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Rumbling, menacing beats and a bold artistic vision – M.I.A, as we know, is a creative force to be reckoned with. Everything the British/Tamil rapper touches – from her recorded opus and Grammy nominated music videos to her recent collaboration with Versus Versace – defies expectation and demands a reaction. And, if you haven’t experienced it yet, all of the victory and vitriol comes to life at her live shows. Delivering an unapologetically frenzied and incendiary mix of hip-hop, new rave, bhangra, sex, pop and politics, M.I.A demands one thing over all others when on stage – that you dance. As someone who caught her incredible Glastonbury outing I know this to be true, but sitting opposite me are the two people that know it better than anyone: Natz and Whyte Boi, M.I.A’s dancers.

On the right, 19-year-old Londoner Natz (real name Natalie Glover) tentatively leans forward – nervously perching on the edge of the worn brown couch. Her small frame is shaped by a firmly structured black jacket, and from Natz’s ears hang big gold hoop earrings framing a mass of hair. On the left sits 27-year-old Baltimore born Whyte Boi (real name Rob Armstrong). His half-strung dungarees sink back into the same torn leather cushions; his face and shaved ginger head are instantly recognisable from M.I.A’s controversial, Roman Gavras directed, “Born Free” video.

Natz has been on tour for about 2 years now, having been personally invited to join M.I.A following a performance with 8 other dancers at Hackney Weekend in London. A spot dancing in a video for N.E.E.T signed Baltimore rapper Rye Rye earned him the respect of the lady in charge. The pair look to each other for answers with such wide grins it’s obvious they’re more than just dancing partners. “I mean I wanted her to be my girl but I didn’t know when it was going to happen,” confesses Whyte Boi. “We were just ending some tour this time last year and we saw R. Kelly in Chicago and with all the RnB type shit, I guess you know, we were in that mood!” Natz stifles an embarrassed laugh and admits it’s “kind of crazy” that M.I.A’s only two regular dancers would fall for one another.

Despite differing demeanours, the pair clearly feed off each other’s energy on a regular basis. “Over time we’ve nicked a few steps from each other,” admits Natz. “When we’re on stage we’re just being hype, it’s not what we’d usually do. I’m more hip-hop when I’m free-styling but for M.I.A it’s African, Azonto-inspired. We have maybe two routines together, she doesn’t really like choreography so there aren’t really any rehearsals.” Whyte Boi nods in agreement “My thing is called ‘Shaking Off’, which is like real aggressive footwork. A lot of kicks and punches too. I did Taekwondo for 5 years: me and my whole family are black belts. But with her, it’s just really hype club dancing. The more people, the more hype I am, I love it. ”

Their love of, and loyalty to, M.I.A isn’t in doubt. “Unless Missy Elliot starts touring and wants me, I don’t really plan to go out again,” says Natz. “For me, unless MC Hammer comes back, I’m not dancing for nobody else!” agrees Whyte Boi – but with the tour ending, we can’t help but wonder what is next for the pair. Whatever happens, we’ll be seeing more of Natz and Whyte Boi and their culture-clash routines in the near-distant future.

Natz wears orange quilted jumper by Neil Barrett and Whyte Boi wears black tech tracksuit by Cottweiler

Natz wears pink and white zebra jacket by Dolce and Gabbana, white cotton cropped shirt by Neil Barrett and pink sequinned trousers by Ashish, and Whyte Boi wears navy cotton closed shirt by Craig Green, printed cotton trousers by Cavempt and white leather trainers by Reebok

Filmmaker: Cieron Magat

Photography: Cieron Magat & Leonn Ward

Fashion: Mischa Notcutt

Words: Lauren Down

Hair and Make Up: Theresa Davies using Mac Cosmetics and Bumble and Bumble

Fashion Assistants: Emma Hamilton and Joely Watford

Special thanks to Otis Marchbank and Dean Blunt for music: Hype Williams “Throning”

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Who is Afrikan Boy? Describe his sound in five words.

Afrikan Boy is a second generation Nigerian immigrant living in London. His sound is: LOUD, BOLD, CHALLENGING, GRIME, LONDON.

How did you get into music making? How did the MIA “Hussle” collaboration come about?

I got into music because everyone in my ends was doing music at the time. Everyone that was considered “cool” done music! The collaboration with me and MIA came about after I made my song “LIDL”, I received a MySpace message from her saying she wanted me on her album. I said “Yes” and the rest is history! You can definitely expect to hear crazy, unexpected and some expected collaborators on the album – producer wise and artist wise, but I’m not going to spill the beans just yet ;-).

Who were your early musical influences? Who are you loving now?

Early influences were artists such as Kano, Wiley, Dizzee on the London grime side, and from Africa it has to be Fela Kuti, Sir Shina Peters and King Sunny Ade.

Are you still studying psychology? If so, what interests you about the subject?

No, I have graduated now. I find the study of the human mind very interesting. I try to understand my own behavior in my everyday life and whilst making music. I use what I learned and placed it in my music indirectly so I get the crowd how I want ’em, LOL.

What can we expect from the debut album? Any collaborations?

You can expect to hear my soul and heart in this album. It will be a record that makes you move your feet whether you like it or not! It will have a strong story and message behind the whole record as well. Something I feel artists are failing to execute well these days.

Finally, if you could swap lives with anyone for the day, who would it be?

I’d swap lives with Tinie Tempah for the day because he’s where I wanna be right now in terms of my career. He’s a good friend of mine we started making music the same time.

Words: Jack Mills

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