Rolling Stone called them “the global R&B superstars in waiting”, while NME declares that these UK newcomers “have the potential to become British R&B icons”. After going viral on TikTok, R&B group No Guidnce is now making their presence known in the music scene – not just in the UK but globally.
Consisting of Kaci Brookz and Zeekay, both 19, Ebubé, 20, and Josh Lomat, 22 – these four talented young men make up the quartet No Guidnce. They first gained attention with their acapella covers that blew up on TikTok. In speaking with Rolling Stone, the group reveal that they spent almost a year making music behind the scenes and honing their craft. “We always knew that the quality of our music would allow us to step away from that, and stand out for our music more than our TikToks,” Kaci was quoted as saying.
The success of their “Spicy” and “Is It A Crime” EPs showed that the boys are just getting started and have a bright future. While many boybands are manufactured and put together by labels, Josh explains, “We actually are friends. We want to be in business together.” Zee echoes his sentiments, “Because there’s not really other boybands out there, we kind of have the ability to be the boy band and reshape the narrative.”
Check out our full interview here:
For those who are unaware, how did the 4 of you meet? Do you remember the moment when everything clicked and y’all knew that this was the group?
Yes, the moment everything clicked was when we spent a day in the studio together, we were making an original song, and at this point we had never heard Ebube’s voice, and we all laid down some lead tracks and harmonies and we just sounded really great as a four and we realised then that it was meant to be.
For Zeekay and Kaci, you two met on “Little Mix: The Search”. Was there a discussion about joining a singing competition like “X-Factor” or “The Voice” for exposure? Or was it a conscious decision to stay away from it?
We wouldn’t do another reality TV show now, creating an audience off our own backs is now a lot more important to us and feels a lot more special and personal.
Some have labelled you as boyband whilst others have said group – what is the difference do you think?
I think there is no real difference between the two, group just sounds cooler than boyband – although boyband sounds cool also it just depends on who is in the boyband! We are a cool boyband, but we are also a very cool RnB group.
We are stoked that NG is bringing back RnB, who are your personal faves and what do you admire about them?
Kaci: One of my favourite RnB voices is Brian McKnight because his riffs are amazing, and he has great tone.
Zeekay: I really like Lucky Daye at the moment, I really like his writing and his style of RnB is one I wasn’t familiar with a couple of years ago but now I’m very very into.
Josh: Neyo – I grew up on a lot of his music so a big fan of his style and vocal ability.
Ebube: Sza because her music is quite alternative but she has still managed to find a way to get her message across to so many people.
Congrats on the release of the release of your singles, “White Tee” is a bop! What was the inspiration behind it?
“White Tee” is about loving women in their rawest form regardless of anything like makeup or expensive clothing. We love you for who you are.
Tell us about filming the music video for “White Tee”.
It was a freezing cold night in London. It was such a cool experience though, it felt like we were on a movie set because we were on a car ‘driving’, but we were actually on this big truck and the truck was driving us, which you can’t tell when you watch the video.
Why was “Long Walk” the perfect song to release alongside “White Tee”?
I think it has a similar topic in the sense that it’s about real love. It’s about the fact that the best dates are just taking a walk with a girl and talking about life. It links to White Tee because it’s in the lover boy genre.
From “Spicy” and “Is It A Crime” to the upcoming stripped EP, what has been the evolution of NG?
I feel like the evolution of NG is just us becoming more confident in expressing our sound and taking more risks. We now have time to reflect on the songs we put out and we can see what has been working. Although it’s all been working, but we can see what we have felt most passionate about sound wise, and we can push that into 2024. It means in 2024 we will see stronger vocal performances, more bridges, more big group choruses and more great music!
Some fans are curious about the group’s name No Guidnce, how did the name come about and was it intentional to leave out the A?
It was intentional to leave out the A, we wanted to personalise the name. No Guidnce really means to be a trail blazer in your own right. Our music is doing something that nobody has done for a while so there is no real rules and we are just doing our own thing.
As a quartet, fans are bound to pick their own favourites. Does it get frustrating when fans do that?
No it doesn’t actually, we all get love from fans and we all have fans that connect with us individually which is great because it just leans into the group concept more, everyone has their favourite in a boy band!
If you could have a personality trait or skill from your group member – what would it be and why?
Zeekay: Josh’s social battery – I’m good socially but in environments when I’m not entirely comfortable or I’m tired, then I’m not as upbeat as I should be, but Josh always has a good execution of conversation in any environment, so I’d take that from him.
Josh: Ebubé’s musicality skills, he’s very talented and plays a lot of instruments so I’d take that from him.
Since Christmas is approaching, what’s the best gift you’ve received and given to someone?
Ebubé: The gift of No Guidnce!
Kaci: I’m good at getting nice clothing items for people, and nice sneakers.
Zeekay: My mum’s birthday is on Christmas, so once I got her a TV & a plane ticket. I’d say that was pretty nice.
Josh: As a kid I wanted a Nintendo WII, so one year I got one, I was gassed.
Ebubè: I’d say the gift of peace – I didn’t always have peaceful Christmases so when I did it was a real gift.
Top 3 memories of 2023.
- Playing Wireless main stage.
- Our first LA show.
- Miami trip, on the first day riding the bikes around.
Plans for 2024:
- Hopefully travel to Malaysia!
- More of a global tour, doing shows around the world.
- Building on our brand, getting our name out there more.
