videos.[1][2] The Northern Boys originate from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.[2] They have described their compositional technique as "bang[ing] out ideas in drunken stupors," resulting in a distinctive stream-of-consciousness lyrical style.[2]

Along with their fellow British hip hop group Pete & Bas, whom they met after Norman Pain allegedly bought a "dodgy car" off Peter Bowditch, The Northern Boys are affiliated with Sindhuworld, a London-based music collective based around a convenience store.[1]

Music

On September 15, 2022, The Northern Boys released the music video for their debut single "Party Time" (titled onscreen as "Northern Boy") on YouTube.[3] The music video, filmed locally in Sutton Park, quickly achieved more than 400 thousand views on YouTube and 2 million on TikTok within a week.[1] The song's highly vulgar lyrics were rapped over the instrumental to Estelle's song "American Boy."[3][2] Kevin had suggested that they choose a dance beat for the song rather than a more typical rap track so that he could dance to it.[1]

Reception of the song was largely positive. Entertainment.ie described the song as "one of the darkest yet funniest songs we've heard in a long time" and praised the music video as a "work of art."[4] Vulture called "Party Time" a "certified banger" with "disarmingly frank, funny lyrics about sex, drugs, partying, and the crippling mental-health issues stemming from repressed white English masculinity."[3]

The Northern Boys' next song, "Nobody Likes Me," sampled from "Acceptable in the 80s" by Calvin Harris and was released in October 2022.[5] Them magazine reported favorably on its TikTok popularity from LGBTQ+ users, who appreciated a line from the song's lyrics describing a sexual encounter with a trans man.[6] GRM Daily, which praised The Northern Boys as "some of rap's unlikeliest heroes," said that the song "slaps."[5]

The Northern Boys made a more in-depth exploration of LGBTQ+ themes in the music video for their song "Give It To Me," released March 23, 2023. GRM Daily described the single as "fun, cheeky, and will have you bopping along."[7] The music video for their song "Sexy Train" was filmed at Euston railway station and was released to YouTube on July 6, 2023.[8]

A review at The White Pube highlighted the distinctly English themes of anger and embarrassment in the band's work – "I can’t think of anything more deeply English to represent us [at Eurovision]...I want art that admits there’s a badness growing over us plebs like the mould in the beige houses we rent from jobless kings and queens" – and described the band's depiction of class, gender and race as a key part of their appeal.[9]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Known mononymously in promotional material; no last name publicly given.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Klee, Miles (September 24, 2022). "The Northern Boys, Rapping Retired U.K. Teachers, Break Down Their Filthy Viral Hit 'Party Time'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e Haidari, Niloufar (October 12, 2022). "Hanging Out With the Northern Boys, the UK's Finest Retiree Rap Act". Vice. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Alter, Rebecca (September 22, 2022). "It's Time for Northern Boy Autumn". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  4. ^ Murphy, Lauren (September 27, 2022). "This NSFW rap music video by retired teachers might be the funniest thing you've ever seen". Entertainment.ie. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Pete & Bas affiliates The Northern Boys drop off new banger "Nobody Likes Me"". GRM Daily. October 28, 2022. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  6. ^ Factoria, James (November 10, 2022). "Transmascs on TikTok Are Loving This Song that Finally Objectifies Them". Them. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  7. ^ Yaregal, Bizu (March 23, 2023). "Watch the Northern Boys return with "Give It To Me"". GRM Daily. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Northern Boys Board the "Sexy Train" in Latest Visuals". GRM Daily. July 7, 2023. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  9. ^ "The Northern Boys". The White Pube. April 23, 2023. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
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