I first heard about South London’s 808Ink via their track Suede Jaw; a brilliant record that somehow seems to encompass groove laden future R&B, downtempo deep house, and alternative hip hop in such a way that it makes you want to close your eyes, nod your head, and dance around all at the same time.
Their album Billy’s Home, released at the tail end of last year, takes that template (unique, un-classifiable urban music) and expands it over 10 varied but equally brilliant tracks.
I’m a big fan of hip-hop, grime, and electronic music, but I can’t quite place where 808Ink’s sound sits between those three things, and I mean that in the best possible way. If I was in the business of coining genre’s maybe I’d tentatively suggest psychedelic grime, but really to try and label their music is to do it a disservice.
All you need to know is it’s rap based and electronic, but much more inventive and emotive than anything else I’ve heard in a long time.
I slept on this album until a few weeks ago, but I won’t make that mistake with any of their music again. Big big fan.
