No pressure, eh? New York resident Bishop Nehru reveals the five tracks that influenced his rapid rise to fame – with an exclusive Spotify playlist.

From hysterical comparisons to unrealistic expectation: the hype that surrounds any new musician with a bit of talent and a decent press shot can be overwhelming. But when a teenager receives the kind of plaudits that New York rapper Bishop Nehru has, it tends to cut through the clamour.

Bishop, aka Mr Markel Scott, released his first mixtape Nehruvia in 2013 at the age of 16. This was no GarageBand bedroom project, however. The record was made with the help of hip-hop icons such as MF Doom, Madlib and DJ Premier, all of whom are listed as contributing producers. In 2014, Nas brought Mr Scott out on stage at SXSW, introducing him as “the future of music”. In October of that year, Bishop released NehruvianDoom, a joint album with long-time collaborator MF Doom. He has since worked with everyone from Disclosure to Little Dragon, and earlier this year Mr Kendrick Lamar said he was “the next generation of pure talent”. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t yet celebrated his 20th birthday.

So what makes the musical maestro tick? With his new mixtape Magic 19 out 3 June, and shows in London at the end of the month, we asked Bishop Nehru to make us a playlist based on his influences. Read what he had to say about five of his favourite tracks, below. And listen to the full 15-track playlist over on Spotify.

NAS “I Can”

“I used to listen to this song a lot when it dropped, the beat was obviously incredible and the storytelling on it is amazing. It’s one of those positive songs in hip-hop. It lets kids know they can be something. He even has kids on the chorus.”

MADVILLAIN “Raid”

“This song was a big introduction to Doom and his whole catalogue in 2006/2007. My older cousin gave me a DVD of The Boondocks [an Adult Swim cartoon] and I heard this song in an episode and looked it up. After that my cousin and I would talk about him and other artists for hours.”

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS “Suck My Kiss”

“I got into this song after my sixth-grade graduation when I got Rock Band as a graduation gift. I went through a rock phase, downloading as much music as I could from the game, and I started to search for more artists like them. I think it really made me appreciate all different styles and, more importantly, cultures.”

N.E.R.D “Hypnotize U”

“I can still remember walking down hallways in ninth grade bumping the N.E.R.D Nothing album – even though we weren’t allowed to listen to music in school. I loved this album so. ‘Hypnotize U’ was a favourite because it reminds me of a girl I had a crush on in school.”

JAY ELECTRONICA “Exhibit C”

“I heard this song when I was in seventh grade. It was getting played a lot on New York radio and all I could remember is everything he said after the line, ‘They call me Jay Electronica… fuck that…’ It made me start to write seriously and get ready to record my own songs.”