Crop Circle 3 is the fourth studio album by British rapper Nines, released on 6 October 2023, through Nines' own independent record label, Zino Records.[1] It features guest appearances from Bad Boy Chiller Crew, Big Narstie, Blade Brown, Fatz, George the Poet, Little Torment, Mark Morrison, Max Valentine, M Dot R, Miraa May, Mugzz, Ouraa, ShockTown, Skrapz, Streetz, Tiggs Da Author, Trapstar Toxic, and Tunde, while the album's production was primarily handled by Jacob Manson, Karlos, and Show N Prove with assistance from Handz Beatz, Jackson Romain, RJ Cherry, and several other producers.[2] The album serves as a follow-up to Nines' third, Crop Circle 2 (2023) and will serve as the final part of an album trilogy that began with Crop Circle (2018) and continued with Crop Circle 2 (2023).[3] Upon the release of the album, Nines released a short film of the same name.[4]
Months after the release of the second instalment of his Crop Circle album trilogy, on 15 September 2023, Nines took to his Instagram to announce the release of Crop Circle 3 while sharing the album's cover art and release date for 6 October.[5][6] On 24 September, Nines released his highly anticipated "Daily Duppy" which premiered on GRM Daily.[7] The song served as the album's lead single.[8] On 30 September, Nines shared the album's official tracklist to his Instagram.[9] On 5 October, just a day prior to the release of the album, Nines released the album's second single, "Toxic" featuring Bad Boy Chiller Crew.[1] Upon the release of the album, Nines released a short film of the same name, co-starring Alhan Gencay, Talliah Storm, and Nines himself.[10]
Crop Circle 3 received positive reviews from music critics. Writing for GRM Daily, Niall Smith wrote that "overall, Crop Circle 3 is a solid body of work" and that it's difficult to compare the album to Nines' past work. He stated that on the album, "there's a medley of cohesion, chaos and crystalline penmanship".[2]AllMusic's David Crone wrote that the project is a "smooth, blunt-voiced trap & hip-hop" album and that he "[weaves] struggle and success together in the [his] signature narratives".[11] In a positive review, Tara Joshi for The Guardian hinted towards Nines' retirement from music in her review, writing that "Nines is dreaming of a new, unconfined chapter: perhaps that’s why Crop Circle 3 sounds so enticingly free".[12]The Observer's Damien Morris wrote that "we find Nines in a comfortable holding pattern" and that on the album, "he rehearses familiar topics" ranging from "his irresistibility to women" to "unfeasibly large bags of weed, and displays little desire to traverse deeper hinterlands".[13]
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