Nia Archives

Born Dehaney Nia Lishahn Hunt in Bradford in September 1999, she moved to Leeds at seven. Her grandmother, a third-generation Windrush immigrant from Jamaica, ran a pirate radio station with her sisters and was part of a group nicknamed "The Bradford 5". Her stepfather ran a dancehall radio show and built a home studio, teaching her Logic Pro at twelve.

Family difficulties led her to leave home at sixteen, moving between Leeds, Bury and a hostel in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, where she worked at KFC and as a cookery teacher while claiming benefits. During this period she discovered jungle through documentaries, including LTJ Bukem's Modern Times and the Metalheadz film Talkin Headz, drawn especially to the women who shaped the scene.

She later moved to Hackney Wick for university and began self-releasing EPs: Headz Gone West in 2021, Forbidden Feelingz in 2022, and Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against the Wall in 2023, the last of which topped the UK Dance Albums Chart.

As Nia Archives she produces, DJs and sings her own vocals over chopped breakbeats and heavy sub-bass, a combination that sets her apart from the largely instrumental end of jungle and drum and bass. Her songwriting leans toward the personal and melancholy, dealing with family, displacement and growing up.

Her debut album, Silence Is Loud, was released through Island in 2024 and reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart, cementing her position at the forefront of the post-2020 jungle and drum and bass revival.