NottsMan is a Facebook page that’s been causing a right stir, with local videos, music and photos, as well as looks back into the city’s past. They’re celebrating one year into the page, so we hit up the man behind the media...
After sharing a video of a Notts grime classic – Militant Millie B2B Juganaut – on his personal Facebook account, within an hour it had garnered around 10,000 views and had been shared hundreds of times. Not one to rest on his laurels, NottsMan created the page we know and love today, and began posting throwback classics from the likes of NG Cartel, Shottingham Movements, P Brothers, Mr. 45 and Out Da Ville.
“Before I knew, it the page was gathering 1,000 likes a week, and within a month it had hit 4K,” NottsMan says of his success. “I spent hours sat at my computer, ripping old tunes from YouTube. Massive shoutout to Sergeant Steve, by the way; a very devoted Nottingham rap and grime fan who’s uploaded pretty much every single old Notts tune to YouTube.”
After bombarding our news feeds with a hectic pot of proper bangers, and inspiring us all to get right royally excited about days gone by, NottsMan turned his head towards more general nostalgia. “The music element became more of a weekend thing, and in the week I started sharing everything from old videos of The Works nightclub in the nineties, to old footage of the city centre from the eighties.”
Once we were hooked, and the Facebook page had a strong 8,000 followers, the creative force behind NottsMan teamed up with Elliott Caine to design a limited edition run of t-shirts. One, featuring a spin-off of Nottingham City Council, and the phrase “Nottingham Citeh”, another with Nottingham legends – including Cockleman, Robin Hood, Whycliffe, and the bleddy Goose Fair goose – adorning the front. “My mate Curtz made a hip hop remix of Whistle Stop from Walt Disney’s Robin Hood, and we made an advert. I was getting orders from Notts expats in America, Australia and Spain,” says NottsMan.
And it’s not just his entrepreneurial skills he’s managed to flex while spearheading the project. After hearing that Dave “The Fish Man” Bartram was attacked for his earnings while out on his rounds, and upon receiving treatment discovered that he had cancer, NottsMan wasn’t about to rest on his cockles. “I thought the strong following my page had could surely help him out,” he says. “Me and my long-time friend, Kieran Hardcastle, came up with the idea of hosting a fundraiser to help him get back on his feet.” And indeed it did, with the online crowdfunding campaign raising a hefty £800, and a day’s worth of celebrations at The Angel Microbrewery raising £200 in our Dave’s honour.
The future of Nottsman looks set to continue on the charitable front, with the main man telling us about his hopes to work with the city’s youth, getting them on the straight and narrow: “There’s so much horrible crime going on at the moment. I’d love to team up with CRS and do an anti-knife-crime event.”
Big up Nottsman, and happy bothdeh.
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