Hydraulic lowriders beside basketball courts, a sweatband with gold chains wrapped around the neck, and street knowledge that’s wider than his whole barangay.
This is NIO, a Quezon City-based rapper taking the whole hip-hop scene by storm with his presence and swagger. Back in 2023, he put the entire hip-hop scene on notice with “Aba Ginoong Napupuno ng Swag.” Around the same time, NIO went on to rap alongside rap group NO LIMIT 4L until his departure in 2024.
Even after he left the group, NIO built up momentum through strong word-of-mouth and became the subject of every hip-hop head discussion; being touted as the “rookie” of the year all over the internet, including Facebook groups like “mumble rap tawi-tawi,” and getting heavy traction from local hip-hop sources such as PILLS and Soundtrack. NIO quickly rose as the next “bad boy” in the rap game.
In December 2024, he released PLAYBOY MIXTAPE. Six tracks, almost no filler. The mixtape presented a boastful amount of hyphy; groovy hi-hats, thin snare sound, a heavy kick drum that causes earthquakes. There’s also a fair share of piano rolls and bouncy melodies that make every single stroll of his barangay look like a block party. Normally, the holidays are for releasing covers of famous Christmas jingles. In NIO’s case, it was an effective game plan to buck convention, making the release as audacious as this mixtape itself. NIO is never the type to mince his words, nor are the releases he has carefully and secretly calculated.
PLAYBOY MIXTAPE leans heavily on G-funk — almost to the point of ‘90s worship — but there’s a refreshingly timeless take on the sound. Throughout the six tracks, NIO makes it clear that he isn’t ashamed of anything. In “BUNNY HOP,” he leaves his mark, exercising in the streets with his bike and punching bag, rapping about “walking the walk and talking the talk” and traveling across Manila City to Quezon City as if he were the mayor of both. NIO’s verses crumble and stomp hard in tracks like “LIBRENGSTYLE” and “CAN U C WASSUP?” Sometimes, he raps about being god’s favorite rapper (“Sorry Lord, pasuyo din sa mga wack”), or being bad at math (“Bagsak ako sa math / Meron akong listahan ng account / Fuck you, pay me, ‘yong exact amount”). But there’s an underlying charisma amidst these vulnerable moments, and PLAYBOY MIXTAPE lets NIO’s personality shine all throughout.
In some ways, the mixtape makes the case that this is all you need to know and understand about the rapper. He coasts on one genre, but never slides off or loses his edge from start to finish. It packs so much for a mixtape that it makes you think how much he has left in the tank. If this is just a taste of what’s to come from NIO, then let the playboy play the game.
