Throwing Shade

Under the alias Throwing Shade, London native Nabihah Iqbal produced shimmering, R&B-influenced lo-fi electronic pop and billowing ambient techno during the 2010s. Her bright, atmospheric tracks often included light, innocent vocals reminiscent of the PC Music crew, but her work was generally spacy, ethereal, and laid-back rather than ironic and deconstructivist. After the release of 2016's House of Silk EP, Iqbal discontinued the moniker in favor of her birth name and began making more guitar-based music. Iqbal studied ethnomusicology before graduating from the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in African history, and in 2013 she began hosting a free-form program on Internet station NTS Radio, showcasing music from around the world. German techno producer Kassem Mosse released Throwing Shade's debut single, "Mystic Places," on his Ominira label that year, and British label No Pain in Pop (home to early releases by Forest Swords and Grimes) issued her EP 19 Jewels in May of 2014. A more dancefloor-centric single called "Chancer" was released by U.K. label Happy Skull that summer, and later in the year, Iqbal was commissioned by British art organization Tate to write a piece of music in reaction to the 2014 Turner Prize. Throwing Shade's second EP for No Pain in Pop, Fate Exclusive, arrived in 2015, and she subsequently signed to Ninja Tune, which issued her House of Silk EP in March of 2016. In 2017, Iqbal retired the Throwing Shade moniker and began releasing music under her given name. Weighing of the Heart, her post-punk-influenced debut full-length, appeared near the end of the year. After a 2020 studio theft, she abandoned the album that was in progress and released the unfinished material as Blue Magic Gentle Magic. Dreamer, a mix of cosmic indie pop and deep house, appeared in 2023.
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