When I first heard ‘Get Around’ by Ammi Boyz, I must have been sixteen or seventeen, side-stepping puddles on my way back from sixth form on an almost orthodox English rainy evening. That haunting, crooning sample set the scene before the drums kicked in. I was probably waiting for the bus, headlights blinding me as P From Lee’s verse landed – lyrics enunciated by that staccato rhythm.
“Another day in South-East London,
Mummy don’t know what her son did.”
It was likely drizzling then, the same way it is now as I step into the Pride of Spitalfields and spot the boys cotched at the back. “Sorry it’s so loud,” Marley – or Nigz TG – tells me. “But this is one of my favourite pubs in London.”
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For the better part of a decade, Ammi Boyz have lingered in the UK underground’s psyche as something close to myth. Often labelled a “grime group” (never self-proclaimed), they felt more like a member’s club: Nigz the Greatest, P From Lee, Omari Lyseight, plus a rotating cast of London mates – each with their own niche. They cut their teeth on SoundCloud, threw parties, hosted Balamii shows, then dropped their debut Ab or Ammiboyz in 2018.
It was an era when ‘alternative UK rap’ and ‘chill grime’ was mutating in real time – when indie-skater aesthetics were marrying into pirate radio grit, with a faint cloud-rap haze drifting in from the US. The underground was still properly underground. If you knew, you knew.
After years of solo detours, their Instagram flickered back to life last summer with a Paris pop-up during Fête de la Musique. Now, they’re gearing up for a revival. And they’ve been trying to tell you: Ammi Boyz are back.
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Take me back to the origins of when you first started. When was that?
Nigz The Greatest: 2014.
P From Lee: We were like sixteen or seventeen.
Were you friends first? How did it form?
NTG: P, D1 and Mossy had known each other from about thirteen. I met D1 and Arun at school around sixteen and started rolling with them to house parties. Eventually me and P built a friendship. Ammi Boyz was really just us linking every Tuesday after college – going to the block, putting our change together for a benz of ammi and listening to ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ on vinyl. That’s literally where the name came from. It wasn’t a conscious process.
PFL: It was either ammi or cheese. Those were two of the only ones you could get back then. We just liked ammi.
For people discovering you for the first time now – who’s actually part of the group?
NTG: Musically, it’s mainly me, P and Omari. He’s been there from the start – taught me how to make beats, recorded a lot of my early music. Now he’s producing for artists in the US and building his own label, Digital Currency.
Omari Lyseight: At first I was the guy doing a lot of the beats and recording for everyone. I was in a group called Trackout at the time with Lsow. We started finding a sound that really matched the AB vibes. When I think about songs like “It’s On”, I remember the energy we had in the room making it. It really shows that we were using real life to fuel the music and energy behind it.
NTG: Master Peace will always be gang. His drive from young was inspiring. He had a show the other day and still made it to my mum’s house to sing happy birthday, so that’s bro.
Master Peace: Back then we didn’t overthink anything. We wouldn’t even mix or master the records properly – we’d just put them out and they’d fly. That mentality stuck with me. Even with my own music now, I try not to overcook things.
NTG: D1 started Observa. Arun recently co-founded a swimwear line called Pani. Gray became a jeweller. T£ runs a restaurant under his own name that picked up a Michelin star last year – all before he’s even hit 30. Winch, YD and AB Husk are still very much part of the wider circle.
You had a distinctive sound early on. Were there particular inspirations?
NTG: None of us produced at first. We didn’t really get to choose our influences. We were rapping over dancehall instrumentals – Vybez Kartel beats – like a lot of UK rappers were doing. Grime had kind of come and gone by then, so we weren’t trying to do grime. At the beginning it was more about survival than influence.
PFL: Sometimes it was type beats. There was that Reeko Squeeze song we were into. Reeko Squeeze and Section Boyz were big inspirations for us. Even the name Ammi Boyz – we were probably subconsciously linking it back to Section Boyz.
Being from South-East London – did that have an influence on you and what you rap about?
PFL: I’m literally P from Lee. I can’t be more influenced by my area. I say it how it is. I’m normally always within a half-mile radius of Lee.
NTG: Keeping it real, I was rejecting the ends. P was always on the block, and I’d be like, “You gotta leave the block.” I was trying to be in Soho, Mayfair, Fitzrovia. I was seventeen rapping about Zinfandel. It might sound cheap now, but back then that was me pushing myself into a different world. I was a skateboarder, so I’d get the train to Waterloo and chill there. My influence probably came from not being in the ends.
What have you been focusing on solo over the past few years?
PFL: I filmed a video today, actually. I’m working on my own tape. I wasn’t even planning to do solo stuff at first, but working on the Ammi Boyz project meant I was coming out with sixty, seventy songs. Sometimes I’d record something at home, send it back to Omari – suddenly I’ve got my own tape.
NTG: I’m in a rock band called IMISSMYMOM, so I’m mostly working on our next record, playing live. I also began a solo rock endeavour in 2020 under the name ‘Mrley’.
The revival – I first saw it with the Fête de la Musique show in Paris. How did that come about?
PFL: Through Observa. When D1 was planning it, he wanted me involved. We’d started recording some Ammi Boyz songs again, but we were just warming up. So I asked Nigz if he’d be down to perform in Paris – and maybe properly do Ammi Boyz again. At first he was like, “Ehhhh….”
NTG: Really?
PFL: Yeah.
NTG: (laughs)
PFL: Then he calls me back like, “Actually, that might’ve been a shout.” I’d rather do an Ammi Boyz show than something solo anyway.
NTG: People didn’t believe we were back. Paris solidified it – for us and them. Around that time, Tommy Wright III played his first London show. I used to message him when I was younger, trying to book him with Omari. I never thought we’d actually meet. When I shook his hand that night, it reminded me that anything’s possible. I remember cycling down Commercial Road on a Lime bike, on the phone to P like, “Fuck it. I’m down to do Paris.”
What was Paris like – did you run into people you knew?
NTG: Lowkey, everyone and anyone.
PFL: At Victory Lap, innit. Anyone you could imagine was there.
What can you tell us about the new project?
NTG: Back then there were so many of us we could facilitate almost anything ourselves – re-ups, remixes – so we didn’t really collaborate externally. We wanted to change that this time. About sixty percent of what we’ve made this year are collaborations.
PFL: We went from rejecting to accepting.
Omari: Production is in such an amazing place right now. Everyone is trying new things – some sound amazing, some not so amazing, but it’s all about development. Nothing is ever perfected instantly. With this AB project, I felt it was important to find a middle ground between the newer fresh sound we’re making now and the one people remember from back in the day.
Looking back, what’s the biggest difference in the underground now?
PFL: Actually getting paid!
NTG: It’s more diverse – in identities, in styles, behind the scenes too. There are way more women across promotion, business and the artist side. It’s refreshing. The underground scene has come a long way from sweaty basement shows. Nowadays, I can’t tell the fans apart from the artist. Everybody is the main character.
PFL: You can’t ignore the numbers now. Artists are thinking about streaming properly. Back then you couldn’t rap about certain things without people questioning you. Now the new kids are just being themselves, and everyone’s accepting it. I rate that.
NTG: We were barely sixteen. We were just having fun – making songs like ‘Dungarees’, ‘Uber’, ‘Peaking Through the Blinds’. I’m happy the scene’s grown. There’s an actual economy now. There weren’t really many underground artists selling out venues. When we sold out O2 Islington, it felt like somewhat of a glass ceiling.
PFL: It’s sad that the original audience is trying to isolate the new one. That is so dead. If you really care about the artist, you’ve got to let it grow.
When will we hear new music?
NTG: We’re still finalising songs. We hopefully have something on the way with EvilGiane, but can’t put a date on things yet.
How did that connection come about?
NTG: Real lore is D1 moved to New York at sixteen and became friends with Giane and Surf Gang through skateboarding. He was around for the early days. He used to tell us, “My boys have hard beats for you man.” We’ve actually had music together stemming back nearly nine years – the SoundCloud single ‘Flies on the Wall’.
So it’s kind of mad that it’s come full circle. Shout out Surf Gang for real!
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Words: Mars D
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