N-Dubz’s Dappy extends his brand identity to death threats
You may have heard that Dappy, the be-hatted wee gonad-y looking one off the N-Dubz who is apparently addicted to crashing model airplanes (?!), got himself into a spot of bov recently.
If you haven’t, the story in a nutshell is:
While Dappy’s behaviour was rather naughty, one has to applaud the fact that he managed to get N-Dubz’s trademark catchphrase into one of his succinct missives. Here’s the one I’m talking about:
u dum f****** dickhead u can call me names over the radio but when I call u direct u chicken out u punk!nana fucking niiiii, Dappy.
I’ll skip over the fact that pop star Dappy signed his threatening text with his name, because that’s a mistake anyone could make. It’s the “nana fucking niiiii” that interests me.
“Nana niii” (you’ll have to excuse me if my spelling is incorrect, I looked it up in the dictionary but it weren’t there - possibly because it doesn’t actually mean anything) is the cry you can hear on many N-Dubz songs, allowing you to identify them easily lest you think you’re listening to John Mayer.
Here are some young N-Dubz fans taking some time out from getting pregnant to share their rendition of “Nana niii”:
It’s a canny thing, an aural trademark, and to take it into other areas of your life - as Dappy has - shows a determination to extend his/N-Dubz’s brand identity sadly lacking in the majority of pop stars. It also leads you to suspect that Dappy sees “Nana niii” as so synonymous with his sense of self that he employs it anywhere and everywhere.
The butcher, the cobbler, the librarian - I’m guessing all have had a taste of “Nana niii”. Indeed perhaps Dappy - not the most gifted of communicators, as we’ve seen - dispenses with all other words if a “Nana niii” will do.
“Ah, you’ve brought back the Milan Kundera book at last, Dappy. I’m afraid it’s two years overdue, so there’s a fine of £143.76,” tuts the librarian.
“Nana niii!” cries Dappy, as he throws a wad of notes into the air, shattering the calm of Camden Town library.
“Why do you wish to enter the country?” enquires a customs official at the airport of some foreign clime where N-Dubz are due to entertain a whole new legion of childlings.
“NANA NIII!” shrieks Dappy, shortly before finding himself tazed until he soils his baggy ‘pants’.
Let this catch on, please. Let Lady Gaga emit “muh muh muh muh”s when she pays for the milk. Allow Tinchy Stryder to proclaim “Flee!” as he enters the vet’s waiting room with his kitten. Encourage DMX to make odd barking noises while he browses the crockery in his local charity shop.
(Actually, DMX probably does that already. He actually thinks he’s a dog, you know.)



There’s not much funnier than a naughty rapper who isn’t even famous enough to get away with being naughty. Maddest of props, then, to David Thomas Thornton, who took a 15-man entourage to a South Florida university talent show and managed to get himself charged with:

