My name's Nabihah Iqbal
otherwise known as Throwing Shade.
I'm a DJ, producer and NTS Radio presenter from London.
I've lived here my whole life and I love this city, but things seem to be changing.
Last year, a massive 323,000 people emigrated from Britain,
and with spiralling costs of living contrasting with better quality of life elsewhere,
it's easy to see why.
I'm visiting Lisbon and Leipzig,
two cities which have burgeoning music and art scenes.
I want to see whether they can offer me the same kind of life as London does,
but in a more affordable way.
Will I ever relocate there permenantly?
The first time I came to Lisbon was earlier this year,
when I came out to DJ at a party.
It was so much fun and everyone was dancing so hard,
that my first initial experience was so amazing,
and it made me just want to come back.
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, with a population of around half a million people.
It happens to be one of Western Europe's poorest cities.
The motley nature of the architecture around the city gives you a sense of
how rich the history of this country is.
You can tell that once it was a great imperial power,
and when it all comes together, punctuate it with all palm trees and nice hills
and the sunshine, it definitely feels like you're not in Europe,
and it's only 2-3 hours away from London by plane.
I've been in touch with Bucki, who's recently moved over from London.
She runs her own online fashion store, and I wanted to ask her some questions
to get a feel of how it's working out for her.
What's it been like so far here?
It's a slower pace even right in the centre,
it's not as hectic and busy
And how's it been with your work?
You know, I've been doing this for a little while now,
became quite established in London, so it's going back to working on my own,
which is different, you know, I feel like I've gone back to square one.
in a certain... to a certain degree.
So, when you compare your living and working costs out in London,
to what it is now...?
I was paying almost triple for a room in a tiny little flat, you know?
Yeah, it's a huge, huge benefit.
And have you got any tips or advice?
One of the advantages of being here is obviously the low cost of living,
but the economy is down here, so getting a job,
especially if you don't speak the language,
is going to be seriously tough.
You have to have a plan, financially, I'd say,
that's the main priority.
Most of the stuff you do is online, so I guess the internet makes things easier,
you can work remotely
I can pack up my laptop with the most amazing view.
Apart from the sourcing and the photography side,
all I need is Wi-Fi.
It's been really nice to hang out with Bucki here,
and see what her life's like adjusting to Lisbon.
I'm not sure it's the right place for me yet,
but I've only scratched the surface,
and I've got quite a few other things lined up.
Since I last came here, I've been obsessed with Batida Sound.
It's a musical subculture that draws on Portgual's African heritage.
There are some cool artists, like DJ Marfox, DJ Nervoso, and DJ Firmeza,
who are fusing African sounds with European house and techno
and creating really amazing music.
It's a kind of scene that makes me think I could definitely move here,
and still get recognition for what I do.
I just got a call from DJ Marfox, who's one my favourite producers right now.
He's up for meeting for a chat, he said he's going to show me around his area,
which is a suburb called Quinta do Mocho,
which I've heard from the fixers isn't the safest area...
but I'm sure being with him, we'll be fine.
It seems like there's quite a good feeling around here, you know, like,
community, everybody knows everyone.
Life for people now is getting better.
Not 'better better better'...
...but it's changing.
It's changing.
I still can't believe that I'm sitting here with you, DJ Marfox
because honestly, I'm such a big fan.
How do you feel about becoming
an international DJ and producer?
I feel privileged to share this music and this experience with people.
Do you need to be here for you music, or can you ever imagine living somewhere else?
Here I have the privilege to hear new things nearly every day.
Like with Nigga Fox. He's a friend of mine, he lives in Lumiar.
It's a 10 minute drive from here.
And his music is completely different.
Blacksea Não Maya, he lives south, it's a 30 minute drive.
But the music is completely different.
So that's the proof I don't need to go anywhere else to listen to different things.
Change is happening here, in Lisbon.
I have never seen this anywhere else. It's fantastic.
I've definitely learnt a lot from him today just from a few hours
of hanging out and chatting.
And then also seeing him at work in the studio as well,
and it's been really amazing.
One second...
Firmeza!
Oh really?!
It turns out Marfox's friend, DJ Firmeza, is playing a show tonight,
at an incredible old palace in the centre of town.
We're going to meet up so I can check out what the city is like after dark,
and later, I'm going to try and find out more about Lisbon's art scene.