FISHKEL RECORDS

Words are too weak to describe the wide array of styles displayed by lyrical tag team Nova and Big Kel. When the distinctive down home flavor of Pascagoula, Miss. native Big Kel mixes with the island influences of the Bahamas-born and Pompano Beach, Fla.-raised Haitian descendent Nova, there is no telling how the finished product will turn out.



And their complex musical concoction is most evident on their two-song demo CD that has been steadily simmering on the streets of Atlanta and throughout the southeast with the bluesy Killer Mike-assisted “Feel Like Snappin’” and the syrupy, funk-driven “Getting Dat Paper.” After they have staked a firm claim in the southern rap scene, the duo is set to release their group debut album From the Boat to the Field: Island Boy and Country N!a.



“We got two different flavors,” explains Kel. “Nova is 100 percent Haitian. So it’s a lot of island feel to his struggle. With me being from Mississippi, I got a country flavor to my struggle. But together, we got a dope international sound.”



Kel first got his feet wet in the music industry in 2002. One of Kel’s cousins was friends with a member of rock band Three Doors Down and told Kel that he would pass his music along to the rocker. So Kel got in the studio and cut a demo. Although his cousin never did submit Kel’s music, that did spark a love for the microphone in Kel.



Rapping since the age of 12, Nova became serious about the music in his mid-20s. He landed a deal with an independent California-based label. During this time, he would record in every studio he could. One of the studios where he frequented was in Moss Point, where he first met Kel in 2004.



They both happened to record in the same studio and would frequently run into each other between sessions. After so many chance meetings, a friendship was forged. As their relationship developed, they became fans of each other’s music and even traded verses on songs.



“We have always got vibes from each other in the studio,” says Nova. “Now that we are a group, nothing has changed. We just do what we’ve always done.”



Kel backs him up: “I was feeling his music, and he was feeling mine,” says Kel. “We both were going in the studio. And he might need some verses from me, and I needed verses from him and it was sounding good together.”



They wouldn’t officially commit to linking up as a group, however, until 2008. Nova’s situation with the label had gone sour, and by chance, they both relocated to Atlanta. Nova came in 2005 and Kel came the following year and hit the ground running full speed. Fresh in the city, Kel had combed ATL streets with his Select-O-Hits-distributed street album Keep It Real and Get Money in 2006.



Now with From the Boat to the Field: Island Boy and Country N!a on the forefront, there is nothing that this pair can’t accomplish.



“Our sound is tricky. It’s versatile. You are going to wonder how we keep switching it up. I give the people something to keep their attention,” says Nova. “We keep our music the way it’s supposed to be. Our pants ain’t too tight or too loose. We keep it all the way real and raw. Everything that’s coming from us, we either did it or about to do it. We’ve been through a lot and seen a lot too.”